Pay & Verify: Cardano for Legal Cannabis Payments!

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Pay & Verify: Cardano for Legal Cannabis Payments!

[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

12

[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?

3 problems need to be solved. 1) Legal cannabis globally lacks stable payment systems. 2) Supplychain logistics or Seed to Sale are not trustworthy. 3) Genetics & Lab results are not verifiable.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://lion-city.io/
,
• https://highgrade-solutions.com/
,
• https://discord.gg/Re7hXGUM
,
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-brock-05bbb837a/
,
• https://linkedin.com/in/tommy-frey-08095327

[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

All code will be open under Apache-2.0 (free to use, modify, and ship, with a patent license). Our data schemas are public-domain (CC0) so others can adopt them. Docs can be reused with credit (CC BY). The name and logo remain protected.

[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).

Most pilots solved one piece—payments or tracking. We deliver a business-ready toolkit for cannabis: on-chain payments when cards aren’t allowed, Atala PRISM age/ID checks, and QR batch pages that show seed-to-sale steps, supply-chain roles, lab results, genetics, and recall status. It’s built on Cardano preprod, with open code and a simple data format so dispensaries, producers, and labs can test it quickly and give feedback.

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

Public preprod demo for cannabis businesses:

• Mint Product NFTs for test batches

• Scan QRs to see origin, handlers, lab results, and genetics

• Make test ADA/USDM payments with an Atala PRISM age check

• Run a recall update that flags the batch in the QR view

Access via a public website with posted script addresses/policy IDs, open API docs, and GitHub repos. (Lion City will use the same toolkit for the first live pilot after this grant.)

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

Preprod, verifiable: we’ll publish script addresses/policy IDs and a public dashboard.

Payments: ≥750 txs; 90% confirm ≤5 blocks; failures <3%.

Products: ≥250 Product NFTs; ≥95% include lab/IPFS links; ≤2% burns (recall tests).

Adoption proxies: ≥12 test business addresses; ≥200 unique payer addresses; ≥1,000 QR scans (off-chain).

Governance/ops: ≥6 parameter proposals; Atala PRISM age-check pass/fail events logged.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

We’re building a business toolkit for legal cannabis on Cardano. It helps a shop or producer do three things well:

• Pay: on-chain payments (ADA or an approved stable asset).
• Prove age: Atala PRISM check (21+) before checkout.
• Prove product: a QR that shows batch info, lab results, and the path from farm → processor → lab → store.

All code, the data format, and docs are open source. Lion City will run the first live pilot with real batches and in-store flows, in locations where allowed by law.

What a shop or producer can do

• Create a batch and mint a Product (Batch) NFT (CIP-68).
• Upload lab results and link them to the batch.
• Print a QR for packages; anyone can scan to see the facts.
• Run an Atala PRISM age check, then take an on-chain payment.
• Mark a recall; the QR page shows a clear warning right away.

(Optional) Licensed roles—farm, processor, lab, store—can have simple on-chain Business profiles the batch can reference.

How it works

1. Add batch details in the web app.
2. Add lab results; the app stores in IPFS.
3. Mint the Product NFT and generate the QR.
4. At checkout, the buyer passes the PRISM age check.
5. The buyer pays on chain; a receipt and “view on chain” link are shown.
6. Add counterfit QR codes to protect consumers.
7. If needed, staff toggle recall; the QR page updates for everyone.

Payments

• Use ADA or an approved stable asset (where permitted).
• Shop sets fee and tax rules; the app applies them at checkout.
• Clear refund/cancel flow and receipts.

Lab results & supply-line

• Labs provide a PDF or JSON.
• Labs can participate by minting lab result NFT.
• The file is stored with a content hash so it can’t be quietly swapped.
• The QR page shows origin, handlers (farm → processor → lab → store), test date, and result link.

Recalls

• Staff set a recall flag on the batch.
• The QR page shows a red warning immediately.
• An optional burn/revoke path proves control during the pilot.

Privacy & safety

• We do not put personal customer data on chain.
• Atala PRISM only proves age (yes/no) and moves on.
• Batch data is public and simple; lab files are only editable by the lab.
• The pilot uses transaction limits, audit logs, and a clear support contact.

What we deliver

• Smart contracts: Product NFT mint, payment script, small parameter/governance flow.
• Web app: batch minting, QR pages, recall switch, checkout with PRISM age check.
• Docs & simple schema: how to use it; POS/API basics.
• Public dashboard: shows activity (mints, payments, recalls, confirmation times).
• Open repos: contracts, frontend, backend, examples, and test fixtures.

