[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Quirin Schlegel

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

Individual

[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)

We need to develop the Nakomoto Coefficient for Cardano and raise awareness among the stakeholders, through content marketing and distribution of articles on media outlets.

[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.”

We are depending on community engagement and backing by respected entities in the Cardano ecosystem.

[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

All of the code required to calculate the Nakamoto coefficient will be made publicly available through a GitHub repository.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

The Nakamoto coefficient currently is the most recognized method of describing the level of decentralization in a blockchain system.

We want to make Cardano‘s Nakamoto coefficient well known in the blockchain industry.

To archive this goal we will build a Webportal that educates and captivates developers and entrepreneurs who want to build on the most decentralized blockchain in the industry.

Furthermore we will actively run advertisements on various platforms to promote the choice for Cardano.

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

Cardano was reliably designed to change the world and lead the decentralized future from the front. With NC the Cardano community can position itself as a powerfully decentralized network among industry peers. Therefore, anyone looking to get educated in DLTs and what decentralization even means can understand different NC factors and compare Cardano to other blockchains side by side. Knowing the industry recognized NC will further strengthen and solidify confidence in Cardano among skeptics, developers are looking to build and get more people in general to invest into ADA and hold it long term. With our our marketing and PR muscle, we aim to get other blockchain communities to spark more discussions about Cardano’s values and its roots in decentralization. Decentralization is in Cardano’s DNA and this is our time to get noticed for it. 

[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 are not trying to reinvent the wheel. We are building a new on-boarding platform for Cardano.

The improvement we are proposing is to return to the core principle of decentralization as a key metric. We have a long history with Cardano and believe in the ideals that Charles and many others have brought to life. That is why we want to spark the ideas for decentralization once again, just as Voltaire unfolds.

This project does not use experimental techniques. Also, we do not perceive the creative processes to generate marketing materials as a blocker in the project design, especially because we can focus on fact-based marketing.

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

Research and develop a prototype for calculating preliminary cardano’s nakamoto coefficient.

Communicate with various stakeholders in the cardano ecosystem e.g. CF, Blockchain explorers and educate them about the nakamoto coefficient’s importance.

Communicate with cross chain stakeholders to reflect and prove the validity of the preliminary NC.

Build out an infrastructure to periodically calculate an updated NC to make this metric constantly available. Also provide a guide that explains decentralization. 

Establish means of Support in the form of a discord server, where interested developers have a forum to interact.

Roll out a marketing campaign that makes Cardano’s NC widely known in the ecosystem.

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

Kush Sharma: The role of Kush here is to support the operational aspects of the project such as planning, monitoring of the marketing campaign, documenting outcomes and spreading the word. Kush entered his professional Cardano journey in 2021 by supporting NMKR in their PR and marketing. As a former NMKR member who has supported the NMKR team to onboard celebrities, artists, and many amazing projects to the Cardano NFT space, Kush is a proud Cardano community member and loves his ADA. Kush also has an academic and research background in blockchain. 

Quirin Schlegel: Quirin will take over the software development related tasks. He was successfully funded in F3 to build an accounting dapp prototype. Furthermore he runs a blockchain explorer focused on smart contract visualization. Hence he has the technical skills required to build the proposed prototype and web portal.

linkedin.com/in/quirin-schlegel-7553ba197

https://github.com/QSchlegel?tab=repositories

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

Kush’s salary: The research and operational work is estimated at 140 hours over seven months at the requested rate of 65 ADA per hour amounting to 9.100 ADA (140*65) for the entirety of the project.

Quirin’s salary: The Development work will be charged with an hourly rate of 65 ADA. With 10 hours a week over the project's lifecycle of 7 months this Results in 280 working hours.

Hence 18.200 ADA

70.000 ADA on marketing. In partnership with Coinzilla and marketing service providers, we plan to maximize the awareness of Cardano’s decentralization. Here is a detailed breakdown: 

1. Digital Advertising (40%): Allocate 40% of costs in display advertising using the Coinzilla marketplace or marketing agencies.
2. Press release and content distribution (40%): Allocate the remaining 40% of costs to reach wider crypto audiences by getting PR coverage on national level media outlets in Northern Europe and on crypto news outlets in German and English languages.
3. Social Media Marketing (20%): Allocate 15% of the budget towards social media marketing, encompassing activities like social media management, influencer partnerships, and social media advertising. This will help build a strong presence on popular platforms, engage with your audience, and generate leads or sales directly.
4. Miscellaneous (20%): Allocate the rest to promotions on twitter, hold a cozy Cardano meeting in Berlin with refreshments and a presentation taken care of.

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

The value it does bring is anyone on the internet searching for the actual NC of Cardano is able to find the number value easily. Not only that, those who question why and how that worked will be able to find out the details through our open-sourced analysis. The intense marketing campaign will ensure the prominent placement of news articles, expert opinions (from CF, the community, and IOG), and research findings related to Cardano's Nakamoto Coefficient on reputable media platforms in the Western European markets (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom).

The budget we have proposed is modest given our geography, and we aim to keep the expenditures as lean as possible while prioritizing the traffic and reach metrics. The marketing buzz also aims to reach influential audiences that can enable investors and businesses to make comparisons across various blockchains accurately. This transparency will allow potential holders to avoid investing in VC-backed centralized and pseudo-decentralized networks, amongst many benefits for investors looking to engage with genuine communities. This media presence will drive organic discovery when individuals search for Cardano's Nakamoto Coefficient, attracting the attention of potential investors, developers, and users.

This will help the greater crypto industry to realize what Cardano is made of and why it is a role model. While this is a big ambition, we are firm in the high value this project will add and challenge the status quo.

[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