OpenMM: Cardano’s Universal Market Making Toolkit

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

OpenMM: Cardano’s Universal Market Making Toolkit

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

85000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

6

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

Small Cardano projects face high CEX market-making costs and fragmented integrations, leading to poor liquidity, wide spreads, and slow, costly exchange onboarding.

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

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

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No dependencies

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

The SDK will be fully open source under the MIT License, allowing free use, modification, and distribution for both commercial and non-commercial purposes, encouraging broad adoption and community contributions.

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal

Developer Tools

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Mention your open source license and describe your open source license rationale.

We will use the MIT License for its simplicity, permissive nature, and wide adoption. It allows anyone to use, modify, and distribute the SDK freely, maximizing adoption, collaboration, and ecosystem impact.

How do you make sure your source code is accessible to the public from project start, and people are informed?

We will host the SDK in a public GitHub repository from project start, with regular commits, clear documentation, and public updates via Catalyst reports, developer channels, and community announcements.

How will you provide high quality documentation?

We will deliver detailed Markdown documentation, API references, setup guides, and strategy tutorials, kept up-to-date in the GitHub repo, ensuring developers can easily understand, use, and extend the SDK.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Our solution is an open-source Cardano CEX Integration SDK that unifies market-making across multiple centralized exchanges, eliminating the need for costly custom integrations. It provides a single, extensible interface to trade Cardano native tokens on MEXC, Gate.io, Bitget, and Kraken, with complete CNT support. The SDK includes advanced strategies like grid trading, liquidity provision, and dynamic rebalancing, plus developer-friendly tools such as CLI utilities, Docker deployment, and REST APIs with Swagger documentation. By removing $10k+/month market-making barriers, it empowers small and mid-sized projects to access professional-grade liquidity, improve price stability, reduce spreads, and increase trading volumes—strengthening the entire Cardano ecosystem.

Core Features:

• Universal Exchange Abstraction: One unified interface for multiple CEXs with a plugin system for future additions.
• Complete CNT Support: Trade any Cardano native token listed on supported exchanges.
• Advanced Market-Making Engine: Grid trading, dynamic spread adjustment, liquidity provision, and portfolio rebalancing.
• Developer Tools: CLI strategy management, Docker deployment, and comprehensive API endpoints with Swagger docs.
• Secure Infrastructure: API key management, real-time WebSocket data, and high test coverage.
• Price Aggregation Service: Real-time price feeds from multiple exchanges for accurate strategy execution.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

This project will have a transformative impact on the Cardano community by making professional market-making tools accessible to all projects, regardless of size or budget. By removing the $10k+/month cost barrier and providing a free, open-source SDK, smaller projects can maintain healthy liquidity and tighter spreads, improving price stability and attracting more traders.

With deeper order books and reduced volatility, Cardano native tokens become more appealing to investors and market participants, boosting confidence in the ecosystem. Developers will save weeks of integration time through the unified SDK, enabling them to focus on innovation rather than building redundant exchange connectors.

Over time, this tool can become a standard liquidity infrastructure layer for the Cardano ecosystem, supporting dozens of tokens, fostering higher trading volumes, and creating a healthier, more competitive market environment. This will accelerate adoption, attract new users, and strengthen Cardano’s position in the global blockchain marketplace.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & 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?

Our team has a proven track record of successfully delivering multiple Catalyst-funded developer tools and infrastructure projects, including the Iris SDK (on-chain data indexing and liquidity pool analytics) and the Indigo SDK (TypeScript SDK for interacting with Indigo Protocol). We have deep expertise in exchange API integration, SDK architecture, blockchain data indexing, and open-source development.

We will validate feasibility by first implementing the SDK with one exchange (MEXC) to prove the architecture works end-to-end for Cardano native tokens. This early integration will confirm API compatibility, trading reliability, and performance benchmarks. Each subsequent milestone will expand functionality and be demonstrated via live trading sessions, public GitHub code, and open documentation.

Transparency will be maintained through regular progress reports, public repositories from project start, and milestone-based deliverables with acceptance criteria that Catalyst voters can verify directly. Our open-source approach and history of delivering on time ensure trust, accountability, and long-term community benefit.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Foundation and Core Architecture

Milestone Outputs

• Core SDK Architecture with extensible plugin system
• First exchange integration (MEXC) with REST and WebSocket support
• Basic grid trading strategy with risk management framework
• Portfolio balance monitoring and safety reserve management
• Test suite covering all core functionality

Acceptance Criteria

• SDK successfully connects to MEXC API and executes trades for any supported Cardano Token
• Grid trading strategy operates continuously without errors
• Portfolio balance tracking maintains 50/50 target ration with configurable reserves
• Plugin architecture allows addition of new exchanges with standarized interface
• Test Coverage exceeds 90% for all core modules

Evidence of Completion

• Github repository with working code and comprehensive documentation
• Demonstration video of MEXC
• Successful open orders and implementation of grid strategy for Market Making
• README.md for an easy setup and guidance

Delivery Month

2

Cost

20000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Multi-exchange Integration & Price Aggregation

Milestone Outputs

• Gate.io exchange integration with full Cardano native token support
• Bitget exchange integration with unified trading interface
• Real-time price aggregation service across all connected exchanges

Acceptance Criteria

• SDK supports 3 exchanges (MEXC, Gate.io, Bitget) with identical interface
• Price aggregation delivers real time updates
• Dashboard updated to support new exchanges, with real-time data displayed to the user

Evidence of Completion

• Multi exchange trading demonstration with simultaneous operations
• Price aggregation service running with live market data feeds
• Documentation covering all exchange-specific configurations