Fit for regulators

This same toolkit can give a read-only view: who handled the batch, license references, lab results, and recalls. A “regulator view” can be added later with filters by license and date.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

Positive impact on the Cardano community

• A practical real-world use case that shows Cardano solving regulated retail needs.
• Expand the Cardano community into the cannabis community.
• Discounts on cannabis products through the Lion City Project.
• Utilization of Cardano native tokens for B2B and B2C.
• Time saving for Cardano developers through our open source documents.
• Atala PRISM age checks, and QR product proof (CIP-68).
• A simple data format for batch info and lab links that any team can reuse.
• A working demo other builders can fork, reducing time and cost to ship real apps.
• Clear patterns for recalls and compliance that raise build quality across the ecosystem.
• More dev onboarding through tutorials, examples, and small community bounties.
• Better interoperability as wallets, explorers, and POS tools can read the same fields.

[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?

Team fit

• Allen Willenbrock — project lead & lead developer
• Years in legal cannabis (CA, OK); knows seed-to-sale, store workflows, and audits
• Builds Cardano apps end-to-end (smart contracts + web)
• Project sites: lion-city.io, highgrade-solutions.com

Support

• Tommy Frey — ops/risk advisor; experienced Catalyst/SingularityNET contributor
• Vasu Madaan — marketing/brand; clear docs, demos, and merchant messaging

What we will deliver

• On-chain payments (ADA or approved stable asset)
• Atala PRISM age check (21+ pass/fail before pay)
• QR batch pages with lab results, simple seed-to-sale steps, and a recall switch
• SDK + docs and a small dashboard (mints, payments, confirmations, recalls)

Why this is feasible

• Small, focused flow (one checkout path)
• Uses known Cardano standards (e.g., CIP-68 for batch data)
• Clear milestones; build contracts first, then app, then live test
• Lion City will run the first live pilot where allowed by law

Proof & accountability

• Public repos and tags; contract/policy IDs listed
• Open demo site and dashboard with on-chain metrics
• Milestone evidence for each step (screens, tx lists, releases)

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Protocol & Smart Contracts v0.1

Milestone Outputs

1. Smart-contract framework for payment system (ADA or approved stable asset).
2. Smart-contract framework for seed to sale and genetics tracking.
3. A technical data format guide for devs.
4. Testing suite software.

Acceptance Criteria

1. Aiken code for payment systems compiled and tested.
2. Aiken code for seed to sale compiled and tested.
3. Completed writing technical data guild for developers.
4. Testing suite compiled and tested.

Evidence of Completion

1. Payment systems passing all tests with screenshot.
2. Seed to sale and genetics tracking passing all tests with screenshot.
3. Github repo with technical data guide
4. Screenshot of passing test results.

Delivery Month

2

Cost

20000

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Deployed to Cardano test network + SDK alpha

Milestone Outputs

1. Contracts deployed and tested on the Cardano test network.
2. Mapping Business NFT to Product NFTs and to lab results and genetics.
3. Deploy SDK (JavaScript/TypeScript) alpha for other applications.

Acceptance Criteria

1. Contracts passing all tests and succesfully deployed on Cardano test network.
2. Product NFTs reference Business NFTs and maps to lab results and genetics.
3. Completed and compiled code for SDK published to Github.

Evidence of Completion

1. Link to block explorer with deployed Business NFT transaction.
2. Link to block explorer with minted Product NFT transaction.
3. Succesfull test of SDK in a seperate application with links to block explorer on Github.

Delivery Month

4

Cost

20000

Progress

40 %

Milestone Title

App, QR pages, and Atala PRISM age check

Milestone Outputs

• Web app to create batches, print QR labels, toggle recall, and show receipts
• QR product pages that show batch facts, who handled it, and lab results
• Atala PRISM age check (pass/fail) before the payment screen
• Lab file upload stored with a lock (content hash) so the file can’t be quietly swapped
• Simple POS test hooks (quote/confirm/cancel)
• Dashboard with counts and confirmation times

Acceptance Criteria

QR pages open on a phone for ≥50 batches and show batch info plus the lab file link. Lab files load ≥98% of the time in our tests, and the median page load is ≤2 seconds. Checkout blocks payment until an Atala PRISM “21+ pass” is received; fail shows a clear message. The POS test hooks record quote and confirm calls. The dashboard shows counts and a chart of payment confirmation times.

