[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.
“We don’t have great NFT related interfaces yet - and this is an area where Catalyst can step in” Charles Hoskinson, Town Hall, 1st June 2022.
NFT's are a huge part of crypto adoption. Ethereum alone has surpassed $25 Billion in NFT trading volume since the start of 2022. Cardano on the other hand, has only released native tokens last year, which makes our NFT ecosystem still very young.
To improve our NFT ecosystem, Cardano requires analytics tools so that NFT traders outside and inside the CNFT space have the necessary tools to trade NFT's intelligently, with the right data at their fingertips at a moments notice.
NFT traders require analytics tools to keep track of the multitudes of projects that are constantly being released. Having a dashboard that portrays this data will give them the information that they need to decide whether they will or will not mint.
Analytics platforms can utilise blockchain data pertaining to NFT's that can be utilised in a myriad of creative ways. With the right UI and Charts, NFT traders can have the information that they need at a specific moment in time, that can give them insights into their decision-making.
This is taken from Icy.tools, one of the most popular platforms for Ethereum.
This graph uses a scatter plot to show sales history within a span of time. Each dot represents a sale for a specific NFT project.
On the lower left part one can see the top buyers for the current dataset.
What's interesting is that the top buyer bought 45 NFT's from the collection. with this information one can track the wallet and find out:
- When the wallet will put these on sale
- How much they are selling it for
- They are obviously a wallet with a lot of funds. One can track other projects they are looking into. Wallets with more funds have more power in moving a project's sales floor.
- etc. etc.
Real-time listing data with rarity and instant buy
(Taken from blockprobe.io, another ETH platform) This feature must show the most recent listing up to the last minute. This also includes the rarity rank of the NFT listed. This is powerful as one can theoretically "snipe" or purchase rare NFT's if they were listed for sale for a very low price.
Floor resistance and listing data
Another feature we can include is by creating a graph that will show floor resistance. Our team would use listing data and prefer using a scatter plot instead. In any case, why this is important is because as a trader you need information that will give you insight whether one can sell at a specific price point with regards to sales volume.
If a trader knows for a fact that there are 100 buyers within the last 1 minute, and there are only 50 NFT's listed at 100 ADA, then this gives the NFT trader the information required to decide to perhaps sell at 60 ADA. Because he/she has the appropriate data to know that the NFT listed at 60 ada can be sold. Profit for the hypothetical trader.
These are merely examples of possible features that can be developed within our platform. As NFT traders ourselves who have utilised these given platforms, we understand the need for this within the Cardano ecosystem, and we also have the subject-domain knowledge as NFT traders to know what features will benefit other people that are interested in NFT's.
Once we develop this platform, we will be able to help accomodate the growing NFT ecosystem within Cardano. More importantly, with the proper platform, we can accomodate and on-board NFT traders in other eco-systems such as Eth and Solana. NFT traders are usually block-chain agnostic and just follow where the profits are. They do not like trading in Cardano because there aren't any proper tools in existence to help them trade comfortably. We will help Cardano grow through this tool.
[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
NFTs are the gateway to crypto adoption. Ethereum alone has surpassed $25 Billion in NFT trading volume since the start of 2022. If our proposed solution comes into fruition, then we can expect this app to drive more adoption since NFT traders are usually chain agnostic. If they will turn a profit they will use the chain. However, we lack the necessary tools here in CNFT to drive adoption.
[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
Risks:
- Crypto winter. If this lasts for a long period of time, then our team might not have enough funds to work on this full-time. Development will still continue but slow down due to requiring us to have to work full-time jobs to pay for living expenses.
- NFT adoption. If NFTs are truly just a fad and have no utility whatsoever then the project will not have any users. (highly unlikely!)
- No funding from Catalyst. We will have to work on this project on our own and raise funds else-where. Either we do not secure funding, in which an MVP can be released next-year, create a beta-tester community then release an NFT pass to secure additional funding. If funding is secured then we will be able to hire personnel and release earlier.
