[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Nkrypt : Cardano's "Proof-of-Engagement" Creator Social Hub

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

100000

[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?

Cardano lacks a platform for everyday creators to monetize content, hindering cultural adoption. NKrypt solves this by turning content into interactive, on-chain challenges with real ADA rewards.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://www.nkrypt.space
,
• https://github.com/Ehiiz/nkrypt-client-v2

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

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

Yes

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

Lucid Evolution: This is the core of our on-chain engine. As a powerful JavaScript/TypeScript library for Cardano, we use Lucid to construct, sign, and submit all blockchain transactions. This includes everything from distributing ADA rewards and processing tips to our future wallet integration features. YouTube API: To ensure Krypts are engaging multimedia experiences, we use the YouTube API. This allows our creators to easily embed music and video content directly into their posts, transforming a simple blog post into an interactive story. Unsplash API: To empower creators with high-quality visual assets, we integrate with the Unsplash API. This provides our users with direct access to a vast library of professional, royalty-free images, allowing them to enhance the visual appeal of their Krypts without leaving our editor.

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

No

License and Additional Information

Key components of our platform, particularly our wallet integration and on-chain tipping logic, will be open-sourced under an MIT license to serve as a public good. Proprietary backend logic will remain closed-source initially

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

RWA

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

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

While Catalyst has funded Cardano's financial (DEXs) and collectible (NFTs) layers, Nkrypt builds the missing social and cultural layer.

Our innovation is the "Proof-of-Engagement" model: a system where off-chain actions, like solving a quiz, directly trigger on-chain ADA rewards. This is new to Cardano because it creates a two-way economy for the everyday creator, moving beyond simple donations or NFT sales. We are building a new, non-speculative reason for mainstream users to engage with the Cardano blockchain, serving a massive, untapped market.

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

Our existing prototype is a live, functional betaemonstrates our core "Proof-of-Engagement" model and is actively being used by our community of 100+ beta testers.

The MVP funded by this proposal will demonstrate the next crucial evolution: a polished, market-ready application that validates a complete, two-way creator economy on Cardano. It will showcase the addition of direct on-chain ADA tipping for creators and a simple withdrawal system, proving our ability to build a sustainable, high-utility dApp that drives real user adoption.

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

Our success will be measured by realistic on-chain metrics that validate our economic model and demonstrate tangible value for the Cardano ecosystem. Our primary KPIs for Year 1 are:

• New Wallets Onboarded: 2,500

Measures mainstream adoption & our effectiveness as an on-ramp.

• On-Chain Transactions: 5,000+

Provides direct, verifiable proof of our economic model's health via tips & rewards.

• ADA Earned by Creators: 20,000

Directly tracks the success of our creator economy, proving Nkrypt is a viable monetization engine.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

How We Perceive the Problem

The modern creator economy is fundamentally broken. Creators on Web2 platforms are trapped in a system where their hard work generates billions in value, yet their income is dictated by opaque algorithms and ad-based models that reward fleeting, low-quality engagement. This creates a massive disconnect between the value creators provide and the revenue they receive.

We see this not just as a flaw in Web2, but as a monumental opportunity for Cardano. The ecosystem has the technical superiority to build a fairer system, but it currently lacks a flagship application that makes this power accessible to the everyday, non-technical creator. This is the crucial gap we are solving.

Our Proposed Solution: The Nkrypt MVP

Our solution is to build and validate a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that establishes a new, sustainable economic model for creators, native to Cardano. We call this model "Proof-of-Engagement";

We are not starting from scratch. Our project's journey began when it emerged as a winner from the University Cardano Student Community Nigeria hackathon. This early validation and support from the grassroots Cardano community facilitated the development of our initial beta, which is now a live, functional platform with over 100 active users.

What We Have Already Built (Our Foundation):

• A Rich Publishing Platform: Creators can already build multimedia "Krypts" with text, images, and music.
• An On-Chain Challenge System: Creators can lock their content with quizzes and stake real ADA, which is automatically distributed to users who solve the challenge.

This proposal is to fund the crucial next step: evolving our proven beta into a polished, market-ready MVP that can validate a complete, two-way creator economy.

