Trace It: Driving Mass Adoption via Universal Traceability

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Trace It: Driving Mass Adoption via Universal Traceability

[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

5

[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’s potential for real-world use-cases is immense — but today there’s no simple, universal way for anyone, in any industry, to create traceability events and unlock real on-chain adoption.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://palmyraecosystem.io
,
• https://palmyra-docs.vercel.app/docs/winter-protocol

[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?

No

License and Additional Information

Winter Protocol libraries which will power the Trace It Dapp are all open source under the GPL-3.0 License. Post MVP we may consider opening sourcing this; however it is just in concept phase currently.

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

Tokenization

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

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

Nothing like Trace It currently exists on Cardano. While past funded projects have focused on sector-specific traceability, Trace It is a universal traceability DApp that anyone — individual, SME, NGO, or enterprise — can use without technical expertise. We saw how NMKR unlocked NFT adoption by making it simple for everyday users to mint, & we believe Trace It can have the same transformative effect for on-chain traceability. By offering web2-friendly onboarding, social logins, & fiat payments, we remove barriers that held back adoption & open Cardano to an entirely new class of users.

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

The MVP will enable end-to-end event traceability on Cardano, from event creation and submission to public viewing and linking of records. Users will be able to:

• Create events using custom templates
• Access a clean, web2-friendly interface with scan-to-trace QR pages.
• See event histories and cascaded event chains recorded immutably on-chain.

Trace It will be deployed live on Cardano mainnet, powered by the Winter Protocol, and hosted on a zenGate Global subdomain. Anyone will be able to access the MVP publicly and begin creating traceability events across industries.

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

• ≥ 20 community-created templates in the first 3 months.
• ≥ 1000 active projects/users in the first quarter post-launch.
• ≥ 10,000 traceability events created within 6 months.
• ≥ 5 new use-cases (outside of supply-chains) using Trace-It within the first year.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Problem Statement:

Cardano’s potential to bring real-world use-cases on-chain is immense. However, it lacks a simple, universal tool for businesses, communities, and individuals — including non-crypto users — to create traceability events on-chain. Existing tools are often sector-specific (e.g., supply chains) and cannot easily be adapted for other use cases. The lack of easy onboarding, familiar payment options, and simple login systems makes it harder for users from outside the blockchain space to participate, limiting adoption and preventing new industries from leveraging Cardano for transparent, verifiable event histories.

Solution:

Trace It is a universal DApp that lets anyone create, manage, and share traceability events on Cardano. It is designed for ease of use across any industry or use case, with features that make it simple for both crypto and non-crypto users to adopt:

• Trace Anything, Anywhere, Anytime: easy-to-use and end-to-end traceability templates to capture any critical data event on Cardano; flexible for any industry, market and use-case.
• Flexible Payment Options: Accept crypto, stablecoins, or fiat payments (e.g., credit cards) for event creation — all triggering on-chain events and usage on Cardano.
• Custom Templates: Allow any user to create, manage, and adapt their own event templates for any purpose.
• Scan-to-Trace QR: simple scan-to-trace capabilities with a “powered by Cardano” standard visible for all users (web 2 and web 3) looking at the traceability pages.
• Embedded Wallets via Social Logins: Enable users to create and use a Cardano wallet through social logins (e.g., X, Google) without the need to connect an external wallet.
• Event History: Each event is recorded as a structured entry on Cardano, building a searchable and permanent history.
• Flexible Use Cases: Wide scope of users from Farmers markets, journalists, NGOs, artists, small businesses, or individuals can all use the platform to maintain trusted records.
• Event Linking and Trace Preservation: ensure event cascading through the ability to reference existing trace events to ensure a dynamic and connected chain of events.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

• Boosts Network Activity: Every event generates on-chain volume.
• Opens traceability capabilities to all industries, not just specialized sectors.
• Drives sustained on-chain activity by making event creation accessible to anyone, including those without prior crypto experience.
• Serves as an entry point for businesses to adopt Cardano technology.
• Promotes transparency and accountability, aligning with global SDG goals on strong institutions.

[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?

Capability:

zenGate Global’s team is uniquely equipped:

• Daniel Friedman (CEO): Former IOG Business Development Manager, key to Cardano’s early growth, with expertise in global partnerships.
• Sam Lambert (Co-Founder): Former Management Consultant who helped set up the Oliver Wyman Global Blockchain Practice in 2022. Leads product and corporate development across various supply-chain traceability projects in Africa, LATAM and Asia.
• Theodore Morisis (Co-Founder): Director of Business Development at zenGate Global; currently overseeing onboarding of supply-chain projects in LATAM, South East Asia and West-Africa.
• Angel Cevera (Director of Technology): Angel has nearly 30 years experience in technology and has worked over 50 large-scale enterprise projects. His core strengths are in Solution and Data Architecturing, Software Engineering and Big Data. Some notable companies he has worked with include: Bank of Ireland, United Health, Dun & Bradstreet and Swiss Re.
• Luca D’Angelo, Shishir Pai and Luiz Oliveira (Founding Engineers & Lead Blockchain Developers): Experts in Winter Protocol and smart contracts, with experience on the PALM Staking PortalGuapSwap and GluonGold.
• 15+ zenGate Experts: Specialists in blockchain, DeFi, regulatory compliance, and commodity markets.

Feasibility:

• Experienced in delivering enterprise-grade traceability on Cardano (for Palmyra Pro traceability with clients across Africa, LATAM and Asia). Proven history of integrating blockchain applications with decentralized storage.
• Delivered multiple Catalyst-funded projects, all successfully.
• Expertise in onboarding technical and non-technical users.
• Expertise of developer team building novel crypto DApps such as GluonGold (algorithmic stablecoins), HODL Erg and HODL Alph (degenFi).
• Rare Evo Validation: Strong reception of initial concept demo to Palmyra Partners cohort as well as live-demo at Rare Evo 2025 - who have come up with various use-cases that will fit outside of the Supply-Chain sector.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Core MVP, Explorer and Traceability Capabilities

Milestone Outputs

• Establish the foundational architecture for Trace It.
• Deliver a clean, intuitive UX so non-technical users can easily create trace events.
• Ensure the core workflow is fully functional end-to-end: event creation → submission → on-chain record → Explorer view. With full backend and front end capabilities required for MVP functionality.
• Explorer module to provide transparency of on-chain records with user-friendly search and filter options.
• JSON-based event records viewable on-chain
• Wallet connection (crypto-first flow via wallets such as Lace, Eternl)

Acceptance Criteria

• User can create and submit a trace event and see it recorded live on-chain
• Event workflow tested end-to-end: creation → submission → Explorer view
• UX validated through initial user testing sessions with ≥10 non-technical testers
• Explorer returns accurate results for submitted on-chain events

Evidence of Completion

• Video demo of event creation and Explorer search
• User testing report with feedback summary and adjustments made

Delivery Month

2

Cost

25000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Usability Enhancements (Payments, Social Logins & User Workflows)

Milestone Outputs

• Support for crypto, stablecoin and fiat / credit card payments
• Simplified onboarding with user flows that do not require wallet setup.
• Smooth user creation and login for both crypto and non-crypto audience (e.g via social logins such as Google).
• Event cascading and trace preservation: ability to connect and reference existing trace records.

Acceptance Criteria

• Users can sign up with email or social login and begin creating trace events without manual wallet setup
• Successful payment in at least 3 modes (crypto, stablecoin, fiat) each triggering an on-chain event on Cardano
• Trace preservation demonstrated by linking an event to a previous record
• ≥80% of pilot users able to onboard without prior crypto experience

Evidence of Completion

• Payment workflow test logs and transaction IDs on Cardano
• Video demo of signup/login flows and embedded wallet usage
• Screenshots showing event chaining and preserved history
• Pilot user survey results confirming ease of onboarding

Delivery Month

1

Cost

20000

Progress

60 %

Milestone Title

Traceability Templates & Personal Libraries

Milestone Outputs

• Use-case Agnostic: Enable flexible, sector-agnostic customization of trace events.
• Community Templates: Build a collaborative ecosystem of reusable templates for different use cases for the community to leverage (reducing time to build and customize from scratch).
• Personal Template Module for each user (enables each user to create and save custom templates which are re-usable to ensure ease of use).
• Import / Export options for sharing templates.