- possible performance issues of app which will lengthen development time. This would mean burning through our initial budget which will require us to raise more funds.
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.
Intro- We are already finished with our Phase 1. This Catalyst funding proposal was just a last-minute effort to secure funding to expedite development of our project. If we do not secure funding, we will still continue building.
Phase 1 - Research of architecture and design for the app - <u>FINISHED</u>
> In this phase we will be defining the architecture and design for the application.
>
> We will be utilising AWS Lambda for event driven processes. This is perfect for our project due to the need for high-speed realtime processing of data.
> We will be using React.JS for our front-end framework. This will handle real-time data to present the information processed for our users.
> We will be utilising Python and Django for our back-end process to gather data from other web-services that we will be tapping into.
Phase 2 - MVP development & hiring - 3 to 6 months
> This phase includes the development of our minimum-viable product. Which will mean being able to portray the latest 3-5 minute data for our users. This phase will vary in timeline depending on the funding that is secured by our team. Funding secured will mean being able to hire engineers to help build the product. Within this timeline we will start hiring engineers based on approved funding.
>
> Target Modules to be built
> -latest 3 to 5 minute processing of data
> -rarity processing
> -Sales volume graph
> -Mint volume graph
> -Floor resistance graph
> -Latest listing graph
Phase 2.5 - Community building, marketing, & further development - Continuous
> This can commence ASAP or in conjunction with phase 2. Once we finish developing our website, discord, and overall branding we will commence with community building through Twitter marketing, project partnerships through Twitter and Discord. Attend Twitter spaces, and Discord stages to introduce our project to the web3 community (ADA and Eth alike et al. )
> Once community is built, we will release a life-time pass NFT to raise funds and avoid further Catalyst funding requests. Hopefully, funds raised will be enough till we develop app till profitability through subscription model, paid utilising ADA/DJED stablecoin.
Phase 3 - Life time pass NFT & additional modules - 6 months
> This phase assumes MVP has been built and there is an existing beta-tester community for our project. We will now release a limited amount of life-time pass NFT's. The supply will be determined based on forecasted expense and budget requirements to keep on working on app till profitability.
>
> -At this stage the team will aim to optimise processing of data to achieve real-time information <1min instead of 3-5 min benchmark.
> -Subscription model. Monthly payments to gain access to full suite of features. (there will be a free version available that will show delayed data (<30 min) instead of most recent (<1m)
> -Rarity sniper
> -floor sweep
> -whale tracking
Phase 4 - Further development, maintenance, and profitability -
> Continuous development and maintenance of app. At this stage we would have a growing user base, and community. The app will have enough features that the team will now have a subscription model that will provide enough revenue to sustain development and maintenance. Fees will be calculated based on dollar value, then converted to ADA/DJED.
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.
Monthly budget breakdown
Project founders are primarily based in Philippines. This will reflect budget breakdown.
<u>Personnel expense (full-time)</u>
2x Founder expense - $500 per month per person(we have savings) - $1000 per month
1 Full-stack engineer (mid level) - $1,500 USD per month per person = $1500
1x Full-stack engineers (entry) - $850 USD per month per person = $850 per month
Total - $3350 USD per month
<u>Web services expense</u>
Blockfrost API - $46 USD per month
Webhosting server - $99 USD per month
Storage - $100 USD per month (will increase based on scaling)
AWS Lambda - $100 USD per month (will increase based on scaling)
Total - $345 USD per month
<u>Project management expense</u>
Microsoft Teams (7 people) - $21 USD per month
<u>Marketing Expense</u>
Discord Nitro 2 accounts (includes 2 server boosts free per month per acc) - $10 USD per month
Discord server boosts (3x per month to maintain level 2 Discord server) - $15 USD per month
Multi-media artist (graphic design, publication materials, video editing) (freelance) - $1500 USD
Web3 influencer promotion/Paid twitter promos - $500 USD budget
CNFT ADS (Cardano/CNFT websites) - $500 USD budget for whole project
Total - $25 USD per month // $2500 USD marketing budget for all phases
Examples of costing which varies per site
ESTIMATED PER MONTH COST - (pre-alpha release & mint)
$3741 USD per month * 12 = $44,892
$2500 Marketing budget for whole project
$44,892 budget for 1 year monthly expenses
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Total budget required for 1 year of operation. (note: less than 1 year required to sell lifetime pass for beta and subscription model release to increase budget and avoid further Catalyst application)
$47,392
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$47,392 USD required
[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.
