urble by Brick Towers - a global savings platform

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Ralph Hofacker

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

Entity (Incorporated)

[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)

urble is a mobile app that empowers individuals to save for themselves and their family members in joint savings accounts in an interactive and engaging way, without the need for a bank account.

[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.”

Onramp provider for ADA as well as wrapped/bridged stablecoins and BTC, ETH on Cardano. Here we will select a suitable provider that enables urble for ADA and if possible for the additional coins. We are confident to find a suitable provider. 

[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

urble will be distributed as a mobile application and the source of the app will stay proprietary. The on-chain smart contract code will be fully open-sourced and audited. Any reusable Cardano libraries developed during the project will be fully open-sourced.

[METADATA] Horizons

Financial Services

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

In conventional setups, within a specific jurisdiction, there are usually several public and private savings solutions available, which have incentives for individuals to use them. Beyond potential existing public pension schemes you receive a tax benefit in such private savings solutions, usually with the necessity to ring-fence such savings for a specific purpose, such as for instance house purchase or for retirement. When you pass away before retirement, it is your next of kin who receive the inheritance and it all goes through the usual legal machinery.

What all of these solutions have in common is that they are set up with a specific bank account and/or depot for the individual, where the bank/broker is conducting the investments in accordance with the savings plan specifics.

At Brick Towers, we provide an entirely alternative private savings and pension solution whereby the individual and his/her loved ones are deciding for themselves how they want to save their money and also for whom. At the center of this platform, “urble” (short for you are able) is a self-custodial wallet, allowing to receive, hold and send coins, pay from the wallet with a debit card and includes a digital contract-based framework that is used by an urble user to decide

• Purpose of savings
• Length of savings plan
• Beneficiary of savings
• Optionally: Definition of milestones and conditions with concrete paths for what shall be done if they are reached or not reached

The savings plans also allow for joint saving setups between couples, family members of just friends

Typical use cases of such savings plans which may have a long time horizon or also only a very short one:

1. Urble user wants to lose weight and sets up a savings plan where upon reaching the goal gets the savings and if not, donates part of it to a charity
2. A parent wants to save for their child until they reach a specific age or moment in their life and hands the savings over according to a pre-defined time and conditions (if conditions are not met also defines what shall happen). The parent also wants to motivate the child in certain situations which leads to a potentially higher savings amount.
3. A couple wants to save for their joint house purchase in the future and sets up contribution plans with individual amounts which upon separation beforehand are resolved in accordance with a specific share of the overall amount.
4. Golf buddies want to bet on the next tee who will have the longer drive, pay the same amount, and then the winner gets the full amount. If there is no consensus, the full amount is sent to charity.

Whenever a check or a control on a certain defined milestone or condition for the savings in the plan to be released is necessary, proof is to be provided by a validation mechanism. During the initial MVP Phase, this shall be provided by social proof, i.e. a nominated individual who confirms acceptance or rejection of a milestone/condition. At a later stage of the project, such validations shall be automated using trustless validation frameworks (oracle-fed validation). 

The attached product deck as well as the draft website outline these concepts in more detail.

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

urble’s ambition is to become the de-facto standard for global self-sovereign private savings solutions. Cardano is unique in its approach to combining innovation with valuable components from other blockchain ecosystems, based on rigorous academic and technical validation and verifiability. urble aims to make people think about their priorities over long-term benefits from saving rather than short-term monetary gratification and thus spans over multiple decades. As such, the approach towards development and adoption will be very similar to Cardano’s. As such, Cardano will be validated as the go-to platform for high-value, sustainable, and critical next-generation savings infrastructure.

urble will have to use many other service providers in the Cardano ecosystem, leading to joint efforts and, hopefully, increasing adoption while driving greater demand for block space. In summary:

• Increased Adoption of Cardano Technology: urble’s use of Cardano's native tokens and wallet infrastructure ensures that users interact directly with the Cardano blockchain, which increases its usage and overall adoption. Additionally, urble's integration of ADA on/off-ramps and support for other blockchain assets (BTC, ETH) will further enhance the Cardano ecosystem's appeal as a cross-chain platform.
• Sustainable and Long-Term Solutions: urble emphasizes long-term, sustainable savings, which aligns with Cardano's vision of building a robust financial infrastructure. This long-term focus, which spans multiple decades, mirrors Cardano's approach, providing value by positioning it as the go-to platform for innovative financial products like savings and pensions.
• Joint Ecosystem Collaboration: The urble platform's need for services like fiat on-/off-ramps, stablecoins, KYC and AML processes, debit card usage and DeFi interactions creates opportunities for collaborations with other projects in the Cardano ecosystem. This cross-collaboration strengthens the ecosystem and leads to joint efforts that improve both adoption and technical capabilities.

[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?

Brick Towers consists of 4 co-founders (2 business/product, 2 full-stack engineers) who have combined expertise in traditional finance and blockchain-based technology and products. Before co-founding Brick Towers, we delivered regulated accumulation, decumulation, one-off, and accumulation-decumulation savings products at Leonteq (first IPOed FinTech in Switzerland) for the Swiss and European insurance and banking market, together with some of the largest Swiss insurance companies and banks (Helvetia, Mobiliar, Raiffeisen, Glarner Kantonalbank). In the blockchain and Web3 industry, the Co-Founders have worked with and delivered key solutions for Pillar Project, Digital Asset and Noumena Digital. With Brick Towers, we build a global savings platform to access and make digital assets yielding. Our non-custodial staking service is SOC 2 Type II certified. We can now combine the knowledge and expertise to build a suitable and scalable global savings solution based on Cardano (and later Midnight for privacy concerns). This builds a valid cross-border alternative to existing public savings and pension solutions.

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

The urble project roadmap, spanning over multiple years, entails the following major components:

1. urble wallet
2. Fiat on-/off-ramp to ADA
3. Support of stablecoins, BTC, and ETH on urble
4. urble smart contract framework for digital savings plans
5. urble Mobile App
6. KYC and AML (where required)
7. urble Spend (integration of debit card solution)
8. urble DAO including governance and voting
9. urble annuities (application of tontine-based life insurance framework)

In our Catalyst proposal, we want to kickstart the implementation and establish an MVP for urble to live on Cardano and enjoy the benefits of its highly decentralized network and ecosystem that was built over the last 7 years.

For urble MVP, we have the following milestones with corresponding acceptance criteria and artifacts (Marketing and business development activities, as well as community building and DAO setup do not form part of the MVP):

Milestone 1: urble website

Outlining the product concept, app features and DAO approach

Acceptance Criteria:

• Website shall give a clear picture to the user what urble stands for, what products it provides and how the app and governance works

Artifacts:

• Publicly accessible urble website in English and German

Milestone 2: urble Mobile App

A first version of urble mobile app.

Acceptance Criteria:

• Allowing test users to download urble test mobile app on iOS and Android
• Creation of urble wallet
• Navigate, see savings plans, balance etc. keys secure

Artifacts:

• Test urble Mobile App accessible to test users
• Video of product demo

Milestone 3: urble savings plan

A first simple version of urble savings plan.

Acceptance Criteria:

• Enabling urble users to create personalized savings plans by selecting from a set of predefined configurations that match their desired conditions
• Validation of savings plan conditions by nominated third party
• Reflection of validation results in redemption of savings plan

Artifacts:

• Unaudited smart contract for individual savings plan (savings plans for couples/families/friends at a later stage )
• Video of product demo

Milestone 4: Fiat on-/offramp and go-live

Onramp ADA to urble test mobile app

Acceptance Criteria:

• ADA can be bought on urble test mobile app
• Release of urble Mobile App

Artifacts:

• Video of product demo
• Project close-out report
• urble available on iOS and Android stores

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

Ralph Hofacker - Business Analyst and Product Owner (LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralph-hofacker/, X: https://x.com/el__perdido)

Ralph brings a deep understanding of blockchain technology and traditional financial systems to the project. His expertise spans the Ethereum smart contract ecosystem, the Bitcoin protocol, and digital asset management, making him well-suited to oversee the technical and financial infrastructure required for a decentralized savings platform. With a proven track record in launching successful savings products, Ralph is highly adept at integrating digital assets with everyday financial tools, ensuring the project will be built on a foundation of innovative and secure financial frameworks. His leadership in the crypto space and hands-on experience with both decentralized technologies and savings solutions will drive the project toward achieving its milestones efficiently.

Ralph’s background combines extensive experience in investment management, financial regulation, and blockchain. Holding dual MSc degrees in Mathematics and Blockchain and Digital Assets, he has applied his technical and analytical skills across banking, insurance, and asset management sectors. As President of a Crypto Foundation and a board candidate for a major Bitcoin association, Ralph is deeply embedded in the blockchain community and has been instrumental in developing solutions that blend traditional finance with decentralized technologies. His ability to navigate complex regulatory environments, alongside his fluency in multiple languages and global work experience, further demonstrates his capability to lead high-impact, cross-functional projects in the financial and digital assets sectors.

Sergey Kisel - Senior Full-stack Engineer and Solution Architect (LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kisel/)

Sergey brings a wealth of expertise to the urble project, drawing on his extensive experience in developing DLT-based solutions and banking-grade investment platforms designed for long-term savings. Leveraging his recent work in wallet integration, he will ensure a smooth incorporation of wallet functionality and fiat on-ramps into the platform, improving both the user experience and the underlying technical framework.

With a strong background in building digital asset platforms and leading pension solutions, Sergey is well-equipped to address the challenges of developing self-custodial wallet systems and personalized savings plans. His deep focus on software architecture and blockchain-based savings mechanisms makes him a key contributor to designing systems that align with urble’s vision of offering alternative private savings solutions.

Imants Firsts - Senior Full-stack Engineer and Smart Contract Developer (LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/firsts/)

Imants will bring to the urble project deep expertise in building decentralized, scalable solutions. His role will focus on designing and implementing the smart contract framework that underpins the digital savings plans within urble. Leveraging his knowledge of blockchain technology, particularly with Cardano and Midnight, Imants will ensure that the platform is secure, efficient, and capable of supporting personalized, multi-party savings interactions. His contributions will be vital to achieving key milestones, such as the creation of the urble wallet, savings plan smart contracts, and integration with on-/off-ramps.

With over 20 years of experience in software engineering, Imants has worked on large-scale cloud solutions, leveraging functional programming languages like Scala to deliver high-quality, secure applications. His background includes developing stable coin issuance and digital savings platforms as well as automating complex financial processes, which align perfectly with the core goals of urble. Imants' expertise in cloud architecture, security, and blockchain technology makes him a valuable asset to the team, as he applies his first-principles approach to solving the technical challenges of decentralized financial systems.

Further to these key contributors, Brick Towers will hire a supporting developer for mobile app design and development work.

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

Milestone 1: urble website

Total Duration: 30 Days

• Specification and Design: 15,000 ADA
• Implementation: 15,000 ADA

Total: 30,000 ADA

Milestone 2: urble Mobile App

Total Duration: 30 Days

• Specification and Design: 10,000 ADA
• Mobile App Developer: 10,000 ADA
• Backend Developer: 10,000 ADA
• Solution Architect: 5,000 ADA

Total: 35,000 ADA

Milestone 3: urble savings plan

Total Duration: 90 Days

• Mobile App Developer: 15,000 ADA
• Backend Developer: 15,000 ADA
• Solution Architect: 5,000 ADA
• Smart Contract Developer: 25,000 ADA
• Business validation: 15.000

Total: 75,000 ADA

Milestone 4: Fiat on-/offramp and go-live

Total Duration: 30 Days

• Mobile App Developer: 5,000 ADA
• Backend Developer: 5,000 ADA

Total: 10,000 ADA

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

The urble project represents significant value for the Cardano ecosystem by addressing a crucial gap: creating a global, self-sovereign savings platform that operates beyond traditional banking infrastructures, being a killer app for crypto. By leveraging Cardano's decentralized and secure blockchain, urble offers a unique value proposition—empowering users to create personalized savings solutions for themselves and their loved ones.

Western countries with advanced pension systems, such as Switzerland, are facing increasing management costs for pension solutions. Additionally, aging populations pose significant challenges to existing pension schemes. Urble, as a decentralized savings solution, provides a global, accessible alternative at a much lower cost, directly benefiting savers. With decades of experience in traditional finance, particularly in structuring innovative savings solutions, the Brick Towers team focuses on delivering solutions that enhance accessibility and cost-efficiency for the Cardano ecosystem and its users.

The proposed milestones follow a lean and transparent development process, which ensures a cost-effective implementation of the project. By focusing on core MVP functionalities, such as wallet creation, savings plans, and fiat integration, the proposal ensures that resources are efficiently utilized to deliver real, impactful results.