Acceptance Criteria

• Users can create, save, and reuse their own templates for trace events
• At least 10 public templates available in the community library
• Import/export tested between 2 or more users successfully
• ≥5 unique sectors represented in template designs (e.g., agriculture, media, NGO, creative, retail)

Evidence of Completion

• Screenshots and demo video of template creation, saving, and library browsing
• List of live community templates with descriptions
• Transaction IDs linked to events created via custom templates visible on the public explorer.
• Feedback from at least 10 community users validating ease of use

Delivery Month

4

Cost

20000

Progress

80 %

Milestone Title

Community Testing, Feedback Campaigns and Close Out Reports

Milestone Outputs

• Establish an early community testing group to validate usability and performance.
• Run targeted campaigns and pilots across different verticals (NGOs, SMEs, artists, journalists, grassroots communities).
• Collect structured feedback loops to refine UX, templates, and workflows.
• Showcase Trace It as a flexible, multi-industry tool beyond supply chains.
• Close out Report
• Close out Video

Acceptance Criteria

• ≥50 testers onboarded and actively creating trace events
• Minimum of 3 pilots completed with measurable outputs (≥100 events traced across campaigns)
• Partner pilots with ≥5 organizations producing ≥500 events in aggregate
• Feedback dashboard accessible with actionable insights logged and tracked
• Close out Report
• Close out Video

Evidence of Completion

• Tester cohort roster and activity logs
• Transaction IDs and statistics from pilot campaigns
• Feedback reports exported from dashboard with ≥20 actionable recommendations
• Public summary report published and shared with community
• Close out Report pdf linked on specific catalyst page on Trace It
• Close out Video uploaded on Youtube linked on specific catalyst page on Trace It

Delivery Month

5

Cost

20000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Milestone 1: Core MVP, Explorer & Traceability Capabilities (25,000 ADA)

Blockchain Developers – 10,000 ADA

Full-Stack Developers – 10,000 ADA

Product/UX Design – 3,000 ADA

Testing & QA – 2,000 ADA

Milestone 2: Usability Enhancements (Payments, Social Logins & User Workflows) (20,000 ADA)

Blockchain Developers – 7,000 ADA

Full-Stack Developers – 8,000 ADA

Product Manager – 3,000 ADA

Testing & QA – 2,000 ADA

Milestone 3: Traceability Templates & Personal Libraries (20,000 ADA)

Full-Stack Developers – 9,000 ADA

Blockchain Developers – 7,000 ADA

Product Manager – 4,000 ADA

Milestone 4: Community Testing & Feedback Campaigns (20,000 ADA)

Full-Stack Developers – 6,000 ADA

Blockchain Developers – 5,000 ADA

Product Manager / Community Lead – 4,000 ADA

Community Testing Incentives – 3,000 ADA

Feedback Dashboard & Reporting – 2,000 ADA

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

Scalable, Universal Use-Case

• Trace It is not limited to one sector (e.g., supply chains) but designed to be industry-agnostic.
• Farmers’ markets, NGOs, journalists, artists, SMEs, and individuals can all use the platform to create trusted on-chain records.
• This positions Cardano as the blockchain of choice for traceability across multiple industries.

Driving On-Chain Activity & Adoption

• Every event created is an on-chain transaction, directly increasing Cardano network activity.
• Integration of fiat payment rails and social logins ensures non-crypto users onboard easily, bringing new demographics into Cardano.
• Community templates and campaigns ensure sustained engagement and recurring on-chain usage.

Catalyst for Growth Beyond Crypto-Natives

• By lowering barriers (simple UX, fiat payments, no wallet requirement at signup), Trace It acts as an entry point for mainstream adoption of Cardano technology.
• Provides a framework that other projects can build on: shared templates, open Explorer, and campaign structures.

Alignment with Cardano’s Long-Term Goals

• Promotes transparency, accountability, and trust, aligning with Cardano’s mission and global SDG goals (e.g., strong institutions, sustainable value chains).
• Expands the Cardano brand as a platform for verifiable record-keeping, not just financial transactions.

Efficient Use of Funds

• 85,000 ADA is allocated primarily to developer resources (≈70–75%), ensuring most funding goes into tangible product development.
• The phased milestones deliver working outputs at each stage, reducing delivery risk and ensuring continuous progress.
• Early community testing and feedback loops ensure real-world adoption, not just a technical prototype.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes