[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

[Aladin] Building a Global Reputation for Freelancers

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

70370

[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?

A talented designer in Ethiopia has world-class skills but no global reputation. Platform reviews don't transfer, forcing her to start from zero every time. Her true potential is trapped by data silos

[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 core smart contract (minting policy) and the technical documentation explaining how to integrate our Proof-of-Experience NFTs will be released under the Apache 2.0 open-source license. This ensures that any developer or project on Cardano can freely build upon this new reputation standard, fostering a more interconnected and trustworthy ecosystem.

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

Business Services

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously funded (whether by you or others).

This idea is innovative because it restores dignity and ownership to a worker's professional history. Unlike other platforms that trap user data, this project empowers individuals to build a reputation that they own and can take anywhere. This is a fundamental shift that breaks down geographic and economic barriers, allowing talent to be judged on the quality of their work alone. This isn't just a feature; it's the foundation for a more equitable global job market on Cardano.

Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.

The MVP will be a simple, elegant web portal where a user, like Selam from Ethiopia, can connect her wallet after completing a job. With her client's approval, they co-sign a transaction. Instantly, a beautiful, verifiable "Proof-of-Experience" credential appears in her wallet. The MVP will be accessible via a public URL, with a video demo showcasing this empowering moment. The experience is designed to feel like receiving a well-earned diploma, solidifying her professional story on the blockchain forever.

Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.

Success is measured by the number of people empowered by this tool. The primary community impact metric is the number of unique workers who have minted their first Proof-of-Experience credential. The initial goal is to help over 500 freelancers start building their global reputation within three months. The human experience will be measured by collecting and sharing at least 20 stories from our early adopters on how their new 'Web3 Resume' is opening doors for them.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

In today's digital economy, a professional's most valuable asset is their reputation. Yet for millions of talented freelancers, this asset is trapped. A designer in Ethiopia may have world-class skills, but her stellar reviews on one platform are worthless on another. She is forced to start from zero, again and again, her potential locked away in corporate data silos. This isn't just an inconvenience; it's a systemic barrier to global opportunity that limits the growth of the $582 billion gig economy. For Cardano to fulfill its promise of economic identity for all, it must solve this problem. See more the research: https://docs.aladin.work/en/market-insight/global-gig-economy-market-opportunity-analysis))

This proposal will equip the Cardano community with a tool to shatter those silos forever. For the first time, every worker will be able to build a permanent, verifiable 'Web3 Resume' that they truly own. Think of each completed job not just as a payment, but as a digital diploma—a "Proof-of-Experience" credential (PoE) that is minted directly into their wallet. This is made possible by a specialized smart contract that utilizes the advanced CIP-0068 standard. This isn't just a link to a picture; it's like a Lego brick of reputation. The metadata—the skills, the project details, the value—is stored directly on-chain, making it unforgeable, universally verifiable, and endlessly composable for other applications to use.

Crucially, this is not a project starting from a theoretical idea. This reputation layer is being built to integrate with the Aladin Work application, which is already live and available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. The community is not funding an experiment, but the strategic on-chain evolution of a live product. The foundation is already laid, the user interface already built. This proposal is about forging the final, powerful link that brings a user's professional story on-chain.

It's acknowledged that this MVP deliberately focuses on one magical moment: the co-signing and minting of a single PoE credential. This is a strategic choice. By perfecting this core 'reputation primitive' and releasing it as an open-source standard, the ecosystem gains a vital, secure, and audited building block immediately, creating the bedrock for the broader Aladin vision of a full-fledged trust and reputation protocol.

Introduction a bout the Aladin platform

Redefining the Gig Economy

Aladin is a decentralized protocol and application built on Cardano, with a mission to provide a fair, transparent, and efficient infrastructure for the global job economy.

Our philosophy is encapsulated in the name Aladin, inspired by the timeless story of empowerment. In our ecosystem, every user is an 'Aladin' - empowered as the protagonist of their own journey, holding complete control. The $LAMP token is not merely an asset; it is their 'Magic Lamp' - the key to unlocking the full power of the protocol.