Evidence of Completion

A public demo site URL, two QR links that anyone can open, a list of IPFS file IDs and a short note on success rate, a brief screen recording of the PRISM pass/fail gate and receipt, logs from the POS test hooks, updated OpenAPI/docs, a dashboard link, and a tagged app-alpha release.

Delivery Month

7

Cost

20000

Progress

60 %

Milestone Title

Lion City live pilot (field test)

Milestone Outputs

• In-store pilot with Lion City at 1–2 locations (where allowed by law)
• Real batches with printed QRs, Atala PRISM age checks, and on-chain payments with small per-tx and daily caps
• One recall drill so staff practice the flow
• A Pilot Playbook (setup, signs, steps, support)
• A public dashboard for pilot stats and a usability report

Acceptance Criteria

The pilot runs 2–4 weeks with real batches, QR scans, PRISM age checks, and on-chain payments under the set caps. A recall drill flags a batch and the QR page shows a red warning in minutes. The dashboard reports pilot mints, payment counts, confirmation times, failure rate, and scan totals. A usability report lists issues we found and what we fixed.

Evidence of Completion

Link to the dashboard, the pilot addresses/policy IDs, and a CSV of pilot tx IDs. Photos or screenshots of labels and in-store QR use. The recall drill tx/event. A small log of PRISM pass/fail events (counts only). The Pilot Playbook PDF and the Usability Report with dates and a change log. A tagged v1.0-pilot release.

Delivery Month

11

Cost

20000

Progress

80 %

Milestone Title

Final acceptance / close-out

Milestone Outputs

• Close-Out Report (what shipped, results vs goals, risks, next steps)
• Close-Out Video (5–8 minutes, shows mint → scan → age check → pay → recall)
• Final docs/SDK and repo tags, plus an archived dashboard snapshot
• Support & contribution notes (how others can use or help)

Acceptance Criteria

All earlier milestones are approved. The Report and Video are submitted. Repos are tagged v1.0, docs/SDK are final, addresses/policy IDs are listed, and the dashboard snapshot is saved. A reviewer can follow the video and docs to repeat a mint, scan, age check, payment, and recall without our help.

Evidence of Completion

Links to the Report and Video, final repo tags/releases, the dashboard snapshot/URL, CONTRIBUTING.md and SUPPORT.md, a screenshot of the cleaned-up issue board, and a short checklist that shows each acceptance item was met, with links to sample transactions.

Delivery Month

12

Cost

20000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

1. Development & Technical — ₳58,000

(internal work @ 30 ₳/hour; hours shown)

• Smart contracts (mint + payment) — ₳22,000 → ~733 h
• SDK + adapters (POS basics, recall, business refs) — ₳9,500 → ~317 h
• Frontend (Vite app, QR pages) — ₳9,500 → ~317 h
• Backend / APIs / Dashboard — ₳7,500 → ~250 h
• DevOps / CI (builds, deploys, scripts) — ₳3,500 → ~117 h
• QA & integration tests — ₳6,000 → ~200 h

Focus is mint, payments, QR pages, lab links, recall switch.

2. Ops & Infra (run costs) — ₳16,500

(fixed services, not wages; receipts will be shared)

• IPFS pinning & gateway — ₳4,000
• RPC/API & explorer plans — ₳3,000
• Hosting / CDN / backups — ₳3,000
• Logs / metrics / uptime — ₳2,000
• Test devices & data — ₳1,500
• Incident reserve — ₳3,000

3. Marketing, Docs & Community — ₳17,000

• Docs, tutorials, demo videos — ₳6,500 → ~217 h
• Design & diagrams (UI polish, flow charts) — ₳2,000 → ~67 h
• Community code bounties — ₳8,500
• Micro-grants for tests, bug fixes, small adapters (e.g., 17× ₳500 or 28× ₳300)

4. Project Management — ₳8,500

• Planning, reporting, acceptance, milestone paperwork — ₳8,500 → ~283 h

Clear note on the Lion City pilot

Lion City covers its own store costs (staff time, space, licensing). Catalyst funds pay for the open toolkit, testing, docs, and the shared materials we publish (code, SDK, examples, dashboards).

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

What funders pay for

Your funds build reusable tools any Cardano team can use:

• Smart contracts for product tags (CIP-68) and payments
• A simple web app (create batch, print QR, recall switch, checkout)
• Atala PRISM age-check in the flow (pass/fail before paying)
• SDK + examples, POS/API basics, and a small dashboard
• Docs, tutorials, and demo videos
• Community bounties so outside devs add tests/fixes

No store operations are funded. Lion City pays its own in-store costs. Catalyst funds the open toolkit, testing, and documentation.

Budget snapshot (₳100,000 total)

• Development & Technical — ₳58,000 (smart contracts, SDK, web app, backend, CI, QA)
• Ops & Infra — ₳16,500 (IPFS pinning, RPC/API, hosting/CDN, logs/metrics, test devices, incident reserve)
• Marketing, Docs & Community — ₳17,000 (docs/tutorials/videos, diagrams, ₳8,500 code bounties)
• Project Management — ₳8,500

All internal work uses a modest ₳30/hour rate. Bounties are fixed micro-grants for small wins (tests, bug fixes, adapters).

Why this is good value

• Open and reusable: Everything is open-source. Other builders can fork, modify, and ship with low friction.
• Complete pattern, small scope: Pay, age-check, QR product page, lab link, recall—simple, end-to-end, and useful on day one.
• Hours saved for others: Teams usually spend ~1,100–1,600 hours to wire these parts from scratch.
• At ₳30/hour, that’s ₳33,000–₳48,000 per team. If only 3 teams adopt, the saved effort matches or exceeds this entire grant.
• Lean ops: Infra is modest and transparent (see below). No spend on token sales, legal memos, or store wages.

Cost controls & payment rules

• Milestones with proofs: Each milestone has clear outputs, acceptance checks, and public evidence (repo tags, addresses/policy IDs, tx lists, screenshots).
• 80/20 release: Per Catalyst rules, 80% pays during the milestone, 20% on acceptance. The Final Milestone = 15% and is paid only after close-out.
• Receipts & logs: We publish time logs for hourly work and receipts for fixed services (IPFS, RPC, hosting).
• Small, testable steps: We prove each part works before moving on.

What the “run costs” cover (not salaries)

• IPFS pinning & gateway (₳4,000): Keep lab files and batch data online; track retrieval success.
• RPC/API & explorer (₳3,000): Stable chain access for the app and dashboard.
• Hosting/CDN/backups (₳3,000): Serve the QR pages and demo safely.
• Logs/metrics/uptime (₳2,000): Know if anything breaks.
• Test devices/data (₳1,500): Cheap phones/labels for real scans.
• Incident reserve (₳3,000): Cover spikes or urgent fixes.

What we don’t spend Catalyst funds on

• No Lion City store wages, rent, or licensing
• No token launch or exchange fees
• No multi-state legal memos or expensive compliance reports
• No large “social network” buildout

Why this helps Cardano (beyond one pilot)

• Public goods: Contracts, SDK, schema, and docs live on GitHub under permissive licenses.
• Cleaner standards: Simple batch fields (CIP-68) that wallets, explorers, and POS tools can read.
• Lower barrier to ship: Examples and bounties make it easy for new devs to join and improve the code.

Measurable value (targets we will publish)

On-chain activity:

• ≥250 product-NFT mints; ≥95% with working lab links
• ≥750 payment tx; ≥90% confirm in ≤5 blocks; failures <3%

Adoption signals:

• ≥3 outside teams fork or integrate parts of the toolkit
• ≥10 community PRs/issues merged

Quality & UX:

• Lab file retrieval success ≥98%; median QR resolve ≤2s
• One successful recall drill with visible warning in minutes

Simple risks and how we limit them

• Legal/payment limits: We run only where allowed and use per-tx/daily caps during pilot.
• Counter UX: We test with real staff, fix what slows them down, and keep the steps short.
• Data mistakes: One clear schema, required fields only, checks before minting.

Sustainability after the grant

• The toolkit is small and maintainable; run costs are modest.
• Bounties bring outside help for tests and adapters.
• Clear docs and a simple SDK make hand-off easy for other teams and markets.
• We have been around a while and will continue to be here to help other developers.

Plain-English pledge

• We spend your funds building and proving a simple, useful toolkit.
• We publish everything needed to reuse it: code, schema, addresses, tx lists, and guides.
• We keep costs transparent with milestones, proofs, and receipts.
• We do not bill Catalyst for Lion City’s store operations.

Bottom line: For ₳100,000 at ₳30/hour, Cardano gets a working, open toolkit for payments, PRISM age-check, and QR product proof—plus docs, SDK, and a demo other teams can copy. The saved effort for even a few adopters can equal or beat the full grant, while the code remains a public good for the ecosystem.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes