Waffle | SIDAN - Hong Kong Cardano Community

[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 host three events in Hong Kong. It will increase institutional awareness of Cardano and give members of the Cardano community in Asia a platform to showcase their protocols.

[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

Our project is a marketing one. We will be transparent with associated costs but being open source is not relevant to this proposal as there is no source code.

[METADATA] SDG rating

SDG 4: Quality Education - Our hub's focus on providing educational workshops and resources aligns with the goal of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities.

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals - Working with various partners and the community aligns with the goal of revitalizing global partnerships for sustainable development.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Hong Kong has a deep history in being the financial center of Asia. It has also taken steps to welcome blockchain companies to the city, recently becoming the first jurisdiction in Asia to issue spot Bitcoin/Ethereum ETFs. There are also plenty of enterprises in the blockchain industry that have been operating in Hong Kong over the last several years. 

The main issue we want to address is that while there are clearly opportunities for Cardano to penetrate this massive market, not much attention has been paid to it by the Cardano Community. Likewise, we have come to find that not many institutions in Hong Kong are aware of the incredible progress that Cardano has made over the last few years, especially with the evolution of DeFi on the blockchain.

As members of the Cardano community in Hong Kong, Waffle Capital Ltd. and SIDAN Labs would like to host three events specifically targeted towards educating financial institutions in Hong Kong about the opportunities that lie within the Cardano Ecosystem. We will invite protocol team members, organizational team members and members of the community in general, to come and join us in painting a more accurate picture of where Cardano is, what its future looks like and why financial institutions should be having a closer look at it.

The biggest impact we believe this will have is on the liquidity that it is provided in the Cardano DeFi ecosystem. As more and more promising dApps and protocols are built there is a need for an increase in the amount of liquidity being provided. Looking to a robust financial hub like Hong Kong can be a very impactful strategy by community members.

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

While members of the Cardano Community have been continuously putting resources into building and developing on the blockchain, other blockchains have prioritized marketing and have used comparatively more resources in this area. For Cardano, this has resulted in a robust blockchain but with a lack of reach and misconceptions.

At this juncture of Cardano’s journey more importance needs to be paid towards the marketing and public engagement aspects of the development. We believe that with our initiative we can change that narrative and show prominent members of the financial industry in Asia that Cardano is a blockchain that needs to be taken seriously. Overall, that should inject more of the capital from the traditional financial world to the Cardano ecosystem and improve the public perception of the blockchain and its community.

[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?

Overall, our approach to delivering on our initiative will be similar to our approach in Fund11. Please find the links below to show the public engagement and constant communication with the Hong Kong community, including prominent members of the Cardano community also showing our initiatives on their media platforms. This will allow for complete transparency with the community and general public and also shows our proven track record in being able to deliver on hosting these events.

Links:

Why Cardano - Panel

https://lu.ma/k3mh2f6g - Register Link

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7189163792293892097 - LinkedIn After

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7186260046081617922 - LinkedIn Before

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1783397380446109847 - Twitter After

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1780523230375338378 - Twitter Before

https://twitter.com/cwpaulm/status/1786026712880304437 - Paul Twitter

- Paul Youtube

https://x.com/SIDANWhatever/status/1783095035543900261 - Sidan Twitter

From Idea to Funded Project

https://lu.ma/hkcardano_getfunded - Register Link

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7183377594174595072 - LinkedIn After

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1777530707298091327 - Twitter After

https://twitter.com/sidan_lab/status/1777377206274249038 - Sidan Twitter

https://x.com/SIDANWhatever/status/1777378650746163476 - Hinson Twitter

Cardano HK Community Networking Party

https://lu.ma/cxch1n01 - Register Link

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7175340941996654592 - LinkedIn After

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1769581081781735509 - Twitter After 

https://twitter.com/sidan_lab/status/1768873569348673680 - Sidan Twitter

The Belgium-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

https://blcchk.glueup.com/event/why-crypto-matters-103527/?pk_campaign=widget-event-list - Register Link

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7184379121546768387 - LinkedIn After

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7183002940561879041 - LinkedIn Before

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1778647348010508759 - Twitter After

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1777983403989905659 - Twitter Before

Carlyle: Why Crypto Matters?

https://x.com/Waffle_Capital/status/1762664453911216621 - Twitter After

SIDAN

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1772697522575700232 - Partnership with OxUClub to onboard students to the Cardano Ecosystem

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1788230171247493478 - Interview with Sheldon Hunt

https://x.com/sidan_lab/status/1788108584561365377 - AMA session with MonsterBlockHK

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

Objective:

Increase institutional awareness on the current state and progress of governance on the blockchain while inviting members from the Cardano community in Asia to join in.

Activities: 

• Provide a presentation on where we are with Cardano Governance
• Have members of the community present to answer Q&A on this
• Have some networking right after the talks/Q&A to allow attendees to discuss and deep dive into the topic

Proof of activities:

• Event manager, event dates, location will be publicly disclosed
• Event content will be finalised and published through public link
• Event photos/ videos will be published through public link

Objective:

Increase institutional awareness of the current Cardano DeFi ecosystem and invite members in Asia to come explain the evolution of this space.

Activities: 

• Provide a presentation on where we are with Cardano DeFi
• Have members of the community present to answer Q&A on this
• Have some networking right after the talks/Q&A to allow attendees to discuss and deep dive into the topic

Proof of activities:

• Event manager, event dates, location will be publicly disclosed
• Event content will be finalised and published through public link
• Event photos/ videos will be published through public link

Objective:

Increase institutional awareness on the dApps/Protocols on Cardano. Using the network we have built, create an event in which Cardano dApps/Protocols located in Asia can come together to showcase their protocols and show Asia’s financial hub the burgeoning ecosystem that is Cardano.

Activities: 

• Have multiple talks during the day on different topics of Cardano
• Have members of the community have spaces to showcase their projects
• Have some networking simultaneously to allow members of the Cardano community in Asia to create connections with those in the traditional finance/cryptocurrency space in Hong Kong.

Proof of activities:

• Event manager, event dates, location will be publicly disclosed
• Event content will be finalised and published through public link
• Event photos/ videos will be published through public link

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

Waffle Capital - In charge of the logistics, organizing the event, inviting members of the Cardano community and Hong Kong community

SIDAN Labs - Inviting members of the Cardano community and Hong Kong community for our events

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

Milestone 1: Educational Event on Cardano Governance (30k)

Milestone 2: Educational Event on Cardano DeFi (30k)

Final Milestone: Cardano dApps/Protocols Showcase (40k)

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

Hong Kong, renowned as a global financial hub, offers unique advantages that make it a prime location for cryptocurrency ecosystems. As a gateway between the East and West, it provides unparalleled access to Asian markets while maintaining robust connections to the rest of the world. This locale is complemented by a world-class legal and regulatory framework (crucial for emerging technologies), a favourable tax regime (with low corporate taxes and no capital gains tax), and a culturally diverse talent pool (with the resources and capacity needed for innovation). Keeping the aforementioned in mind, our project will bring awareness to more institutions and individuals in Hong Kong. The lack of education which we are trying to fill will result in more engagement on the blockchain and financing for projects that are part of the Cardano ecosystem.