CIP-88 Refinements & Tooling

[GENERAL] Name and Surname of Main Applicant

[GENERAL] Email address of Main Applicant

Additional Applicants

N/A

[GENERAL] Requested funds in ADA

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” in this field.

This project is required to follow the CIP process as laid out in https://cips.cardano.org/cips/cip1/ and has a dependency to be moved to the Active state.

[GENERAL] Will your project outputs be fully Open Source?

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.” in this field.

Project will be fully open source.

[METADATA] Category of Proposal

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Currently, token projects (NFT or FT) have no mechanism to register the intent, details, decimal places or feature set of their minting policy on-chain. This CIP creates a method that is backwards compatible and enables projects to declare, and update over time, the contact information, supported feature set, and metadata details pertaining to their tokens.

The lack of on-chain token policy intent registration has been cited as both a centralization and security concern.

Currently, token projects must register their information with a centralized repository, such as the Cardano Token Registry. This can lead to a single point of failure and can make it difficult for projects to update their information. Additionally, the current metadata standards are not secure and can be easily manipulated.

This CIP proposes a new method for registering token policy intent on-chain. This method would be backwards compatible and would allow projects to declare and update their information over time.

The CIP would also introduce a new metadata standard that is more secure and robust than the current standards.

The proposed solution would provide a number of benefits for token projects and the Cardano ecosystem as a whole. It would improve the security and reliability of token projects, make it easier for projects to update their information, and reduce the risk of centralization. 

This proposal directly addresses the following tasks:

• Finalize on-chain format: This task will involve finalizing the data schema for the on-chain token registration information. This information will include the token name, symbol, decimals, image, and other metadata.
• Build an indexer: This task will involve building an indexer that can watch for new token registrations on the blockchain. The indexer will then validate the signatures of the registration transactions to ensure that they are valid.
• Get this indexer to marketplaces: This task will involve getting the indexer to marketplaces and other services that need to know about the token registrations. This will allow the marketplaces to get a list of all of the tokens, their decimals, their images, and other metadata.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The challenge is addressed in several ways. By creating technical standards, as well as technical documentation we help improve token project discoverability and trust in this space. In addition the tooling of an SDK for projects and marketplaces will provide critical infrastructure to the Cardano community.

• The proposed solution would improve the security and reliability of token projects.
• It would also make it easier for projects to update their information and to interact with other projects and services.
• Additionally, the proposed solution would be more decentralized and would not rely on a single point of failure.

Projects can benefit by having a template to follow for well-rounded contact information and project based disclosure and the community and third-party services can benefit by easily being able to consume, analyze, and report findings based on publicly published information.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The main goal is to move this proposed CIP to an Active CIP status, and to create the open source software tooling that will make it easy to conform with this CIP. Based upon early discussion, this proposal is desired by the community and the technical considerations are not beyond the scope of capabilities of the team.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

This work will be output in GitHub, and explainer videos and documentation will be produced.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

The community members involved in this project are longstanding and publicly available. Projects delivered previously by these community members include: Buffy Bot, cNFTcon (NFTxLV), GateKeeper, and more. We are well placed to continue developing for the Cardano community.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The Main goals are to gain adoption in marketplaces and to move the CIP to active status. The approach is feasible because we have community feedback and the scope of work is well within the capabilities of the team members on the project.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1: CIP Process/On-chain Format - Complete the on-chain format for the specification and complete any steps necessary to move the CIP to proposed status.

Milestone 2: MVP Proof of Concept - Build a proof of concept chain indexer for registrations, and then to validate the signature. Release this as open source tooling.

Milestone 3: Onboarding/Integrations for 5 Marketplaces or projects - Bring the proposed final specifications to NFT projects and marketplaces. Receive community acceptance for a minimum of 5 projects and/or marketplaces by having the projects complete the registrations and by having the marketplaces implement the indexer and validate projects using the new form of validation.

Milestone 4: CIP Active - Complete the CIP process and move the CIP to active status.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1: Updates to the GitHub to finalize the on-chain specification.

Milestone 2: A Github repository with the code necessary to perform basic registration and validation according to the specification.

Milestone 3: Proof of Onboarding for 5 total entities, consisting of at least 1 marketplace and at least 1 registered project.

Milestone 4: The CIP is moved to the Active state.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

This project makes use of our media team, engineering resources, and management resources. 

Milestone 1:

Lead Developer: 10000 ADA

Management: 2000 ADA

Milestone 2:

Lead Developer: 10000 ADA

Management: 2000 ADA

Milestone 3:

Lead Developer: 20000 ADA

Management: 2000 ADA

Final Milestone:

Lead Developer: 10000 ADA

Management: 2000 ADA

Administrative Overhead for Catalyst Fund Reporting Administration: 17500

Total Budget: 75500 ADA

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

We believe that this CIP is a valuable contribution to the Cardano ecosystem and that it would benefit token projects and users alike. We are confident that the proposed solution can be implemented in a timely and efficient manner, and we are grateful for your consideration of our request.

The proposed solution improves the security and reliability of token projects. It also makes it easier for projects to update their information and to interact with other projects and services. Additionally, the proposed solution is more decentralized and does not rely on a single point of failure.

Return on investment:

The proposed solution would provide a number of benefits for token projects and the Cardano ecosystem as a whole. These benefits would include:

• Increased security and reliability of token projects
• Reduced risk of centralization
• Easier for projects to update their information and interact with other projects and services

These benefits would likely lead to increased adoption of Cardano for token projects, which would in turn lead to increased value for the Cardano ecosystem.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.