By holding $LAMP and making a request - whether it's seeking talented personnel for a complex project or finding help to fix a gas stove at home - an Aladin summons their 'Genie', ready to turn their wishes into tangible outcomes, safely and transparently.

Our platform operates on three core utilities:

1. Simplified Hiring: Aladin helps employers easily find suitable candidates based on their on-chain reputation (represented by their CVC score), minimizing time spent on interviews and manual verification.
2. High-Commitment Contracts: Smart contracts automatically lock the committed assets ($LAMP) of both parties, creating a serious work environment and ensuring both sides fulfill their responsibilities.
3. Verifiable Proof of Experience: Aladin encodes the experience accumulated through each successfully completed contract into a CVC score. This reputation is immutable, owned by the user, and can be leveraged across the entire Web3 ecosystem, not just on the Aladin app.

The Problem: Hurdles of the Modern Gig Economy

• Lack of Trust and Commitment: Parties are often hesitant to engage due to the absence of mechanisms that guarantee contract enforcement and fair payment.
• Difficult to Verify Experience: Resumes and recommendation letters are easily forged and do not reflect true capabilities, leading to risks for employers.
• Walled Gardens (Data Silos): A worker's valuable experience on one platform (e.g., Upwork) cannot be transferred to another, forcing them to build their reputation from scratch repeatedly.
• High Fees and Opaque Processes: Incumbent platforms charge high service fees, and their dispute resolution processes are often centralized, non-transparent, and potentially biased.

Aladin's Solution: A Global Trust and Reputation Layer

1. Aladin is more than just an application; it is a foundational protocol that solves the above issues by:
2. Establishing Trust through asset-backed escrow smart contracts.
3. Building Immutable Reputation via the on-chain CVC score, which reflects both experience and commitment.
4. Ensuring Justice with a decentralized arbitration system where the community, acting as Sultans, resolves disputes.
5. Promoting Open Interoperability through the Job-SCaaS model, allowing any other application to leverage Aladin's infrastructure.

CVC: The Immutable Reputation Metric

CVC (Committed Value in the Contract) is Aladin's core reputation score.

Calculation: The CVC value of a contract is based on the value of the staked $LAMP, pegged to a reliable stablecoin to insulate the reputation score from token price volatility.

CVC = T *(P1 + P2 + ... + P}/n

while:

• T = The amount of LAMP tokens staked in the contract.
• P₁ = The exchange rate of the DJED/LAMP pair on the first DEX.
• n = The number of DEXs at the time the price is obtained.

Accumulation: Upon successful completion of a job, the final transaction consumes the old reputation UTXO and creates a new one with an updated CVC score for both the Aladin and the Genie, permanently recording the experience on-chain.

Aladin Ecosystem

The Aladin ecosystem consists of two key components working in symbiosis:

• The Aladin Protocol: The decentralized infrastructure layer, comprising smart contracts, Aladin Nodes, and governance rules.
• The Aladin App: The user-facing application (web/mobile) that allows end-users to easily interact with the Aladin Protocol.

Key Roles in the Aladin App

1. Aladin: An individual or organization with a need, who posts a job or project.
2. Genie: A skilled individual who performs the requested job.
3. Sultan: The "arbiters," who are high-reputation Aladins or Genies (with high CVC scores). They can be nominated to the Petition Resolution Council to adjudicate disputes in specific job contracts.

How Aladin Works: The Lifecycle of a Job Smart Contract

The workflow of a contract on Aladin is designed to cover real-world scenarios, from initiation to either successful completion or failure.

