Empowering DeFi - Crowdfunded Revenue Streams

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Main Applicant: Andrew Caldwell

[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

150000

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

6

[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 will create an innovative DeFi model enabling investors to select their allocations and crowdfund real-world asset verticals that produce passive revenue streams, with no limits or gimmicks.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[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?

No

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

The proposals outputs will primarily be focused around the user interface, transaction processing, data tracking, and fund management of the investments being sent into the platform. This will all remain proprietary as it is an expansion on the current business model of the BankerLabs project, and our project intends to use this product as a competitive edge in the DeFi market.

[METADATA] Horizons

DeFi

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Our solution is built around the idea that Cardano investors deserve to be empowered in their investment decisions, which will ultimately drive volume for Cardano in terms of transactions, engagement, and locked assets. Currently, investors are limited to investing in tokens or NFT collections, which come with their own massive speculation factor even if they are meant to be driven by utility. This speculation factor wipes away a Cardano investor’s ability to logically analyze an investment for risk vs. reward. Investors need and deserve a way to allocate funds towards particular investments through the Cardano blockchain for assets or objectives that are transparent and do not have any speculation affecting their returns. Our team, BankerLabs, already operates around the concept of “verticals”, which are various investments that we have made with a goal of passive revenue generation. These include mining rigs (e.g. Bitcoin mining), Bourbon barrels, Real Estate, and DeFi lending. We have seen very positive sentiment around this model, however the rewards are still governed by ownership of our speculative NFTs and tokens which are strongly subject to crypto market changes, meaning that an investor must multiply their risk/reward factor on top of the vertical investments.

The proposed solution will provide a new section of dApp where users can select from a variety of revenue-generating investments. Many of these investments will have no investment limit, as they will only become more effective as the purchasing power increases – for example, with discounted Bitcoin mining rigs based on purchase quantity. Each investment will have a minimum volume required before the funds are deployed for revenue generation – this is where crowdfunding comes in. As an example, take Bitcoin mining rigs where each rig has a cost. Buying multiple rigs may give a discounted cost, and therefore greater rewards. Based on community governance, which is already fully operational within our project’s dApp, we will set the minimum amount of funds required before completing the purchase of Bitcoin mining rigs. This threshold factors in funds from all investors, making it a collaborative effort to get an investment launched.

The amount of revenue earned by an investor is directly proportional to their contributions compared to the total pool of funds used to generate the corresponding revenue. No games, no tricks, no rarity, and no gambling – if you make an investment, you will earn the fair and respective revenue as it is generated. 100% of the investments made on the platform will be designated for investment. There will be no hidden fees or commission on the funds going into investments, maximizing long-term revenue generation. As the revenue is generated, our team will earn a percentage, which will keep incentives aligned and allow them to continue effectively initiating and overseeing all investment verticals – the team percentage will be determined by governance, with the knowledge that a higher fee allows for more exciting investment verticals that may require more attention from the team. We expect the team percentage to land between 5% and 20%, but it is the choice of the community. A portion of the team’s percentage, also determined by the community, will be reserved for buying back investment allocations from those who wish to exit their position. This will allow investments to remain liquid while demonstrating the project’s commitment to the investments. The method for distribution of revenue is already in place with our project’s current vertical reward distributions, so this will not require any funds to facilitate.

The dApp dashboard built for this proposal will have a primary goal of transparency above all else. Current investment allocations, community-wide investments, fund thresholds and targets, activity history, proportion ownership of each vertical, revenue distributions, and all other finances associated with the model will be displayed prominently and intuitively to ensure that all investors are on an equal footing and fully aware of their options.

As far as the specific investment vehicles are concerned, the options are limitless. Due to the crowdfunding nature of the application, we will be able to present innovative verticals not traditionally seen on the blockchain. Things such as angel investing in promising startups, providing loans to companies and/or people (pending legal consultation), buying revenue shares of local businesses, purchasing rental properties, etc. etc. – the list goes on, but the point is that the options are limitless and the investments that are launched will be based on whether or not the community supports them with their funds. For any initiatives that have not reached the funding threshold, users will be able to withdraw their funds at any time prior to the launch.