2 core members:
Richard Chua - Relevant skills are in sales and marketing. Have worked in Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia in Finance. Have experience doing community management and marketing for 2 NFT projects. One in Cardano (Bwaya Republic) and one in Ethereum (Degen Gangster). Will work on community management, marketing and front-end React
Neil Lorena - Relevant skills are in computer engineering. 6 years work experience. Recently worked as a senior engineer for a fortune 500 company (Accenture). Web3 experienced and now working full time on this project. Developer for Degen Gangster NFT project in Ethereum, and Bwaya Republic in Cardano. Will be lead developer for this project.
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-john-lorena-74348a173/>
Depending on budget approved we will be hiring mid-level full stack engineers and entry level.
Mid-level full stack engineer:
-React, JS
-Python, Django framework
-HTML
-CSS
-AWS Lambda service
-Github
-SQL
-Fluency in English
-Experience with APIs
-plus points for experience in Cardano
Entry level
-React, JS
-Python, Django framework
-HTML
-CSS
-AWS Lambda service
-Github
-SQL
-Fluency in English
-Experience with APIs
-plus points for experience in Cardano
If anyone is interested, you can reach us through our Discord or Twitter handles:
wewmonic demonic#3271
avalonshire#8573
https://twitter.com/lorenaneil
[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.
If we are funded, we will most likely not return to Catalyst for a later round of funding. Simply because the business model for analytics platforms has been proven to work in the Ethereum ecosystem.
if our theses is correct that the NFT market in Cardano is still early, then by the time we have developed this application, there will be a huge user-base that will be looking for proper analytics platform to utilise. A monthly subscription model will generate enough revenue for the team
to continue maintaining and improving our application.
As an example. Icy tools has had 2.2 million website visits in the past month alone (note that we are in a bear market).
Assuming conversion rate would be 0.5%. Then this would translate to 11,000 paying customers.
$75 usd per month * 11,000 = 825,000 USD per month.
Granted that Ethereum has a huge nft ecosystem which is an order of a magnitude bigger than Cardano. Our team believes in Cardano's future and potential, so we would like to start building whether our proposal gets approved or not.
Also, once we build a community of beta-testers, we will be releasing a limited supply life-time pass NFT. Funds raised will reduce the chances we will need to go back for Catalyst funding.
[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?
Github activity & community sentiment
This project will be easily trackable through Github.
Our lead developer's Github profile can be checked for weekly updates regarding the software we are building.
Aside from this, once we launch our project's Discord and Twitter, community sentiment can easily be tracked through these platforms.
[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?
If we have a stable and growing user-base then that means our project has been successful.
NFT traders will only utilise analytics tools that help make them money. More users being on-boarded steadily means that we are helping people earn money through NFT trading. On a broader level, we are also helping facilitate more NFT sales volume and liquidity in Cardano.
If we want experienced NFT traders from other chains to start looking at Cardano, we will need professional platforms to entice them to switch.
[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.
This is an entirely new proposal.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating
- No Poverty
The team personally knows people around the world who have absolutely changed their financial life through trading NFTs. Reason being is that a small increase in an NFT's valuation is enough to earn an income. To be able to do that, people rely on analytics tools to make split-second decisions to make the right trade. As funny as it is, trading unique tokens for a profit will help end poverty somewhat. This is the power of NFT's, and we want to help drive adoption towards Cardano