Cardano Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Courses by Cryptofluency

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

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

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

We will produce online courses to educate learners about Cardano’s DeFi opportunities. Programs confront risks, explore rewards & highlight participation strategies that align with varied risk levels.

[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.”

No dependencies

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

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

The course content will be modified only by the authors. No code is being created.

[METADATA] SDG rating

4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

9 - Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

10 - Reduce inequality within and among countries

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Cryptofluency’s proposed online DeFi programming includes four initial courses that educate learners about Cardano’s diverse DeFi instruments and prepare them to take part. 

As students advance through the material, they delve deeper into Cardano’s DeFi opportunities. Each lesson builds on the previous for progressive, cumulative learning. The courses usher students through the most relevant topics and concepts to help them take part with confidence, protect their assets, and explore Cardano’s DeFi tools. 

Learners can then practice their knowledge by getting involved in the space they are studying according to their interest, goals and comfort with risks involved. 

The use case course content includes thorough explanations of risks and benefits, follow-along demonstrations of tools, walkthrough tutorials for different actions, and participation strategies. The participation strategies are ranked low, medium and high risk to help the learners align their comfort levels with their DeFi decision-making.

Our four initial DeFi course topics are: 

• HISTORY & EMERGENCE OF DECENTRALIZED FINANCE TOOLS
• FUNDAMENTALS FOR PARTICIPATING IN CARDANO
• USE CASE: DECENTRALIZED EXCHANGES (DEXs)
• USE CASE: DECENTRALIZED LENDING & BORROWING

The curriculum is further outlined below. The course content will be “living,” meaning we will regularly update it, add to it, and adapt it over time as the Cardano technology stack evolves. Course development will invite participation from DeFi founders and thought leaders interested in contributing insights and expertise.

Who will your project engage?:

The courses will be accessible to learners of all types, backgrounds, and experiences. These three types of learners are particularly intended:

1. Cardano community members (ADA holders) who have not yet ventured into using DeFi instruments, or who may only be staking their positions. 
2. Crypto holders who are active in other blockchain DeFi environments who have yet to discover the brilliance of Cardano’s DeFi instruments.
3. New crypto enthusiasts who want to get started in the crypto space, engage in Cardano and leverage our ecosystem’s unparalleled DeFi opportunities. It is for this group that we have included the “Fundamentals” course. 

Educational Format:

We will deliver each course in short, digestible 15-20 minute video lessons. The lesson videos will explain specific concepts and/or include follow-along demonstrations of Cardano’s protocols. 

The courses feature accompanying worksheets so that learners can apply the skills equipped in each lesson. Courses also include a cumulative “review” delivered in quiz form so students can confirm their answers from the lesson worksheets. 

This “apply and review” process enables the student to check their work and creates the opportunity for credentials on completion. It also improves learning retention and establishes a solid DeFi knowledge base. 

Seeing these review results will also provide us with valuable data about how students are learning about the Cardano DeFi space. 

Cryptofluency DeFi Course Curriculum:

COURSE 1: HISTORY & EMERGENCE OF DECENTRALIZED FINANCE TOOLS

Overview: This course familiarizes the learner with decentralized finance concepts, structures and use cases. 

Course Goal: The learner is fluent in core DeFi concepts, how they work, and their relationships to each other. The learner is prepared to advance into the use case deep dives in Courses 3 and 4. 

1. Centralized Finance vs. Decentralized Finance
2. Cardano DeFi vs. Other Blockchain Ecosystems
3. Decentralized Applications
4. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)
5. Decentralized Exchanges
6. Decentralized Lending & Borrowing
7. Governance & Voting
8. Platform Use Cases

COURSE 2: FUNDAMENTALS FOR PARTICIPATING IN CARDANO (BASICS)

Overview: This course is a walkthrough of the process for getting involved in the Cardano ecosystem. It helps a learner acquire ADA, secure it and leverage it according to their interests. It is meant for someone who does not yet have ADA or is unfamiliar with the included Cardano opportunities.

Course Goal: Learners accomplish the prerequisites for participation in Cardano DeFi. Learners have the knowledge necessary to acquire ADA, store it in a wallet and use it within the Cardano ecosystem for diverse purposes. They are familiar with the decentralized concepts needed to move further in the subsequent courses. 