Delivery Month

3

Cost

20000

Progress

50 %

Milestone Title

Kraken Integration & Core Strategy Framework

Milestone Outputs

• Kraken exchange integration completing 4-exchange support
• Dynamic Order Level generation with configurable pricing
• CLI tooling for strategy configuration and monitoring
• Enhanced grid trading with dynamic spread adjustment

Acceptance Criteria

• Complete 4-exchange integration (MEXC, Gate.io, Bitget, Kraken) operational
• Dynamic order placement with 20-level strategy (10 buy, 10 sell) operational
• CLI tools enable complete strategy management (Open/Cancel orders, Trade, Fetch Price)
• Grid trading adapts spreads based on market volatility

Evidence of Completion

• Demonstration video of multi-level order placement across all 4 exchanges
• CLI demonstration video with complete workflow walkthrough
• Complete 4-exchange integration with unified API documentation

Delivery Month

4

Cost

20000

Progress

70 %

Milestone Title

Advanced Market Making Strategies & Production features

Milestone Outputs

• Advanced liquidity provision strategy with ±2% strategic positioning (20-level implementation)
• Portfolio balance management with 50/50 target ration and automatic rebalancing
• Order amount calculation based on portfolio balance and dynamic sizing
• Portfolio rebalancing with severity adjustments mechanisms (MILD, MODERATE, SEVERE, CRITICAL)
• Public REST API with Swagger Documentation
• Docker Deployment package with one command setup

Acceptance Criteria

• 20-level order placement strategy (10 buy, 10 sell) with ±2 strategic levels operational
• Portfolio balance maintains 50/50 target ration with autmatic severity rebalancing
• REST API serves all SDK functionality with complete OpenAPI specification
• Docker deployment installs and runs successfully a strategy to a selected (or more) exchange with one single command

Evidence of Completion

• Demonstration video of 20-level order placement
• Portfolio rebalancing demonstration showing severity-based adjustments
• Live API documentation with Swagger interface
• Docker Hub published containers with deployment instructions

Delivery Month

5

Cost

19000

Progress

90 %

Milestone Title

Project Close-Out Report & Video

Milestone Outputs

• A complete Project Close-Out Report following Catalyst guidelines, summarizing all deliverables, impact, and lessons learned.
• A 2–5 minute Project Close-Out Video highlighting the SDK’s features, implementation, and benefits to the Cardano community.
• All final code, documentation, and resources confirmed as publicly available under the MIT License.

Acceptance Criteria

• Project Close-Out Report meets all requirements in the Catalyst PCR guidelines.
• Project Close-Out Video uploaded publicly and linked in the final report.
• GitHub repository contains all final code, documentation, and any associated assets.

Evidence of Completion

• Published Project Close-Out Report submitted to Catalyst.
• Public YouTube/Vimeo link to the Project Close-Out Video.
• Public GitHub repository link showing all deliverables.

Delivery Month

6

Cost

1000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Total Budget: 85,000 ₳ ($63,750 at $0.75/ADA)

Milestone 1 (20,000 ₳) - Foundation & Core Architecture

(8,000 ₳) - Core SDK architecture design and extensible plugin system development

(7,000 ₳) - MEXC exchange integration with REST and WebSocket implementation

(3,000 ₳) - Basic grid trading strategy with risk management framework

(2,000 ₳) - Portfolio balance monitoring and test suite development

Milestone 2 (20,000 ₳) - Multi-Exchange Integration & Price Aggregation

(8,000 ₳) - Gate.io exchange integration with full CNT support

(8,000 ₳) - Bitget exchange integration with unified trading interface

(4,000 ₳) - Real-time price aggregation service across all exchanges

Milestone 3 (20,000 ₳) - Kraken Integration & Core Strategy Framework

(8,000 ₳) - Kraken exchange integration completing 4-exchange support

(6,000 ₳) - Dynamic order level generation with 20-level implementation

(4,000 ₳) - CLI tooling for strategy configuration and monitoring

(2,000 ₳) - Enhanced grid trading with dynamic spread adjustment

Milestone 4 (20,000 ₳) - Advanced Market Making & Production Features

(8,000 ₳) - Advanced liquidity provision strategy with portfolio management

(5,000 ₳) - Portfolio rebalancing with severity-based adjustments

(4,000 ₳) - Public REST API with Swagger documentation

(3,000 ₳) - Docker deployment package with one-command setup

Milestone 5 (5,000 ₳) - Documentation & Community Release

(2,000 ₳) - Developer documentation in Markdown format

(1,500 ₳) - Strategy configuration tutorials and examples

(1,000 ₳) - Manual testing validation across all exchanges

(500 ₳) - GitHub repository setup with MIT license and CI/CD

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

Traditional Market Making Costs:

Single exchanges: $8,000-10,000/month

4 exchanges: $32,000-40,000/month

Annual cost: $384,000-480,000 per project

Current Reality:

• Only 2-3 Cardano projects can afford professional market makers

• Most CNTs suffer from 5-10% spreads and low liquidity

• New projects must choose: liquidity OR development funding

This SDK Investment:

One time cost: 85,000 ₳ ($63,750)

Ecosystem saving: $7,6M+ annually if 20 project adopt

Market Liquidity Impact

• Improves liquidity for 20+ Cardano native tokens immediately

• Reduces bid-ask spreads by 25-40% through continuous market making

• Increases average daily trading volume by 2-3x

• Creates deeper order books attracting larger traders

Democratization of Market Making:

• Small projects (<$1M market cap) gain access to professional tools

• Mid-size projects save critical runway by eliminating monthly fees

• Community tokens can provide liquidity without venture funding

With This SDK:

• 50+ projects gain professional market making capability

• Average spreads reduced to 1-3% across all CNTs

• Projects preserve capital for core development

The 85,000 ₳ investment delivers infrastructure that eliminates millions in recurring costs while fundamentally improving Cardano's market microstructure.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes