VPN as a Service with Decentralized Payments by Blink Labs

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Blink Labs

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Co-proposers and additional applicants

Ales Verbic

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

4

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

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

We will build an on-demand VPN service. Pay only for the time you need, using Cardano smart contracts. No subscriptions, just flexible, secure VPN access with transparent, decentralized payments.

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

No

[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.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

The project will be open sourced under the Apache 2.0 license

[METADATA] Horizons

Cybersecurity

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

We propose providing VPN access exactly when you need it, without being tied down by subscriptions or long-term contracts. We're introducing a game-changing VPN-as-a-Service platform that lets you buy VPN access in time slots that suit your needs.

Simple secure setup. You connect your Cardano wallet to our user-friendly platform. You choose the VPN service you want and select how long you need it. Once you confirm the payment, your funds are securely held in a Cardano smart contract. Meanwhile, our system springs into action, we spin up a dedicated VPN server just for you. After everything's set up, claim your VPN credentials.

By harnessing Cardano's blockchain technology, we're making payments secure and transparent—ditching the need for traditional payment gateways. With our expertise and infrastructure, we can scale up effortlessly to meet demand, providing reliable VPN service whenever and wherever you need it. It's VPN access, reinvented for the decentralized era.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

Our project will inject new energy into the Cardano ecosystem by demonstrating a tangible application that extends beyond finance. By using Cardano's smart contracts in a service people use every day, we're driving mainstream adoption of ADA for regular transactions, ramping up the utility of the Cardano network.

We're closing the gap between blockchain technology and everyday needs, which will attract more users to the Cardano community. By launching this service, we're not just adding another product to the mix; we're actively shaping the future of Cardano with solutions that put users first.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Blink Labs has decades of experience delivering open source software, coupled with 7 years of expertise running VPNaaS (VPN as a Service) in a production environment. We have a proven track record of delivery and have successfully completed two previous Catalyst Fund 9 proposals. We have two open funded proposals from Fund 11, have met our milestones and are wrapping up closeout videos now; we are just starting milestone 1 objectives for our Fund 12 proposal which is slated to complete before Fund 13 onboarding completes. Our work is open source and public for all to view. Our team is highly cohesive and have worked together for years, allowing us to provide accurate time and cost estimates to our work. Funding allows us to dedicate engineering time to an open source project, rapidly accelerating its development.

Blink Labs will create GitHub issues for the individual items of work and will track those items using a project Kanban board on GitHub.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1 will establish a VPN provisioning service.

• Create VPN service container images using OpenVPN
• Develop VPN client configuration generation software
• Develop a VPN controller service to manage VPNs
• Demonstrate the programmatic provisioning of a VPN from scratch

Milestone 2 will deliver provisioning smart contract and smart contract reader service.

• Develop a smart contract for payment
• Develop a contract reader service to discover new payments and provision VPNs
• Demonstrate the smart contract enabled provisioning of a VPN from scratch

Milestone 3 will deliver a Frontend and CLI for signup and configuration.

• Develop a command line interface for provisioning a VPN
• Develop a web frontend for provisioning a VPN with CIP-30 wallet connector
• Demonstrate provisioning a VPN and connecting using credentials used for purchase

Our 4th and final milestone will wrap up the project, including the Project closeout report and video. The project closeout report will include a comprehensive summary of project objectives and evidence of goals achieved. The project closeout video will provide a visual overview of the projects journey, start to finish, highlight key achievements, and showcase the net product: a VPNaaS platform.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

The project development will be completed by the Blink Labs engineering team. Our team includes Principal / Staff Engineers, with more than 50 years combined experience. This project will be primarily assigned to Ales Verbic (https://github.com/verbotenj) for development completion, with additional Blink Labs developers providing code review, documentation, and support.

Additional Blink Labs staff may be used for administrative functions, such as project management and community reporting.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Funding will primarily pay for engineering time. There is also a small piece set aside for paying administrative staff for project management.

The project budget is 41500 ADA per month to pay for Engineering (40000) and Project Management (1500) for the first three milestones. The final milestone will be an additional 6000 ADA for the project manager. Each of the first three milestones corresponds to a month, and time is allocated to take approximately 75 percent of a full time software engineer or 120 hours and approximately 10 hours of project management. The final milestone includes closeout reporting and video production and will take approximately 40 hours of project management time.

No additional funding is necessary for third party products or services.

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

Costs are estimated on a 333.33 ADA per hour rate for a senior golang blockchain software engineer working remotely within the United States (~ $192k USD annually) and 150 ADA per hour rate for a project manager working remotely (~ $86k USD annually)