The Pillars of Transformation: Our MVP Deliverables

This grant will fund four key deliverables that form our MVP:

• Brand Refresh & New UI: We will execute a full rebrand from "Nkrypt" to the more memorable 'Krippt' and launch a completely redesigned, intuitive, and mobile-first user interface. This is essential for attracting and retaining a mainstream audience.

• Multi-Wallet Connection: We will implement full support for WalletConnect and the CIP-30 standard. This allows existing Cardano users to bring their own wallets (Nami, Eternl, etc.), seamlessly integrating Nkrypt into the core community.
• On-Chain Tipping: We will build a direct, peer-to-peer tipping function. This is the most critical new feature of the MVP, as it allows us to validate a second, powerful monetization stream for creators, driven purely by audience appreciation.
• Simple Withdrawals: We will create a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for users to send their earned ADA rewards to an external address. This provides a clear "off-ramp" and makes the value earned on the platform tangible and real.

What is Unique About Our Solution: The "Proof-of-Engagement" (PoE) System

Our PoE model is what makes Nkrypt unique. It is not a formal consensus protocol but a novel, hybrid system we have designed:

Technically, it's an application-layer protocol where a verifiable off-chain action (a user correctly solving a quiz) directly triggers a trustless, on-chain value transfer (the ADA reward).

This system transforms passive metrics like 'views' or 'likes' into active, economically significant events. It creates a direct and transparent link between the quality of a creator's content and the value both they and their audience receive, all secured by the Cardano blockchain.

Who Will This Engage?

Our MVP is designed to engage three key groups:

• Everyday Creators (Global): Bloggers, educators, and storytellers from Web2 who are seeking a fairer monetization model.
• The Cardano Community (Crypto-Natives): Existing ADA holders looking for new, high-utility dApps to use and support.
• Mainstream Content Consumers: The vast audience of users who are new to crypto. Our seamless onboarding and engaging reward model will make Nkrypt their first and best experience with Web3.

How We Will Demonstrate Impact

The primary impact of this project will be the successful launch of the polished MVP on the Cardano mainnet. We will demonstrate success and prove the viability of our model through clear, transparent KPIs:

• Successful MVP Deployment: The delivery of all four core features on a live, public platform.
• User Growth: Onboarding a target of 2,500 new active users to the MVP post-launch. We are confident in this target because our growth strategy is based on organic, grassroots adoption through our strategic partnerships with the University Cardano Student Community Nigeria and the Opolo Innovation Hub, which give us a direct channel to a large, engaged audience.
• On-Chain Activity: Tracking the number of on-chain tips and reward transactions to provide concrete data on the health and activity of our two-way economy.

Why This is Important to Cardano

This project is a low-risk, high-impact investment in a crucial area of growth for Cardano. By funding this proposal, the community is not just funding an app; you are funding the validation of a foundational, replicable model for a consumer-facing dApp. Nkrypt will serve as a premier example of how Cardano's unique technical strengths can be used to build a fairer, more engaging, and economically empowering creator economy, driving the next wave of mainstream adoption.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

This project's impact will be to establish a clear, tangible, and replicable blueprint for a "Proof-of-Engagement" Creator Economy on Cardano. While our long-term vision is to become the leading social hub for creators in Web3, the primary impact of this specific MVP project is to build and validate the foundational economic and social infrastructure, providing immense value to the entire ecosystem.

Our Strategic Contribution to Cardano

The success of Nkrypt will directly address key strategic growth areas for the Cardano community:

• Forges a New Cultural Narrative: We will create a premier, easy-to-understand example of how Cardano can power a vibrant cultural and social ecosystem. This moves the narrative beyond finance and places Cardano at the forefront of the creator economy.
• A Blueprint for Builders: Our success will offer a proven model for other consumer-facing dApps. By transparently documenting our journey, we will lower the barrier for other entrepreneurs to build social, gaming, and community-focused projects on Cardano.
• Drives Sustainable On-Chain Activity: Our platform will generate a high volume of non-speculative transactions driven by genuine human interaction—the creation and consumption of content. This type of sustainable activity is vital for the long-term health and utility of the Cardano network.

Defining and Tracking Our Impact

The success of this MVP will be measured against clear, verifiable deliverables that prove we have built a functional and desirable platform. Our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for this 6-month funding period are:

• Technical Deliverable (Quantitative): The launch of a fully operational and polished MVP dApp on the Cardano mainnet, including all features outlined in our milestones.
• Model Validation (Quantitative): The successful onboarding of 2,500 new active users who engage with the platform's core economic loop (solving, earning, and tipping).
• Economic Traction (Quantitative): A public report verifying the first 5,000 on-chain tip and reward transactions have been successfully processed, proving our economic engine is functional and being used.
• Community Feedback (Qualitative): A final report summarizing feedback from our first cohort of creators and users, validating that the platform effectively solves their monetization and engagement problems.

Amplifying Our Impact: Open Knowledge & Community Resources

Our commitment is to maximize the value of this MVP for the entire Cardano community through transparency, open knowledge, and reusable tools.

• Open-Source Components: Key non-proprietary code, particularly for wallet interactions and our tipping mechanism, will be published on GitHub under a permissive license for other developers to learn from and use.

• The "Proof-of-Engagement" Blueprint: We will publish a final project report titled "A Blueprint for a Creator Economy on Cardano." This document will detail our journey, architectural decisions, and user feedback, serving as an invaluable guide for future projects.

• Transparent Progress Reporting: We will provide bi-weekly public updates and detailed milestone reports through Catalyst, ensuring the community is fully informed of our progress, challenges, and learnings throughout the development lifecycle.

[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 is uniquely positioned to deliver this project with excellence. Our capability is not just a promise; it is demonstrated by our established track record of winning competitive grants and successfully delivering on our commitments.

Our Foundation: A Proven Team

• Verified Grant Winners & Deliverers: Our founder, Oriasotie Emmanuel Ehimare, has a history of managing grant funds and shipping successful products. Our team was a grantee in the Edo Innovates Challenge 2024, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where we successfully executed the "Ledga" application.

CCHUB Announces 50 Startup Grantees : https://cchub.africa/cchub-and-edo-state-government-announce-50-startup-grantees-with-support-from-the-bill-melinda-gates-foundation/

Product : https://www.ledgafinance.com

• Cardano-Native Origins & Execution: Nkrypt's journey began within the Cardano community itself. After emerging as winners of the United Cardano Student Community Nigeria Hackathon, we used the grant funds from that victory to directly finance, develop, and launch the functional beta platform that exists today.
• Expert Leadership: Our team is led by seasoned professionals.

Oriasotie Emmanuel Ehimare (Founder): An 8-year senior software engineer and two-time hackathon winner.

Linkedin :https://www.linkedin.com/in/oriasotie-emmanuel-340173a6/

Peter (CTO): Founder of GritinAI and a former Microsoft Nigeria Student Ambassador, bringing elite experience in scaling new technologies.

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/doctai/

Our Pledge: Radical Transparency & Accountability

We understand that managing community funds is a profound responsibility. We guarantee accountability through the following processes:

• Public Treasury: All Catalyst funds will be held in a dedicated, publicly viewable Cardano wallet. We will maintain a detailed public ledger of all expenditures, linking each transaction to its budget item for anyone to verify.
• Consistent Public Reporting: We will provide bi-weekly progress reports via our official project channels and detailed monthly updates to Project Catalyst, outlining progress, metrics, challenges, and funds spent.
• Direct Community Access: Our project lead, Emmanuel, will remain consistently available through Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) to answer community questions and ensure we are fully accountable to our stakeholders.

Our Method: A De-Risked Path to Validation

Our validation strategy is grounded, pragmatic, and based on what we have already achieved.

• Technical Feasibility (Already Proven): The technical viability of Nkrypt is not a hypothesis; it is a fact demonstrated by our live beta platform with over 100 active users. This significantly de-risks the project for the community.
• Economic Validation (The MVP's Goal): This funding is specifically to validate our "Proof-of-Engagement" economic model at scale. We will prove this model works by delivering the polished MVP and achieving our core KPIs: onboarding 2,500 new active users and processing the first 5,000 on-chain tip and reward transactions.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Rebrand & UI Implementation

Milestone Outputs

• Brand Identity Kit: A complete set of new brand assets (logo, style guide) for the "Krippt" rebrand.
• UI/UX Design System: Full UI/UX designs in Figma for the redesigned, mobile-first web application.
• Live Staging Environment: A deployed staging version of the new platform, featuring the complete, implemented frontend UI for community review.
• Public Demonstration Video: A comprehensive video walkthrough of the new design and user flow.

Acceptance Criteria

• The new brand identity is live and visible on the staging platform.
• All pages and components of the application reflect the new UI design.
• The staging server is stable and accessible for the community to review the new look and feel.

Evidence of Completion

A link to the live staging website demonstrating the fully implemented UI and branding.

A link to the public Figma files for the UI/UX designs.

A comprehensive video walkthrough of the new user interface.

Delivery Month

2

Cost

30000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

User Onboarding: Multi-Wallet Connection & XP System

Milestone Outputs

• WalletConnect Integration: Functional, live integration of WalletConnect (CIP-30) on the staging server, allowing users to connect existing Cardano wallets.
• Managed Wallet Onboarding: A functional integration with a Managed Self-Custody solution for seamless, non-crypto-native user onboarding.
• XP Engagement Backend: A completed and deployed backend system for tracking off-chain Experience Points (XP).
• Profile Gamification UI: User profiles on the staging server will be updated to display XP totals, providing the first visual element of our gamification system.

Acceptance Criteria

• Users can successfully connect, authenticate, and see their wallet address displayed on their profile using both a social login (managed wallet) and an existing Cardano wallet via WalletConnect.
• The XP system accurately tracks and displays points on user profiles after they perform qualifying actions.

Evidence of Completion

• A link to the updated staging website with wallet features enabled.
• A video walkthrough demonstrating both the social login and WalletConnect flows successfully connecting and authenticating users.
• A second video showing a user solving a Krypt and their XP total increasing on their profile.

Delivery Month

4

Cost

40000

Progress

70 %

Milestone Title

Economic Engine & Mainnet Launch

Milestone Outputs

• On-Chain Economic Features: A functional, on-chain Tipping system and a "Withdraw" interface deployed on the staging server for final community testing.
• Mainnet MVP Launch: The full, public mainnet launch of the complete Nkrypt MVP platform, including all features from all three milestones.
• Project Close-Out Report: A comprehensive report detailing the work completed, funds spent, and key metrics achieved against our initial targets.
• User Onboarding Materials: A suite of user guides and video tutorials to facilitate onboarding to the live platform.

Acceptance Criteria

• All MVP features are live, stable, and fully functional on the mainnet application.
• The platform is successfully processing live ADA transactions for tipping and rewards.
• The project close-out report is published and made available to the community.

Evidence of Completion

• A link to the live, fully functional mainnet application (nkrypt.space).
• A link to the public project close-out report.
• A final video showcase demonstrating a live tip and withdrawal on the mainnet application.

Delivery Month

6

Cost

30000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

The total funding request for the 6-month delivery of the Nkrypt MVP is 100,000 ADA. This budget is lean, strategically allocated, and reflects our commitment to capital efficiency. Every ADA is directed towards the core activities required to build our MVP, validate our economic model, and deliver maximum value to the Cardano ecosystem.

1. Development Costs (70% - 70,000 ADA)

This is the largest portion of the budget, dedicated to compensating the core technical team required to build and deploy the MVP.

• Founder & Project Lead (Oriasotie Emmanuel Ehimare): 30,000 ADA (5,000 ADA/month for 6 months)
• CTO (Peter Ugochukwu): 18,000 ADA (3,000 ADA/month for 6 months)
• Lead Full-Stack Developer: 12,000 ADA (Part-time contract to accelerate core feature development)
• UI/UX Designer (Contract): 10,000 ADA (For the V2 rebrand and design in Milestone 1)

2. Infrastructure & Technology (15% - 15,000 ADA)

This covers the essential tools and services needed to build a secure and professional-grade application.

• Cloud Infrastructure (AWS/GCP): 6,000 ADA (Hosting, databases, CDN for 6 months)
• Development Tools & Licenses: 4,000 ADA (Project management software, IDEs, testing tools)
• Cardano Network Fees: 5,000 ADA (For testnet and mainnet transaction testing and initial deployments)

3. Marketing & Community Building (8% - 8,000 ADA)

This allocation is focused on grassroots user adoption and leveraging our existing partnerships.