1. Choosing & Setting Up a Cardano Wallet
2. Securing Cardano Assets
3. Staking & Stake Pools
4. Testnet Faucets
5. Cardano Decentralized Exchanges (DEX)
6. Acquiring Cardano Native Tokens on a DEX
7. Understanding Market Capitalization and Tokenomics
8. Basics of Staking, Liquidity Providing (LP) & Yield Farming (Concepts)
9. Decentralized OnChain Governance
10. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO)
11. Improvement Proposals, Voting Rounds, Voting Power
12. Monitoring Your Positions
13. Crypto Resources: CoinGecko, TradingView, TapTools, Defillama, and Others

COURSE 3: DECENTRALIZED EXCHANGES (DEXs)

Overview: Decentralized Exchanges offer the opportunity for leveraging assets in diverse ways. There are two types of Cardano DEXs with different considerations, risks and benefits.

Course Goal: The learner understands how decentralized exchanges can be utilized for different participation strategies and is clear about the risks and responsibilities involved. 

1. Automated Market Maker DEXs 
2. Exploration of Risks: Impermanent Loss
3. Exploration of Benefits: Multiple Yield Options
4. Walkthrough Demonstration using Cardano AMM DEXs
5. Different AMM DEX Participation Strategies in Action:
6. Passive: Vault Staking (Low Risk)
7. Active: Liquidity Providing (Medium Risk)
8. Aggressive: Liquidity Bootstrapping Events, Zap Features & Arbitrage (High Risk)
9. Order Book DEXs
10. Exploration of Risks: Human Error & Learning Curve
11. Exploration of Benefits: Multiple Yield Options
12. Walkthrough Demonstration using Cardano Order Book DEXs
13. Different Order Book DEX Participation Strategies in Action:
14. Passive: Vault Staking (Low Risk)
15. Active: Liquidity Providing (Medium Risk)
16. Aggressive: Market Making & Arbitrage (High Risk)

COURSE 4: DECENTRALIZED LENDING & BORROWING

Overview: Decentralized Lending and Borrowing introduces unprecedented financial instruments for leveraging cryptocurrency assets. Cardano’s eUTxO accounting model and novel liquid non-custodial staking capabilities elevate Cardano’s lending and borrowing platforms above all other crypto ecosystems.

Course Goal: The learner is educated about risks and opportunities of staking, supplying/lending, borrowing against assets and debt leveraging. They are also educated on safeguard practices and responsibilities associated with Market Participation. 

1. How does Decentralized Lending & Borrowing work?
2. Risks of Supplying/Lending Your Assets
3. Benefits of Supplying/Lending Your Assets
4. Risks of Borrowing Assets
5. Benefits of Borrowing Assets
6. Liquidation & Health Factor Considerations
7. Market Participation Rewards
8. Different Participation Strategies in Action:
9. Passive: Supplying/Lending Only vs. Staking Only OR Both (Low Risk)
10. Active: Borrowing Against Your Supplied Assets (Medium Risk)
11. Aggressive: Debt Leveraging Strategies (High Risk)
12. Understanding the Responsibility for Your Decisions & Actions

Course lessons are subject to re-arrangement and change during production. 

How do you perceive the problem you are solving:

We perceive this problem as a chasm that needs a bridge. On one side of the chasm, we have a vibrant and enthusiastic community of people who are excited about all of the opportunities of the Cardano ecosystem of DeFi. On the other side of the chasm, we have a robust collection of Cardano DeFi protocols deployed on Mainnet and ready for participation. 

Cardano DeFi has yet to be adopted and fully embraced by the majority of Cardano holders. 

The chasm exists because there is a lack of educational content to bridge the community from its current hesitant position to a position of knowledgeable confidence. That means the entire ecosystem is missing out on the collective knowledge that would be gained by the merging of the community and the tools. 

This educational content should comprehensively inform the community starting with analyzing the risks, providing experiential guidance and incorporating step-by-step demonstrations. This empowers learners with an educational foundation. We propose to do exactly that.

Why are we Uniquely Positioned to Do This?:

We have been participating in the cryptocurrency space since 2017. Our portfolio was diversified in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and several other ERC-20 tokens. We had a Bitcoin miner and were exploring the new world of smart contracts and layer 2 solutions. 

When we discovered Cardano in 2018, we became enthusiasts because of its attention to detail, scientific peer review process and security standards. The Cardano blockchain is superior in achieving excellence in all points of the trilemma: security, scalability and decentralization, without sacrificing in any category.

Through research, we knew that decentralization, smart contracts, token locking, native token standards and multi-asset support on Cardano were yet to come via the Allegra, Mary, Alonzo and Vasil Hardfork Combinator Events in the post-Shelley era. In order to prepare for the influx of such tremendous new ecosystem capabilities, we spent extensive time analyzing Ethereum’s DeFi instruments. 

