DripDropz - Mainstreet Suite Licensing

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Lloyd Duhon

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

Entity (Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Requested funds in ada

222848

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

2

[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)

Ask the Cardano community to support the acquisition of 23 of Mainstreet’s money transmitter licenses and a surety bond.

[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.”

To deliver this project to MVP stage we will have to coordinate with bureaucracies in all 50 US States and 4 territories.

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

No

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

This proposal is for applications for money transmission licenses. The information contained within is private, and as such will only be able to be viewed by reviewers.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

History

The DripDropz MainStreet Suite received Project Catalyst Funding in Fund 9 to create a Proof of Concept. This work is in the final stages, and we are continuing to make progress in developing the app to a more mature product. Following the rules of Fund 11 Solutions category, we would like to continue the journey towards MVP by completing the application for the first 23 US Money Transmission Licenses.

The Proof of Achievement Milestone video attached to this proposal shows the working demonstrator proof of concept that we are currently using to show investors what the future functionality of our App will be. This is the delivered, public proof of concept for the community to review. We are excited to continue pushing forward!

Solution

The purpose of this proposal is to cover the cost of obtaining Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs) in the United States. MTLs are required for businesses that transmit money across state lines, and they can be a significant financial burden for a small business, such as DripDropz. This grant would allow Mainstreet to obtain the necessary MTLs and expand our business into US markets.

Our progress so far is visible to the community through our milestone reporting for our successful fund 9 proposal. We have built a prototype of the front end, and are currently building out the prototype back end tooling utilizing the Fire Blocks test net. We have already executed the contract, and achieved premier partner status with Fire Blocks. We have retained the legal counsel necessary to interface with all of the states and territories. We have also established a relationship with Google to implement an AI based AML/Fraud prevention tool. 

Mainstreet is a peer to peer commerce solution that utilizes the power of Cardano Native Assets and fuses them with the technology behind Fire Blocks to create a mobile experience that is unrivaled in the market today. In order to allow US users to participate in the use of the Mainstreet app, we are required to acquire Money Transmitter Licensing in all 50 US states and 4 territories, as well as establish relationships with a Know Your Transactions provider, and a Banking servicer. This proposal will move us in that direction by applying for 23 State licenses.

The original goal for Mainstreet was to build the prototype application and reach out to investors to fund the above requests and continue development. While that is still a possibility, the very recent shift in regulatory sentiment in the United States has limited the number of investors still interested in funding U.S. based operations that include cryptocurrency payments. As such, we are reaching out to the Cardano Community to continue to move forward with this plan.

There are two ways the community can help us complete our goals. We have opened an opportunity for the Community to own a piece of MainStreet as well. That fund raise is currently opened at WeFunder as a crowd fund equity raise that will support future operations and development of the software. In addition, voting yes on this proposal ensures that funds for operations from the fundraise will not be diverted for the license costs.

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

The benefits to the Cardano ecosystem are easier onboarding processes and access to a peer-to-peer commerce platform that will drive higher adoption of Cardano Native Assets into the small business community. We measure impact through increased transactions and higher number of native assets created on the Cardano network.

[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?

The DripDropz Mainstreet team is fully public and the team members regularly engage with community members at public events. We had booths at RareEvo and NFTxLV this year, and three of our core team members were speakers at the Cardano Summit in Dubai.

Our team members are active in Catalyst Town Hall, as well as the Intersect MBO. We regularly place updates on our Twitter, LinkedIn, FaceBook, Instagram, Mastodon, and TikTok. We have a YouTube channel where we place video updates for new features, as well as share our After Town Hall presentations. We also participate in a weekly “Space Place” chat on YouTube, and take questions from the community.

We have delivered on previous promises for Catalyst, closing out our Open Source Voting Proposal. As of the time of this writing, our first Mainstreet Proposal is also in the process of closing out, having acceptance of 4 of 5 milestones and the final milestone under way with anticipation of the final code being delivered in December.

We will share proof of application of the MTLs.

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

Surety Bond Purchase

Milestone Outputs: A Surety Bond is purchased

Acceptance Criteria: A reviewer can view the Surety bond with the corporate identification.

Milestone Evidence: A private meeting to view the Surety Bond.

Pay Fees to State Agencies.

Milestone Outputs: State Agency fees are paid for the 23 State licenses.

The 23 States in the list that will have applications submitted are:

California

Connecticut    

Georgia

Iowa

Idaho    

Illinois

Kansas    

Kentucky

Louisiana    

Massachusetts    

Mississippi

North Carolina    

North Dakota    

Nebraska

Ohio    

Rhode Island  

South Dakota 

Texas

Tennessee    

Utah    

Vermont

Washington    

Wyoming     

Acceptance Criteria: A reviewer can view the already submitted State licenses.

Milestone Evidence: A private meeting to view the State license applications.

Milestone Outputs: A Closeout Report and Video

Acceptance Criteria: A reviewer can view the closeout report and video.

Milestone Evidence: A closeout Report is generated and published. A closeout video is generated and published.

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

Anthony McDonough Finance/Audit

Lloyd Duhon Project Management

Melannie Duhon Media Team

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

This budget is entirely focused on acquiring money transmitter licenses, and as such does not have team labor, outside of our work to complete the paperwork and file the forms, as well as the overhead of Catalyst administration. 

Our Estimated costs to complete the licenses for the 23 State MLAFSC is $63104.25 or 210348 ADA at $0.30 ADA Estimated. We have a spreadsheet that breaks down these costs here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_GuAd9SMOuaXnL5EIn6nZPCiBddAafxK/view?usp=sharing

The Administrative overhead for this is valued at $4000 USD or 12,500 ADA @$0.30 ADA Estimated.

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

Completing this project will allow the Mainstreet Suite to take the next major step forward in providing a peer to peer commerce solution for the masses, while introducing them to the power of Cardano native assets.

[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