1. Start: An Aladin posts a job request and criteria. The protocol suggests suitable Genies.
2. Contract Setup: The Aladin and Genie agree on terms and sign the smart contract.
3. Escrow: Both parties escrow $LAMP tokens. A Hydra Head can be opened for complex tasks.
4. Execution: The Genie performs the tasks.
5. Resolution: If it is Completed, both parties agree, the contract succeeds, funds are distributed, and the Treasury is updated. If it is Petition: In case of a dispute, the arbitration process with a Sultan is initiated (see Section 9). If the Deadline Risk: The Aladin may choose to outsource through a trusted Aladin Service Provider.
6. Reputation Update: Regardless of the outcome, the CVC scores of both parties are adjusted accordingly.
7. End: The smart contract is closed, the Hydra is closed also (if yes)

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

This project's impact begins by restoring ownership of professional history to the individual, empowering workers and unlocking a truly global talent pool for Cardano. The immediate goal is to empower over 500 freelancers to mint their first Proof-of-Experience credential within three months. This is the critical first step. Each of these 500+ on-chain credentials becomes a real-world data point, a powerful testament to Cardano's ability to create a more equitable job market. This initial traction will serve as an undeniable case study to attract larger B2B partners and enterprise clients who are desperately seeking reliable ways to verify talent.

From this foundation, the impact multiplies across the ecosystem, as the open-source PoE standard becomes a new 'reputation lego' for other builders:

• DAO Tooling: Imagine a developer DAO like the one proposed for Aiken. Before, vetting new contributors was a manual, subjective process. After, the DAO can programmatically verify a developer's on-chain work history by simply checking their wallet for PoE credentials, ensuring only proven talent can contribute to critical projects.
• DeFi & Lending Protocols: For innovators exploring real-world assets, this unlocks a new frontier. A freelancer's rich, on-chain work history could become a factor in credit scoring, enabling protocols to offer "reputation-based lending" that goes beyond simple crypto-collateral.

Ultimately, this project does more than mint NFTs; it creates a new standard for professional identity on Cardano. Every successfully minted credential contributes to a rich, on-chain dataset of skills and verified experience. This is the seed for the next great innovation outlined in the Aladin whitepaper: the CVC, a price-agnostic reputation score. This proposal doesn't just build a feature; it lays the foundation for Cardano to become the global, trusted platform for the future of work.

[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?

This proposal doesn't ask the community to fund a project from an idea on a napkin; it asks the community to fund the acceleration of a moving train. The Aladin Work application is already live on the iOS and Android stores, a tangible and public demonstration of the team's ability to deliver polished, user-facing products. This existing momentum dramatically de-risks the community's investment.

To bring this powerful tool to life, a team with specific, battle-tested experience is required. This project is feasible because it is helmed by the right experts for each critical challenge:

1. The challenge of building a global user base is immense. That's why this project is led by Duc Le (CEO), who has already scaled a retail network to over 1,000 locations in 3 years.
2. The challenge of ensuring the on-chain logic is a fortress is non-negotiable. That's why the technical strategy is led by Nguyen Mau Luu (CTO), the former chief architect of the Optimal9 Core Banking System, a mission-critical platform demanding the highest levels of security.
3. The challenge of creating a dApp people actually love to use is what separates good ideas from adopted products. That's why the user experience is guided by An Nguyen (Off-chain Lead), who previously led an app to over 500,000 downloads.
4. The challenge of delivering on promises to the Catalyst community requires experience. That's why the on-chain development is led by Nguyen Vu Hoang (On-chain Lead), a Catalyst veteran with a proven track record of successfully delivering on previous Catalyst-funded projects (ProSkill).

This team's commitment to transparency is a covenant with the community. The detailed, verifiable milestones and commitment to regular updates ensure every voter has a clear, real-time view of how their delegated funds are empowering the ecosystem, every step of the way. This rigorous process is our promise of accountability.

To see more a about our team, please visit: https://docs.aladin.work/en/about/team

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

On-Chain PoE NFT Logic

Milestone Outputs

• A technical specification document defining the on-chain datum structure for the PoE NFT, including fields for skill, project outcome, and a reputation score (CVC value).
• The complete Aiken/Plutus source code for the minting policy, which ensures that an NFT can only be minted and held by the worker's wallet.
• A full test suite for the minting policy, including tests for correct metadata attachment, soulbound enforcement, and rejection of invalid minting attempts.

Acceptance Criteria

• The specification is approved, aligns with CIP-0068, and is composable, allowing other dApps to easily read and interpret the reputation data.
• The code compiles successfully. The minting policy correctly enforces the soulbound (non-transferable) property of the minted NFTs.
• The test suite achieves >95% code coverage and demonstrates that the policy functions exactly as specified, especially the non-transferable rule.

