Paideia - Building Blocks for DAO Management

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Martin Morley

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

Entity (Incorporated)

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

7

[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)

Paideia's simple decentralized smart-contracts will enable Cardano DAOs to execute simple treasury transactions in an automated, trust-less, and transparent way.

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

Yes

[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.”

Paideia utilizes AVL trees for data persistence on Ergo, while our Cardano implementation will employ Merkle Trees, whereby we store hashed data in contracts to allow state to pass from block to block. https://github.com/cardano-foundation/merkle-tree-java

Based on our research, we expect the Paideia platform/model will be successfully implemented using the Merkle Tree method above, which is well documented and open-source.

[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

Project will be fully open source under the GPL license. This means that any derivative software must also be open source. We look forward to others using our code for future projects in the Cardano ecosystem.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

The problem Paideia is addressing is the lack of fully decentralized, transparent, and automated treasury management systems for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) on the Cardano blockchain.

Paideia aims to solve this problem by providing simple-to-use DAO tooling that will allow members to manage on-chain governance in a truly decentralized manner. Unlike existing solutions, these contacts will ensure that DAO treasuries can be locked on-chain and votes will be required to spend those treasuries.

Please test our proof-of-concept here: https://app.paideia.im

bPaideia test tokens available here: https://ergofaucet.org/

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

Our solution addresses the challenge by providing automated, decentralized, and transparent treasury management for DAOs on Cardano. This is crucial for facilitating basic governance structures that embody the core principles of decentralization and autonomy. When a vote takes place, the funds should be sent automatically, based on the proposal parameters. No opportunity for human intervention or corruption to manipulate the outcome should exist.

[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?

We have already built Paideia on Ergo, so we have a very good idea now of what will go into developing this for Cardano.

The project will be managed by Marty, who has experience managing Ergopad, Paideia, Crux, and Coinecta, which are all in different stages of development, and also experience as a freelance web developer with a small team of contractors that help complete projects. The team that created Paideia on Ergo will be part of the Cardano port, and developers with Cardano experience will be hired to fill in any gaps in our team.

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

Deliverables: On chain proposals.

Outputs: Open source contracts available for use by Cardano DAO’s

Outcomes: DAOs able to submit on chain proposals

Deliverables: Treasury spending execution

Outputs: Open source contracts available for use by Cardano DAO’s

Outcomes: DAOs able to execute trustless treasury spending

Deliverables: Contracts complete and ready for audit.

Outputs: Open source contracts available for community use.

Outcomes: DAOs able to create proposals and execute treasury spending based on vote outcomes.

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

Marty

Founder, Front-end developer

https://github.com/esot321c/ 

https://twitter.com/esot321c 

Marty has been a blockchain enthusiast since 2013. In the earlier years of Bitcoin, he was hosting primers to introduce and explain the technology to newcomers. He has been a freelance developer for a number of years, recently transferring that experience into project management for Ergopad and Paideia on the Ergo blockchain.

For this proposal, Marty will take on the role of project manager.

Luivatra

Backend and Smart-Contract Developer

https://github.com/Luivatra/ 

https://twitter.com/Luivatra

Luivatra has many years experience in fintech software development. He has been a member of this team since pre-funding, and designed and built the on- and off-chain functionality for Paideia on Ergo. 

Lui has an Msc. in Computer Science and Games & Media Technology, and worked in TradFi as a Software Engineer and Software Architect for 10+ years.

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

• Smart Contracts: ₳155,000
• Testing and Quality Assurance: ₳15,000
• Project Management: ₳15,000
• Documentation: ₳10,000

All developers will be contracted and are accounted for within the development budget. For project management, we will utilize tools like GitHub for code management, Trello or Github Issues for project management, and Discord for team communication, none of which require additional expenditure.

The total budget requested from the Catalyst fund is ₳160,000. We believe this provides excellent value for money for the intended impact and functionality we aim to bring to the Cardano ecosystem.

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

The costs have been calculated based on the average wages for the respective roles, and considering the complexity and the expected duration of the project.

This investment represents significant value for money for the Cardano ecosystem. Many projects launch their token with touted governance utility and Paideia can provide basic contracts to actually manage it.

Paideia will also serve as a foundational piece that could be leveraged for numerous further developments, thereby enhancing the overall potential of the Cardano platform. The advancements required in Merkle Tree research for on-chain data persistence will be useful to many other projects in the ecosystem, and anything we build for Paideia will be open-source and documented. 

The knowledge and expertise we will gather during the project execution will also feed back into the Cardano ecosystem, as we plan to share our learnings with the community, further enhancing its value.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund 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.

I Accept