When DeFi protocols were finally released on Cardano in early 2022, we began participating from day one and have been taking part ever since, leveraging the benefits of these instruments at high levels. Our past participation roadmap is below. 

We have a great stamina for analysis, research and experimentation. Derek has spent over ten thousand hours reviewing whitepapers, actively participating in the ecosystem’s projects and protocols, and listening to thought leaders across the space. He enjoys distilling complex concepts into understandable content. We stay up to date on emerging opportunities, and are active in the different Discord communities that serve our greater Cardano community. 

Our content blends technical know-how with investment acumen learned entirely in the crypto space. We have extensive experience onboarding individuals and groups who are starting from scratch and consulting established investors looking for ways to grow their portfolios using Cardano’s DeFi tools. 

Further, we have produced over 200 videos that demonstrate our capability to educate via online content with warm reception from the community. You can watch them here. 

Here are some of our historical actions to give reference of timeframe scope and capacity:

Overall:

• Experienced with setting limit orders, properly setting price, managing slippage tolerance, canceling orders and troubleshooting on CEXs and DEXs. 
• Maintain a vigilant focus on impermanent loss in AMM DEXs.
• Proactively monitor keeping a safe health factor in lending & borrowing platforms.
• Actively participating in Governance voting on each of these protocols across time.

Centralized Exchanges: 

• Experienced in centralized exchanges and maintain accounts with Coinbase and Kraken exchange.
• Creating and managing limit orders
• Arbitrage Opportunities

Decentralized Exchanges: 

• MinSwap:
• Voted on the MinSwap DEX Proposal in Catalyst.
• Became a Liquidity Provider (LP) on MinSwap DEX on day one and managed twelve Yield Farming (YF) Pools.
• Participated in two Liquidity Bootstrapping Events (Indy & Smart Places)
• Experienced with the Zap Feature.

• SundaeSwap:
• Participated in SundaeSwap ISPO.
• Became an LP on SundaeSwap DEX on day one and managed three YF pools.

• Wingriders:
• Became an LP on Wingriders DEX on day one and managed nine YF pools.
• Was awarded the Gold FirstRiders NFT due to our level of trading volume.

• VyFinance:
• Became LP on VyFinance day one managing two pools.
• Utilize seven of their staking vaults.
• Member of the VyFinance Bar.

• Blueshift:
• Experienced in Milkomeda sidechain C1 wallets.
• Liquidity Providing on BlueShift DEX in their automated yield optimizer pool using Milkomeda C1.

• Genius Yield: 
• Staking in Genius Yield vaults for over a year using NFT as APY boosters.
• Became LPs on day one.
• Participated in the pre-prod testnet using Cardano’s testnet faucet and provided helpful feedback to the Genius Yield community. 
• Traded and became LPs in Genius Yield Mainnet from day one. 
• Currently participating in their Accelerated Yield Event setting limit order positions in the order book at the Tier 2 level.

Lending & Borrowing:

• Liqwid Finance: 
• Staking LQ on their platform. 
• Actively Lending and Borrowing assets on Liqwid Finance for 14 months. 
• Stable pairings: for example, supplying ADA, borrowing DJED
• Exotic pairings: for example, supplying AGIX, borrowing ADA

• LenFi V2:
• Created supply positions 
• Successfully completed debt leverage strategies

What are your reasons for approaching it in the way that you have?:

Our intention is to make this content accessible and digestible for learners. Foremost, we prioritize explaining risk to ensure learners are well informed. Each lesson builds on the previous so that the material gets increasingly technical as the learner progresses. 

The curriculum structure is the aggregation of our personal experience in the space, extensive research and analysis and two years educating crypto enthusiasts one-on-one, in consulting groups, and via our YouTube channel, Cryptofluencyio. 

We have proven this curriculum to be the MVK (minimum viable knowledge) people need to understand and make their own decisions with confidence. 

We will deliver this programming on the Cryptofluency.io website and on the work.courses platform.

How will you demonstrate or prove your impact?:

We will measure course impact and engagement using our website’s analytics. Additionally, we will ask course participants to provide personal testimonials and stories. As part of our ongoing efforts to improve and update course curriculum, we will be regularly requesting feedback from enrolled students. These details can be available to the public on our website and in our proposal reporting. 

Our YouTube and social media platforms’ analytics tools will help us measure reach and conversion of posts related to course content. 

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

How will this bring Value to the Cardano Community?:

The Cardano community rises together as more and more participants join our ranks who understand the value of Cardano’s impact. It benefits the entire ecosystem when those participants are well-educated in what they are doing and committed to a long-term growth plan with the projects that are important to them. That increases the base of loyal Cardano enthusiasts.

This course also provides our community with a trusted resource for newly-onboarded Cardano enthusiasts. Course 2 covers the fundamental prerequisites required for Cardano DeFi.

The advanced DeFi programming increases DeFi content knowledge among the current Cardano community members.

Increased participation in DeFi also supports the CNT ecosystem so that emerging Cardano Native Token projects can grow. 

Finally, the courses provide a highly shareable tool, which contributes to grassroots Cardano marketing among the networks of users who find their learning valuable. We have the option to incentivize students to pass the opportunity on to others in their circles. 

Ultimately, these courses have the potential to birth enthusiastic DeFi discussion that encourages exchange of ideas, knowledge and diverse thought, collaboration, co-working and entrepreneurship. 

How will you measure this impact?:

We will measure the impact of the course programming by:

• Monitoring the quantitative data in our learning environment analytics, which allows for reporting on: number of learners enrolled, content completed, scores on reviews and questions asked.
• Requesting personal testimonials from learners who are taking part in the ecosystem as a result of the educational programming.
• Soliciting regular feedback from enrolled learners about their involvement. 
• Offering 15-minute windows for consultations with enrolled learners every 90 days for deeper dives.

[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?

Please describe your existing capabilities that demonstrate how and why you believe you’re best suited to deliver this project?

Demonstrated Knowledge & Consistency:

First, we have a proven track record of producing educational content for the blockchain community specific to Cardano. We are active in continuing to educate ourselves and have been participants in the technical education and programming offered by Cardano protocols. This playlist of Cardano dApps & DeFi Protocol Videos from the Cryptofluency YouTube channel shows a collection of that work.

Well-Refined, Tested Curriculum:

We have been developing and refining the proposed curriculum in real-world conversations and have implemented the online resources necessary for its execution. We have been mentoring and coaching new members to the space for multiple years, fielding diverse questions and helping participants to grow their positions, update their tools, and upgrade their understanding as the technology emerges. 

We have also established an effective process of producing learning materials that allows students to learn, apply their knowledge, and check their work all in one educational environment. 

Strong Community Relationships:

Our long-term involvement in the Cardano space has blessed us with many meaningful relationships with founders, developers, professionals and peers across DeFi projects and protocols. We stay up to date on emerging opportunities, and are active in the different Discord communities that serve our greater Cardano community. We will utilize the expertise of our crypto family to enhance the materials as we complete them. 

We intend to leverage community involvement by interweaving insights from topic experts where relevant and incentivizing feedback from community members willing to test drive the content once it’s produced. 

Experience Stewarding Individuals & Communities:

Cryptofluency offers personalized consulting and memberships that include regular updates. We have experience in being accountable to a community that learns from us, and we are enthusiastic about witnessing lives change for the better. 

Lastly, we value our reputation in this community that has given us so much opportunity, and our goal is to give back with these course offerings.

Please include the steps or processes that demonstrate that you can be trusted to manage funds properly:

For this proposal, we have set our milestones to require completion of course content prior to funds being delivered. That will allow the Cardano community to benefit in real time as we progress and hold us accountable for providing what’s necessary. 

As established above, we have a high discipline for stewarding funds safely and transparently, and intend to use that same acumen in managing the Catalyst funds. 

We utilize multiple Daedalus, Nami, Eternl, Gero, NuFi, and Lace wallets for our own portfolio. We have allocated our Cardano holdings to each of these wallets accordingly in order to support independent stake pool operators and take advantage of initial stake pool offerings. Every six months, we update and protect the private keys of each wallet we handle, following the best security practices. 

We will create a dedicated wallet for the Catalyst funds so they can be intentionally preserved.

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

1. (1) Completion of Courses 1 and 2. (2) Implementation of CardanoPress on Website to allow for Web3 wallet connection. (3) Minting of NFTs to serve as credentials for learners who wish to access course content using CardanoPress wallet connection.  
2. Potential students should be able to sign up for the course, access it, and complete it, including all videos, worksheets, and lesson reviews. 
3. Course is live on the Cryptofluency website and on the work.courses platform. CardanoPress plugin access is functional. Course NFTs available for test use. 

1. (1) Completion of Course 3. (2) Creation of a proposal-linked page that will show ongoing analytics about learners’ engagement.
2. Potential students should be able to sign up for the course, access it, and complete it, including all videos, worksheets, and lesson reviews. 
3. Course is live on the Cryptofluency website and on the work.courses platform. The website page is live for public viewing. 

1. (1) Completion of Course 4. (2) Production of a marketing video that explains the education process to potential students.
2. Potential students should be able to sign up for the course, access it, and complete it, including all videos, worksheets, and lesson reviews. Community can access the marketing video and share.
3. Course is live on the Cryptofluency website and on the work.courses platform. Marketing Video posted on YouTube channel and X.

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

Derek Hopkins: Lead Proposer

Derek Hopkins is the founder of Cryptofluency with proven expertise in the Cardano DeFi space. He will oversee all educational content, ensure quality of materials, and demonstrate the unique elements included in the courses using Cardano instruments. Derek will maintain the highest excellence in presenting the information to learners through these videos.   

Derek will also serve as liaison to the Cardano community, sharing updates and project milestones via the Cryptofluency channels. He will connect with other team leaders to broaden the reach of the opportunity across CNT protocol communities.

Cryptofluency Team

The Cryptofluency team has the collective expertise that produced over 200 videos for the Cryptofluencyio YouTube channel on the protocols and concepts listed in this proposal.

You can view the channel here, and you can view a playlist of Cardano dApps & DeFi Protocol Videos here.

The team has the required expertise that brings Cryptofluency YouTube Channel content, Cryptofluency website and graphic collateral to life. They will oversee the production of course videos, materials and supplementary content (worksheets, reviews, graphics, student communications, etc.). They will also oversee the website development for the project, including bringing the courses live on the Cryptofluency website, incorporating the web3 components and minting NFTs so that learners can access via wallet connection. 

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

Total Budget Request: ₳75,000

Labour & subcontracting costs: ₳60,000

This will cover the cost of full-time staff & part-time subcontractor costs for video production, website enhancement, curriculum component completion and graphic design. 

• ₳100/hour at 30 hours/week, 120/month for Course Filming & Production (₳12,000)
• ₳60/hour at 25 hours/week, 100/month Video Editing (₳6,000)
• ₳60/hour at 4 hours/week, 16/month Graphic Design/Materials (₳1,000)
• ₳60/hour at 4 hours/week, 16/month Website Components (₳1,000)

Totals: ₳20,000/month for 3 months project duration = ₳60,000

Overheads: ₳12,000 

• Subscriptions and upgrades to products & tools that provide the online infrastructure (WordPress learning management software, design, security, analytics, and commerce plugins, graphic design & video editing) ₳5,000
• Addition of a lavalier microphone & accessories for videos with whiteboard instruction ₳2,000
• Two Additional Computers & External Drive Space dedicated for editing & production ₳5,000

Materials & Marketing: ₳3,000 

• Printing of marketing and course-related materials for distribution ₳1,000
• Resources related to Digital Marketing materials to promote the course ₳2,000

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

The cost of the project will produce the following value adds:

1. Adds the potential for increasing the Cardano community’s knowledge about the Cardano DeFi ecosystem. Learners develop a sense of the value of their involvement and a propensity to increase their impact as they learn.
2. Inspires current Cardano community members to deepen their consideration of DeFi risks, rewards and opportunity, which strengthens the ecosystem overall. A community that is well educated about DeFi opportunities and considerations can have a ripple effect on overall growth and production. 
3. Serves Cardano DeFi protocols by highlighting their solid work, exemplary products and decentralized accomplishments. Increased involvement in their instruments will bolster the teams and protocols.
4. Encourages a greater familiarity with Cardano among the broad population of crypto participants. Because Cardano is the chosen blockchain for this content, established crypto enthusiasts in other chain environments will have a fast learning track for our ecosystem and can become quickly acquainted with these different DeFi instruments.
5. Establishes educational content geared at preventing loss through poor decision making and unnecessary or uninformed risk, which reinforces the integrity of our community.
6. Leverages insightful analytics - our course reporting will enable us to speak to the topics and content areas where people feel most confused or have the greatest challenge learning. This will equip our overall community with a better understanding of new users’ learning processes, which increases our collective wisdom.
7. Empowers individuals to get involved in each of these Defi protocols’ Governance proposals so they become more experienced with decentralized governance overall. 

Regarding budget, the fees for staff services are commensurate with industry rate, all requested tools and overhead are necessary for the project.