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the technical specification document in the public GitHub repository.
• Link to the minting policy source code in the /contracts directory of the public GitHub repository.
• Link to the test execution report and the /tests directory in the public GitHub repository.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

13720

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Web App UI & Wallet Integration

Milestone Outputs

• A complete set of Figma mockups and a clickable prototype showing the user journey: connecting wallets, filling in job details, and the confirmation/minting screen.
• A GitHub repository for the frontend application with the UI implemented. The application is deployed to a public staging URL for review.
• A functional wallet connection feature that allows two distinct wallet addresses to be connected and displayed on the interface simultaneously.

Acceptance Criteria

• The Figma prototype is approved by the project lead and visually represents the "digital diploma" experience.
• The web application's UI is pixel-perfect according to the Figma designs and is fully responsive for mobile and desktop views.
• The feature supports at least three popular Cardano wallets. The dApp can correctly read and display both connected wallet addresses.

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the public Figma prototype.
• Link to the frontend GitHub repository and the live staging URL.
• The multi-wallet connection feature is functional on the live staging URL. A video demo shows two parties connecting.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

11790

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Co-Signing & Minting Logic

Milestone Outputs

• A transaction-building service that constructs the minting transaction, requires signatures from both the worker and client wallets, and includes the correct on-chain metadata.
• A fully functional MVP where two users can connect their wallets, input job details, co-sign the transaction, and successfully mint a PoE NFT.

Acceptance Criteria

• The service can successfully build and submit a valid transaction to the Preview Testnet, which results in the minting of a PoE NFT with the correct metadata to the worker's wallet.
• The end-to-end flow is testable on the staging URL. A user can view their newly minted PoE NFT in a supported wallet explorer (e.g., CExplorer) after the process.

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the transaction-building service module in the frontend GitHub repository.
• Link to a comprehensive video demonstration of the full end-to-end co-signing and minting journey on the live staging URL.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

12860

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Portfolio Viewer & Security Audit

Milestone Outputs

• A web page where anyone can enter a Cardano wallet address and see a visually appealing display of the PoE NFTs it holds, pulling metadata directly from the blockchain.
• A comprehensive security audit report from a reputable third-party firm focusing on the minting policy's logic and security.

Acceptance Criteria

• The Portfolio Viewer correctly queries the blockchain, decodes the CIP-0068 metadata, and displays the reputation credentials for any given wallet.
• The audit is completed, and the final report identifies zero critical or high-severity vulnerabilities. All findings are acknowledged or remediated.

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the live Portfolio Viewer tool URL.
• The final, signed PDF of the security audit report is published in the public GitHub repository.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

13570

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Mainnet Launch & Composability Docs

Milestone Outputs

• The final, audited minting policy script is deployed and its Policy ID is made public. The minting dApp and Portfolio Viewer are live on mainnet.
• A 3-5 minute animated explainer video. A publicly accessible GitBook or blog post that clearly explains the benefits and steps for users.
• A technical guide detailing the CIP-0068 datum schema, how to query for NFTs with our Policy ID, and code snippets for decoding the reputation data.
• A final, comprehensive Project Completion Report, including details of all milestone deliveries, user stories/testimonials, and budget expenditure.

Acceptance Criteria

• The mainnet dApp is live and successfully processes at least one real PoE minting transaction. The minted NFT is viewable via the Portfolio Viewer.
• The video is engaging and easy for a non-technical audience to understand. The documentation is clear and answers common user questions.
• The documentation provides a clear, actionable guide for another developer to build a service that consumes and displays our PoE reputation data.
• The final report is submitted and meets all Catalyst requirements, detailing outcomes, budget expenditure, and showcasing the collected user stories as evidence of impact.