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

The opportunities and impact resulting from this proposal will be incredibly straightforward and visible on the investment dashboard. The opportunities are of course the different investment vehicles that are offered to users, and the impact is the quantity and financial magnitude of the transactions performed through the protocol. Every ADA sent in for investment represents a value-add to the Cardano community, showing an investor taking advantage of an opportunity that has never existed on Cardano previously. Having investment vehicles with a greater capability for financial analysis, particularly with their reduced risk with the speculative asset component taken out of it, will attract more serious investors – potentially at a much greater scale than we currently see. Traditionally, people and companies alike have a budget in mind for the amount of funds they are willing to spend on speculative assets such as NFTs and tokens – with this protocol, that speculation is no longer a factor, which can promote larger investments, dollar cost averaging, and an overall healthier, safer, and more lucrative investing experience than the unfortunate hype-driven pump-and-dumps that we often see. As mentioned, the impact will be clearly presented and publicly visible to anyone and everyone who visits the dashboard in our dApp. This data will be real-time and will give investors and community members confidence in their investments.

[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?

As mentioned, our team has been operating several verticals of investments since the launch of our project. With a mix of real-world assets and other initiatives such as Bourbon, Real Estate, Mining, and lending, the team is capable and confident of managing investments. The current state of our dApp allows users to see their earnings on a daily basis, alongside a historical revenue distribution table allowing them to see the long-term aggregate data. As with this proposal, our currently deployed solutions are focused on transparency and giving value to investors. This proposal would be a large step forward and give us the opportunity to scale this idea much further, but the core operations will ultimately remain the same, and we have proven this track record over the past year.

Our development partner, Yepple, has been building payment processing solutions and dApps on Cardano for over 3 years. They are responsible for building all of our currently deployed solutions, and they are capable of supporting this platform as well. They have handled our token presale distribution, all of our NFT mints, and all of our custom solutions for revenue distribution & tracking as well as governance. This has all been performed in a professional manner that has instilled trust and confidence not only from our perspective, but from our entire community’s perspective and from the Cardano community as a whole.

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

Milestone 1 (Planning & Technical Design): 

• Outputs: Scope of work, design, and other associated planning documents for all technical aspects of the proposal. Importantly, this includes a clearly defined method for processing investor fund submissions. It will also include a clear definition of the data that will be available on the dashboard, keeping transparency in mind. It will also detail the initial investment verticals that will be available to users at launch.
• Acceptance Criteria: The designs and documentation provide a clear preliminary understanding of how the protocol will operate, in both the technical and financial aspects. The documentation elaborates on the solution to all high-level technical requirements in this proposal and aligns with the future milestones of this proposal.
• Evidence: Two distinct PDF documents, one detailing technical design and the other detailing the financial model of the protocol along with the initial investment verticals and their expected revenue generation.

Milestone 2 (Product Development - Server-Side): 

• Outputs: A feature-complete backend, including an API, Cardano transaction processor, and database, encompassing every technical feature and all functionality detailed in this proposal. This milestone will mark the completion of the protocol’s implementation from a feature and security standpoint – it will not, however, include the user-facing interface. The backend will initially be launched using Cardano’s preview and/or preprod networks for testing purposes. A demonstration video will be provided to show the successful operation of the API & Cardano transaction processor with verbose logging.
• Acceptance Criteria: Product development meets all technical requirements described in this proposal with respect to server-side development. The demonstration video shows expected transaction processing behavior and API functionality.
• Evidence: The demonstration video will serve as evidence of the completed server-side product development and its effectiveness as a deployed solution.

Milestone 3 (Product Development - Client-Side): 

• Outputs: A feature-complete user-facing dashboard, including comprehensive CIP-30 integration that enable all necessary dApp interactions as well as a comprehensive data display as described throughout this proposal. This milestone will mark the completion of development, allowing users to make use of all protocol features. The dashboard will initially be launched using Cardano’s preview and/or preprod networks for testing purposes. A demonstration video will be provided to show the successful operation of the dashboard, as well as the logging of the API & Cardano transaction processor as seen in Milestone 2.
• Acceptance Criteria: Product development meets all technical requirements described in this proposal with respect to client-side development. The demonstration video shows expected dApp interactions allowing for submitting an investment as well as displaying up-to-date data on the protocol and a user’s personal investments.
• Evidence: The demonstration video, in combination with a URL of the dApp running on the preview or preprod network, will serve as evidence of the completed server-side product development and its effectiveness as a deployed solution. 

