Exura DeFi Dashboard and API

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Javier Acosta

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

Entity (Not Incorporated)

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

8

[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're building a DeFi toolkit for Cardano: blockchain monitor, portfolio dashboard, and open API. It turns complex on-chain data into straightforward, actionable visualizations and insights for users.

[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.”

At the moment, we mainly rely on blockchain monitors to surface the events we process. While for preliminary work we are using BlinkLabs' Adder, we don’t have a hard reliance on it as we can also fall back on Oura, from TxPipe.

Additionally, we use PyCardano and Kupo for processing and querying of on-chain entities respectively.

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

Yes

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

As open source advocates, we intend to use an MIT license for the output of the project and encourage others to adopt it and participate in its growth.

We'd prefer to keep the source code private during the earliest stage of its development, though this is not a strict necessity.

[METADATA] Horizons

DeFi

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

At Exura Labs, we’re developing a comprehensive DeFi toolkit for the Cardano ecosystem, addressing the current lack of user-centric and easy-to-understand portfolio tracking tools. Our solution consists of three main components:

1. Real-time Blockchain Monitor: We're creating a robust system to track and interpret on-chain events in real-time. This forms the foundation of our solution, allowing us to gather and process on-chain activity data across various protocols on Cardano.
2. User-friendly Portfolio Visualizer: Building on the blockchain monitor, we will develop an intuitive dashboard that presents users with a clear, easy-to-understand view of their assets and activity. This includes:

• Asset allocation breakdowns across different protocols
• Simplified transaction histories in more expressive language (e.g., "Removed liquidity from ADA-IAG pool" instead of just “Withdraw” or “Funds received”)
• Portfolio performance metrics

1. Open API: To foster ecosystem growth and integration, we will offer an open API that will allow developers to access our processed data. This will enable the improvement of new and existing user interfaces that can benefit from our insights.

Our approach is unique in several ways:

• We will offer a comprehensive view of users' DeFi allocations across multiple protocols, something currently lacking in the Cardano ecosystem as data tends to be limited to single sources.
• Our streamlining of transaction data will make complex DeFi activities more approachable to users of all experience levels.
• By providing an open API, we're not just creating a product, but supporting other tools and services across the Cardano ecosystem.

We'll engage with both individual Cardano users and developers:

• For users, we'll provide an easy-to-use dashboard that simplifies their portfolio management experience.
• For developers, we'll offer a powerful API to build better services and integrations.

To demonstrate our impact, we'll track metrics such as:

• Number of users of our dashboard
• Volume of API calls from third-party systems
• User feedback on improved understanding and management of their portfolios

Exura is important for Cardano because it lowers the barrier to entry for DeFi participation, improves user experience, and provides tools for ecosystem growth. By making it more accessible and understandable, we aim to drive adoption in the Cardano DeFi space.

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

Our project’s impact on the Cardano community will hopefully be multifaceted and far-reaching, as it will bring:

1. Enhanced User Experience: Our intuitive dashboard and meaningful transaction descriptions will make it easier for users to keep track of and manage their on-chain activities. This improved experience will likely lead to more confident and active DeFi participants.
2. Increased Transparency: By providing clear, comprehensive views of every wallet and not just the users’ own address(es), Exura dashboards will increase overall transparency in the ecosystem, potentially leading to greater engagement and trust.
3. Increased DeFi Adoption: By simplifying the DeFi experience, Exura will reduce the learning curve for new users. This will likely lead to increased participation in Cardano's ecosystem, driving liquidity and overall increasing TVL across various protocols.
4. Developer Empowerment: Our open API will provide developers with rich processed data, enabling the creation of new tools and services.

Measuring Impact:

We will measure our impact through various metrics such as:

• Number of active users of our dashboard
• Volume and frequency of API calls
• Number of projects/tools integrating our API
• Feedback from users and developers using our products

Sharing Outputs and Opportunities:

We are committed to openly sharing our progress and findings with the Cardano community with:

1. Regular Updates: We'll publish monthly updates on our progress, interesting insights from our data, and case studies of how our tools are being used.
2. Open Source Contributions: Wherever possible, we'll contribute upstream to the projects we depend on, ensuring mutual growth.
3. Community Engagement: We'll actively participate in Cardano community forums and events, sharing our learnings and gathering feedback.
4. Developer Documentation: We'll provide comprehensive documentation for our API, including example use cases to inspire developers.

By providing these tools and insights, Exura aims to be a catalyst(😉) for growth, innovation, and accessibility in the ecosystem. Our success will be measured not just by our direct metrics, but by the overall growth and maturation of DeFi on Cardano that our tools enable.

[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?

Javier's capability to deliver the Exura project goals is demonstrated through our structured approach to development and deep understanding of the Cardano ecosystem. Notably, we have already bootstrapped the development out of pocket for months, showcasing a strong commitment to the project and significant progress to date while having a well-defined long-term goal and a step-by-step approach to achieving it. We want to highlight in detail:

1. Technical Expertise: Javier has demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of Cardano's blockchain architecture, DeFi protocols, and the technical requirements for building a robust backend and user-centric dashboard. This is evidenced by our detailed project roadmap and the specifications outlined for the Exura Dashboard.
2. Modular Development Approach: The long-term vision has been broken down into manageable stages, starting with the Dashboard and API first with the intention of growing into a yield aggregator and tokenized vaults protocol afterwards. This approach allows us to validate our processes early, delivering value to users incrementally, and building a strong foundation for the next stages.
3. Ecosystem Integration: Our project leverages existing Cardano ecosystem tools, demonstrating its ability to integrate with and build upon established infrastructure, which will only grow further as we progress and incorporate the leading protocols on Cardano.

To validate our approach feasibility:

1. Iterative Development: We will employ an incremental development process, continuously refining and improving our solution based on technical insights gained during the development process.
2. Rigorous Testing: Each component of the Exura backend and Dashboard will undergo thorough testing, including unit, behavior and integration tests, to ensure reliability and performance.
3. Performance Benchmarking: We will conduct performance tests and optimizations to ensure our solution can handle the growing real-world blockchain data volumes and user loads.

Last but not least, to demonstrate trustworthiness in managing funds we provide a detailed budget breakdown, allocating resources to specific project components and team roles.

Through this combination of existing progress, technical expertise, structured development approach, and commitment to transparency in budgeting, we believe we are well-positioned to deliver the Exura Dashboard successfully and manage the granted funds responsibly.

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

🛠️ Backend Foundation (2 months) 🛠️

• Milestone outputs:

1. Cardano chain monitor
2. Data processing pipeline that handles Minswap, native staking, and wallet transactions

• Acceptance Criteria:

1. The backend correctly identifies and categorizes transactions in a pre-prepared test set of 100 diverse transactions (including Minswap, native staking, and wallet operations).

• Evidence of Completion:

1. A link to the GitHub repository containing the blockchain monitor code.
2. A CSV file showing the results of the transaction identification test, including accuracy percentages and misclassification examples if any.

💪 Protocol Expansion (1 month) 💪

• Milestone outputs:

1. Expanded backend supporting Liqwid Finance and Indigo protocols, covering over 50% of Cardano's TVL beyond basic wallet and native staking operations.

• Acceptance Criteria:

1. The backend correctly processes transactions in a pre-prepared test set of 20 transactions each for Liqwid Finance and Indigo.
2. The documentation includes step-by-step instructions for integrating a new protocol, with code examples.

• Evidence of Completion:

1. A link to the GitHub repository with the updated backend code, including test scripts for the new protocols.
2. A markdown file in the repository containing the protocol integration documentation.

✨ Frontend Development and Integration (2 months) ✨

• Milestone outputs:

1. User interface for the Exura Dashboard
2. Integration of frontend with backend API

• Acceptance Criteria:

1. The user interface includes at least 3 key views: portfolio overview, transaction history and protocol allocations.
2. All key views successfully load and display data from the backend API within 10 seconds on a desktop browser.

• Evidence of Completion:

1. A link to the GitHub repository containing the frontend code, with clear setup instructions for local testing.
2. A screen recording demonstrating the functionality and loading times of the key views using a test wallet.

🧑💻 Advanced Features and API (2 months) 🧑💻

• Milestone outputs:

1. Public API with documentation
2. Graphic indicators for portfolio performance
3. User account system

• Acceptance Criteria:

1. The API documentation covers all endpoints, includes at least 2 usage examples.
2. The dashboard includes at least 2 types of graphic indicators (e.g., pie charts, line graphs) for visualizing portfolio data.
3. The user account system supports wallet login and stores user preferences.

• Evidence of Completion:

1. A link to the published API documentation.
2. Screenshots of the dashboard showing the implemented graphic indicators.
3. A document outlining the user account system's features and how they're linked to user wallets (at least 2 pages long).

🏁 Production Readiness and Community Outreach (1 month) 🏁

• Milestone outputs:

1. Production-ready Exura app deployment.
2. Community outreach campaign.
3. Project Close-out Report and Video.

• Acceptance Criteria:

1. The dashboard shows responsiveness by loading the main page and retrieving data for a test wallet within 5 seconds, repeatable over consecutive attempts.
2. The community outreach campaign plan targets at least 3 different Cardano community platforms (e.g., Reddit, Twitter, Discord).
3. The Close-out Report is at least 10 pages long and includes sections on project summary, achievements, challenges, and future plans.

• Evidence of Completion:

1. A link to the live, publicly accessible Exura app.
2. A report detailing the reach and engagement metrics of the community outreach campaign.
3. Links to the Project Close-out Report (PDF) and Video.

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

Javier Acosta - Project Lead and Software Engineer - LinkedIn - GitHub

Javier will oversees the entire project and ensure the teams' alignment with the vision and goals. Leading development efforts across the tech stack, leverages years of experience building high performance distributed architectures, along with deep knowledge of DeFi applications not just on Cardano, but also of the EVM ecosystem and its success stories.

As we progress, we plan to expand our team to include:

• Frontend Developer / UI Designer: We're already looking for a talented individual with strong skills in modern frontend frameworks and UI/UX design. This person will be crucial in creating our dashboard and ensuring an ideal user experience.
• An additional Backend developer to accelerate the integration of new protocols into our system and ensure our API is scalable and robust.
• A Community Manager to foster engagement with users, developers and the broader Cardano community.

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

🏅 Budget Allocation by Milestone 🏅

1. Backend Foundation: 35000 ADA
2. Protocol Expansion: 30000 ADA
3. Frontend Development and Integration: 35000 ADA
4. Advanced Features and API: 25000 ADA
5. Production Readiness and Community Outreach: 25000 ADA

The budget is allocated across our five milestones, ensuring steady progress and delivery throughout the project's duration. Each milestone includes a portion of the personnel costs, operational expenses, and contingency fund as needed.

Personnel Costs (115000 ADA)

• Lead Developer: 40000 ADA
• Frontend Developer (later stages): 35000 ADA
• Backend Developer: 30000 ADA
• Community Manager (last stage): 10,000 ADA

Operational Costs (25000 ADA)

• Servers and Infrastructure: 17000 ADA
• Cloud hosting services and scaling: 15000 ADA
• Other services and APIs: 2000 ADA
• Development Tools and Resources: 5,000 ADA
• CI/CD, Testing and monitoring tools: 3000 ADA
• Other software: 2000 ADA
• Marketing and Community Outreach: 3000 ADA

Contingency Fund (10000 ADA)

• Reserved for unforeseen expenses, additional development needs, or to account for ADA price fluctuations during the project timeline.

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

The Exura Dashboard and API represent excellent value for money for the ecosystem for several reasons:

1. Unique and Comprehensive Solution: We'll offer a combination of features not currently available in the ecosystem. Our dashboard will provide both historical activity and current portfolio status in one place, with a more meaningful and user-friendly presentation than existing alternatives, which will significantly enhance user experience in Cardano DeFi.
2. Ecosystem Growth Catalyst: Currently, only about 3% of Cardano's circulating supply is participating in DeFi as Total Value Locked (TVL). Exura aims to increase this percentage by lowering entry barriers, improving transparency, and improving user experience in DeFi. Even a small increase in this percentage could represent significant growth in the sector, potentially bringing billions of dollars in additional TVL.
3. Open API for Innovation: Our open API will enable developers to build on our infrastructure, fostering innovation and expanding the ecosystem's capabilities, which could further drive adoption and increase TVL.
4. Efficient Resource Allocation: Our budget is carefully allocated across milestones ensuring steady progress and delivery. The majority goes directly to skilled personnel who will build and maintain the platform, maximizing the impact of the investment.
5. Open Source Development: As an open-source project, Exura will contribute valuable code and learnings to the entire Cardano community, extending the impact of the funding beyond just our platform.
6. Long-term Vision: While this funding round focuses on the Exura Dashboard, it lays the groundwork for future developments like yield optimization and decentralized asset management. This means the initial investment has the potential for long-term, compound benefits to the ecosystem.
7. Cost-Effective Alternative: We're offering features for free that some alternatives charge for, providing better value to end-users and potentially attracting more participants to the Cardano DeFi space.

Given the potential for Exura to significantly enhance DeFi accessibility, user experience, and overall ecosystem growth on Cardano, we believe the requested funding represents exceptional value for money. By aiming to increase the overall ADA participating in DeFi, even a small success could translate to millions in additional TVL. This potential for substantial ecosystem growth, combined with the project's direct benefits, means that the impact of Exura is expected to far exceed its cost, driving adoption and innovation across the Cardano network 🔥.