Evidence of Completion

• Link to the live mainnet minting dApp. Link to the Policy ID on a Cardano explorer.
• Link to the video on YouTube or Vimeo and the public documentation site.
• Link to the technical developer documentation in the project's GitHub repository.
• Link to the published Project Completion Report, including a section with anonymized user testimonials.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

18430

Progress

30 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

The total budget of ₳70,370 is strategically allocated across five key milestones to ensure maximum efficiency and accountability. The breakdown is as follows:

Milestone #1: On-Chain PoE NFT Logic

Cost: ₳13,720 - Progress: 20%

• ₳3,430 – Research & design the on-chain metadata structure (CIP-0068).
• ₳6,860 – Develop the Plutus/Aiken soulbound minting policy smart contract.
• ₳3,430 – Create a comprehensive test suite for the minting policy.

Milestone #2: Web App UI & Wallet Integration

Cost: ₳11,790 - Progress: 20%

• ₳4,290 – Design the UI/UX for the web portal.
• ₳4,290 – Set up the frontend web application project and implement UI.
• ₳3,210 – Integrate CIP-30 multi-wallet connectivity.

Milestone #3: Co-Signing & Minting Logic

Cost: ₳12,860 - Progress: 20%

• ₳7,500 – Develop the off-chain code and transaction-building logic.
• ₳5,360 – Integrate the transaction service with the frontend UI.

Milestone #4: Portfolio Viewer & Security Audit

Cost: ₳13,570 - Progress: 20%

• ₳6,430 – Develop a public-facing Portfolio Viewer page.
• ₳7,140 – Engage a reputable third-party security firm for a professional audit.

Milestone #5: Mainnet Launch & Composability Docs

Cost: ₳18,430 - Progress: 30%

• ₳2,290 – Deploy the audited minting policy and launch the public portal.
• ₳3,000 – Create user-facing documentation and a video tutorial.
• ₳4,570 – Publish detailed technical documentation for developers.
• ₳8,570 – Project Management & Final Reporting.

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

• This proposal represents an asymmetric bet for the Cardano Treasury: a modest investment to equip the ecosystem with a foundational tool for the $582 billion global gig economy and the rapidly growing $69 billion decentralized identity market. The requested budget is only a fraction of what a single company would spend to research, develop, and deploy a comparable reputation system.
• Instead of every project rebuilding this complex logic, the Cardano Treasury has the opportunity to fund this critical infrastructure once, making it available as a free, open-source public good. This “buy-once, benefit-all” principle will save future Cardano projects tens of thousands of dollars and months of development time, multiplying the value of this initial investment.
• The on-chain flywheel effect will provide a tangible return. Empowering just our initial goal of 500 freelancers, each completing a handful of jobs per year, will generate thousands of new, meaningful on-chain transactions. This activity is the lifeblood of the network—it generates fees, increases on-chain activity metrics, and creates a powerful showcase of Cardano’s real-world utility that will attract more users and developers.

As the table illustrates, the value generation for the Cardano network is designed to grow exponentially:

• It begins with the Foundation Phase, where achieving a modest 500 contracts per day will already generate over ₳36,500 in annual network fees—a solid return on the initial Catalyst investment.
• As the product-market fit is validated in the Optimize Phase, this activity is projected to increase significantly, generating over ₳219,000 in annual fees.
• This is where the flywheel truly ignites. During the Scale-Up Phase, as Aladin captures a larger market share, the platform is projected to handle 30,000 contracts daily, generating **over 2.1 million ADA in network **transaction fees every year.
• In its mature Governance Phase, the platform has the potential to generate over 7.3 million ADA in annual fees, turning real-world economic activity into a massive, sustainable source of value for the entire Cardano network.

This phased growth unequivocally demonstrates that the value returned to the Cardano Treasury is projected to be many multiples of the total funding required for Aladin's foundational proposals. But the impact transcends financials. This level of consistent, real-world economic activity serves as a powerful beacon, significantly enhancing social proof and trust in the Cardano ecosystem for the entire world to see. It is a direct and tangible contribution to transforming the vision of "1 billion users" from an aspiration into an achievable reality.

• This is not a speculative gamble. It is a calculated, intelligent investment in a team with proven momentum and existing assets, targeting a vast, validated market. Funding this proposal means acquiring a high-value, strategic asset that will accelerate Cardano’s mission for years to come.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes