Cardano developers and project founders need a way to host NFT sales independently and reliably, without needing to trust and pay costly service providers.
This is the total amount allocated to Yepple - Complete NFT Sale Platform - Free, Easy, and Safe.
We will provide an open-source, self-hosted Cardano minting platform that enables project founders to facilitate NFT sales on their own to reduce expenses and maximize investor value.
An optional dependency on Cardano API providers, such as BlockFrost, will be available as a substitute for setting up an in-house Cardano Node (a free, open-source application itself). This is needed for basic address scanning and transaction submitting operations, and is not dependent on any specific third party.
Our entire Cardano minting solution will be open-source and free to use. Our modular, open source design will ensure portability, transparency and community collaboration on all components of the solution ranging from UX to transaction processing. This will allow our solution to serve as the backbone for a multitude of new, cutting-edge minting experiences designed by Cardano developers and project founders.
Our solution tackles the problem faced by developers and project founders in the Cardano ecosystem: the complexity of creating and managing NFT minting independently. Our open-source minting platform, built on three years of extensive experience and success within the Cardano industry, offers a robust and tested foundation that prevents common issues such as double mints, invalid metadata, and incorrect payment processing.
By open-sourcing our minting solution, we will enable these developers and project founders to avoid the costs and lack of customization imposed by current service providers and bypass the steep learning curve and risks associated with building new minting solutions. Our platform adheres to Cardano Improvement Proposals (CIPs) standards and ensures fair transaction ordering, reliable and verbose error handling, proper refunds, and correct mint quantities—common pitfalls for those new to minting.
The solution encompasses a full-stack solution, including a frontend minting portal (NextJS web server), all required CIP-30 integration logic, and a server-side process for transaction processing and submission (also written primarily in TypeScript for maximum portability). It will utilize a configuration that is easy to set up yet flexible enough to handle the most obscure mint approaches, backed by the countless customization requests we’ve received from the hundreds of projects that we have provided services for. By packaging the solution as a full-stack platform, it will allow small projects and solo developers/owners to host their own mints without needing a full team to coordinate the different aspects of a sale.
Who Benefits?
Newcomers to Cardano Development: Gain a reliable, well-documented foundation for NFT projects.
Project Founders: Launch projects faster and more securely, avoiding common technical and compliance pitfalls. Gain the ability to build on top of the foundational solution to create unique and valuable minting experiences for their community.
Unique Aspects of Our Solution:
Full Stack: Many open-source projects target a specific aspect of development, such as wallet connection or server-side minting as standalone libraries. These solutions, while being great contributions, still require developers to piece them together in order to obtain even the most common use-cases. Our feature-first approach abstracts the technology away in an end-to-end package to reduce friction and maximize the ability for project owners to be self-sufficient.
Comprehensive Standards Compliance: Ensures all projects built on our platform follow Cardano’s best practices.
Proven Technology: Built from years of real-world application and feedback within the Cardano ecosystem.
Robust Error Handling and Verbose Logging: A foolproof system that can detect and notify the owner of any invalid setup without having it disrupt the sale or lead to any incorrect processing of funds.
Impact Demonstration:
We will measure our impact through the usage of our platform by new projects, reduction in common minting errors, and feedback from the community. Success stories and case studies will be documented and shared through our regular community updates and workshops. In particular, we are confident that putting this power in the hands of projects will allow them to divert their funds in a more efficient way, unlocking new economic opportunities with never-before-seen margins and maximizing the value that they can deliver to their community.
This initiative not only accelerates project development times but also enhances the overall integrity and user trust in Cardano-based projects. It's crucial for fostering a vibrant, innovative community where technology lowers barriers rather than creating them.
Our project will significantly enhance the Cardano ecosystem by democratizing access to NFT minting technology, reducing dependency on costly centralized platforms and promoting a culture of transparency and collaboration. By open-sourcing our advanced minting solution, we empower creators across the globe to launch and manage their NFT projects independently on a secure, scalable, and free platform. This not only drives innovation within the Cardano community but also attracts new users and developers to the platform, strengthening its position in the competitive blockchain space.
We will measure the impact of our project through several key metrics:
To ensure wide distribution and engagement, our outputs will consist of:
These efforts will not only showcase the practical benefits of our solution but also reinforce Cardano's reputation as an inclusive and innovative blockchain community.
Yepple has a strong track record of delivering high-quality blockchain solutions spanning all the way back to February 2021. Having successfully managed over 200 projects on the Cardano platform over the past three years, we have not only mastered the technology relevant to this proposal but we have also gained countless invaluable insights into the impact of the minting experience on a community. Our team is composed of seasoned blockchain developers, project managers, and strategists who are deeply knowledgeable about the Cardano ecosystem. This experience positions us uniquely to deliver this project with high levels of expertise, trust, and accountability.
Yepple has deployed many solutions on Cardano (token generation, airdrops, metadata updates, staking, NFT customizers, storefronts, custom dApps) but minting has always been our flagship solution and it represents our highest level of quality and innovation. We are excited to share these tools, which are fundamental to any NFT project building on Cardano, with the community as part of this proposal. We are confident that we can provide sufficient support and guidance to drive adoption of this solution in the pursuit of a less intimidating project launch process for newcomers.
Milestone 1 (Planning & Technical Design):
Milestone 2 (MVP Development):
Milestone 3 (Technical Documentation & User Instructions):
Milestone 4 (Development Iterations, Community Support, Demonstrations):
Milestone 5 (Close-Out Report & Video):
Nicholas Fekete - CEO/Management
Jake Shearman - CTO/Fullstack Blockchain Developer
Dominic Monette - Developer/Quality Assurance
Tyler McVety - DevOps/Blockchain Developer
Robert Nuss - Project Management
Campurean Alexandru (Sic) - Marketing
Design:
Initial planning and technical design, including setup and configuration documentation, aimed at empowering NFT project owners.
Cost: 25k ADA
Development:
Creation of a minimum viable product (MVP) and subsequent iterations based on community feedback, refining our existing solution for ease of use and minimal dependencies.
Cost: 135k ADA
Documentation:
Comprehensive technical documentation and user instructions to ensure community understanding and ease of adaptation for future development.
Cost: 20k ADA
Management:
Ongoing project oversight, including resource allocation, timeline management, and ensuring deliverables meet proposal goals.
Cost: 10k ADA
Marketing & Support:
Engagement initiatives and support mechanisms, including community outreach, promotional activities, and user support via digital platforms.
Cost: 5k ADA
Our proposed budget represents exceptional value for money for the Cardano ecosystem, reflecting more than three years of intensive development by our experienced team. The investment of 195k ADA in open-sourcing our minting solution is significantly lower than the industry costs of hiring three skilled developers to build a similar robust, secure, and fully-functional minting platform from scratch. Typically, the costs associated with such extensive software development and testing could exceed several hundred thousand dollars, given the specialized nature of blockchain technology. We are not only offering the Cardano community access to our refined, bulletproof technology but also providing comprehensive documentation. This ensures that even those new to the space can quickly leverage our platform to mint and sell NFTs, thereby enhancing innovation and participation within the Cardano ecosystem. In essence, we are equipping the community with a high-caliber toolset that accelerates development timelines, reduces upfront costs, and fosters greater creativity on the blockchain.