Milestone 4 (Testing, Community Onboarding & Support): 

• Outputs: User-facing documentation and infographics. Community testing is completed, with documentation and infographics updated based on community feedback. Protocol is fully operational on the mainnet network. Discord server is available for support.
• Acceptance Criteria: There is sufficient user-facing documentation and infographics for a high-level understanding of the protocol and how to interact with it. A URL is provided for the mainnet release of the dApp, meeting all functional requirements detailed in the proposal.
• Evidence: The released dApp, accessible at the provided URL, in combination with the user-facing documentation, infographics, and support available within the BankerLabs Discord server and website, will serve as evidence of the completed milestone.

Milestone 5 (Close-Out Report & Video): 

• Outputs: Comprehensive project report detailing the development process, community impact, and future directions. A professional video showcasing the project's journey and final product.
• Acceptance Criteria: The report and video must comprehensively cover all aspects of the project, demonstrating the success and community benefit.
• Evidence: Final project close-out report and a video link shared with the community through Discord, social media, and potentially additional locations.

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

The proposal will be spearheaded by the BankerLabs team, which launched the $BANK token and subsequent staking and governance solutions on their platform. The team maintains several revenue streams (i.e. verticals) that were funded through the presale and following NFT sales, and the rewards from these revenue streams go directly back into the hands of token  and NFT holders. Our team has handled millions of ADA in funds, with several hundred thousands of ADA already being distributed as rewards. The two visionaries of the BankerLabs team have helped drive adoption of utility tokens on the Cardano network and have invested heavily in their partner projects on Cardano, particularly in relation to mining. These activities have given them a strong understanding of community, social, and ecosystem knowledge, which builds on the financial and business management knowledge they already possessed through their careers.

For the development, we plan to use our long-term development partner Yepple. Our team already has a standing agreement in place for development through the Yepple team, so there is no additional overhead associated with this partnership.

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

Planning & Technical Design:

As with any financial protocol, it is essential to support its sustainability claims with sufficient R&D, documentation, and planning in the financial and technical aspects. This is needed to give investors confidence in the protocol and accelerate adoption and volume. This also includes R&D related to the selection of investment vehicles based on community sentiment, risk, and potential revenue. 

Cost: 30k ADA

Product Development:

Server-side development is the core of the protocol. It encompasses the processing of transactions, the tracking and storage of all data, the API to interact with the protocol and extract practical data, and the reward distribution mechanism. As it will be handling large amounts of user funds, it must be secure, robust, and well-designed.

Cost: 85k ADA

Client-side development is what will enable adoption and usage of the protocol. It encompasses the dApp’s dashboard, which will allow investors to manage their fund allocations and view protocol performance metrics.

Cost: 25k ADA

Community-Driven Testing, Onboarding & Support:

The final stage before release of the protocol is the “preprod” stage, where we get beta testers to interact with the protocol using test ADA. This will allow us to fine-tune the protocol’s UI/UX and obtain community feedback on the usability and documentation of the protocol to ensure it is ready for onboarding the entirety of the Cardano community as well as members new to the ecosystem.

Cost: 10k ADA

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

Our proposal opens up never-been-seen investment possibilities on Cardano, and the associated transaction quantity and magnitude will produce limitless value for the Cardano ecosystem. With respect to development costs, many components of our solution are already built and do not require any funding, including revenue distribution mechanisms and foundational UI/UX on the dApp. This greatly lowers our cost to launch this protocol, and makes it substantially lower than any other company who would need funds for these additional components as well. With the cost of the proposal being equivalent to the part time wage of a junior developer (in the US, where the team and development partner are located), and with the output being a new and innovative financial model capable of enabling a new wave of investors on Cardano, the value for the cost becomes clear. We are beyond excited for the opportunity to contribute to Cardano in a truly original way, paving the road for a sustainable future.