• University Partnership Events: 4,000 ADA (To host workshops and demos to engage our core beta community)
• Content Creation: 4,000 ADA (For producing essential video tutorials and user guides for the MVP launch)

4. Operations & Contingency (7% - 7,000 ADA)

This covers administrative costs and provides a crucial buffer for unforeseen challenges.

• Project Management & Legal: 3,000 ADA (Collaboration software, terms of service review)
• Contingency Reserve: 4,000 ADA (A prudent reserve to manage scope adjustments and unexpected expenses, ensuring project delivery is not compromised)

Detailed Monthly Budget Distribution

• The budget is distributed across our three milestones to align spending with our restructured development progress:
• Months 1-2 (Milestone 1): 30,000 ADA (Focus on brand/UI design and implementation)
• Months 3-4 (Milestone 2): 40,000 ADA (Focus on wallet integration and core backend development)
• Months 5-6 (Milestone 3): 30,000 ADA (Focus on on-chain economic features and mainnet launch)

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

Our 100,000 ADA budget represents an exceptionally efficient investment for the Cardano ecosystem. We are not just building a single dApp; we are delivering a foundational, open-source blueprint for one of the most critical future use cases for blockchain: the creator economy. The value is demonstrated through our strategic impact, extreme capital efficiency, and the long-term multiplier effect of our work.

1. Strategic Impact: A Foundational Asset for Cardano's Cultural Growth

For a modest investment, this project will deliver a high-quality, community-tested, and fully documented MVP for a premier creator economy application. The true output is not just the dApp itself, but a tangible success story that proves Cardano's utility for connecting to the real-world creative economy. We are creating a foundational asset that will be used to attract future builders, mainstream users, and creative talent to the ecosystem long after this initial project is complete.

2. Unmatched Capital Efficiency

Our budget is not just reasonable; it is exceptionally efficient. This is achieved by leveraging a lean, proven, and agile team structure that eliminates the overhead common in larger development cycles.

To put our 100,000 ADA request in context, a similar MVP project developed by a typical agency or team in North America or Western Europe would have a significantly higher cost structure:

Project Lead & Management (Part-time, 6 months): ~100,000 ADA

Lead Full-Stack Developer (6 months): ~160,000 ADA

UI/UX Design & Branding (Contract): ~45,000 ADA

Community & Marketing Lead (Part-time, 6 months): ~65,000 ADA

Total Estimated Personnel Cost Elsewhere: ~370,000 ADA

This comparison does not even include infrastructure, marketing, or contingency costs. Our proposal delivers a complete, dedicated team to produce a fully-realized MVP for a fraction of the standard market cost. Furthermore, our cost to acquire a new, active on-chain user for Cardano is projected to be just 40 ADA (100,000 ADA / 2,500 new users), an unparalleled level of efficiency.

3. An Open-Source Catalyst for the Community

The value of this project extends far beyond Nkrypt itself. We are committed to building a public good that will generate a multiplier effect for the entire ecosystem.

• A Reusable Blueprint: The 100,000 ADA invested here creates a reusable template. By open-sourcing key components and publishing our "Blueprint for a Creator Economy on Cardano," we are drastically lowering the barrier to entry for other entrepreneurs. The next team that wants to build a social dApp won't have to start from scratch; they can learn from our journey, saving the community significant funds in future rounds.
• De-risking the Ecosystem: By tackling and documenting the challenges of building a consumer-facing dApp—from seamless wallet onboarding to creator monetization—we are de-risking the path for future projects. Our learnings, shared publicly, will make the entire Cardano ecosystem more capital-efficient and attractive to new builders.

4. Economic Impact & Long-Term Scalability

The 100,000 ADA requested is the seed capital to validate an MVP that is designed for significant scale. Our economic model is built on a self-reinforcing "flywheel effect": more users attract more creators, driving more on-chain activity, which in turn attracts more users. This ensures that as Nkrypt grows, the value it generates for the Cardano ecosystem grows exponentially with it.

Long-Term Projections (Year 3): We project scaling to 150,000+ Active Wallets and generating over 20 Million+ annual on-chain transactions. This represents a massive, sustainable source of utility and network fees for the Cardano ecosystem.

In summary, our proposal asks for a lean investment to build a high-value, foundational tool that will empower not only our project but the broader Cardano community for years to come.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes