Last updated 2 months ago
There is no Cardano-native way for projects to boost CEX trading volume and reward traders transparently with on-chain payouts, leaving listings at risk and users disengaged. We plan on solving it.
We will create a trade-to-earn platform where CEX trading is verified via API and rewarded with on-chain ADA/token payouts, boosting volume and engagement.
This is the total amount allocated to Cardano Trade-to-Earn Hub (Powered by Iagon and Farmroll).
Please provide your proposal title
Cardano Trade-to-Earn Hub (Powered by Iagon and Farmroll)
Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA
600000
Please specify how many months you expect your project to last
12
Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated
No
Original Language
en
What is the problem you want to solve?
There is no Cardano-native way for projects to boost CEX trading volume and reward traders transparently with on-chain payouts, leaving listings at risk and users disengaged. We plan on solving it.
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
No
Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'
No dependencies.
Will your project's outputs be fully open source?
No
License and Additional Information
Wont be open sourced.
Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal
DeFi
Describe your established collaborations.
This project is created by Farmroll and advised by Iagon. Farmroll brings experience in building engagement platforms (110k+ users, 745k+ quests completed, $319k distributed rewards), while Iagon contributes its expertise in decentralized cloud computing and enterprise integrations. Together, we combine proven community engagement infrastructure with enterprise-grade distributed systems, creating a scalable Cardano-native trade-to-earn platform.
Describe funding commitments.
We are comited to co-funding early development, integrations, and initial pilot campaigns. Farmroll will contribute product, marketing, and platform development resources, while Iagon provides technical expertise, infrastructure support, and enterprise connection. Catalyst funding will be used to accelerate delivery, expand integrations with major CEXs, and ensure robust Cardano-native reward distribution. Both partners are aligned to sustain operations beyond Catalyst funding.
Describe your key performance metrics.
Users: 110,000+ registered
Live for: ~2 years
Quests completed: 745,500+
Organizations served: 40+
Value distributed via quests: $319,000+
Iagon as an advisor is also a long stending member and of the Cardano community and on of the Largest Cardano projects in the space.
Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem
Centralized exchanges (CEXs) remain the primary entry point for millions of retail and institutional crypto traders. Projects rely on CEX listings to achieve exposure, liquidity, and market credibility. However, sustaining healthy trading volume on those exchanges is extremely difficult.
Low or inconsistent volumes can quickly lead to:
Reduced visibility on exchange leaderboards and ranking pages.
Risk of delisting due to inactivity or low liquidity.
Ineffective marketing spend, as projects cannot measure ROI from promotional efforts.
User disengagement, since traders receive no tangible rewards for providing volume.
At present, there is no Cardano-native solution to incentivize and reward CEX trading in a transparent and verifiable way. While Cardano excels in on-chain innovation, off-chain CEX activity has no bridge into its ecosystem. This gap means Cardano projects with CEX listings cannot leverage their native chain for reward distribution or community engagement around trading activity.
We propose CEX-Sprint, a venture by Farmroll and advised by Iagon, designed to replicate and improve upon the proven CedeHub model — but fully integrated with Cardano.
Core Concept:
A trade-to-earn platform where verified CEX trading activity is rewarded with on-chain payouts on Cardano. Traders compete in daily or weekly “epochs,” and winners claim rewards in ADA or project tokens via a Merkle-proof distributor.
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
Positive Impact on the Cardano Community
Our project brings measurable and lasting benefits to the Cardano ecosystem:
User Growth & Wallet Adoption
Every trader who participates must connect a Cardano wallet to claim rewards.
This converts active CEX traders into new on-chain Cardano users, expanding the network’s base.
Liquidity & Volume Support for Cardano Projects
Cardano projects with CEX listings can sustain healthy trading volumes, reducing delisting risks.
By funding campaigns with ADA or native tokens, projects strengthen their Cardano-based treasuries and utility.
On-Chain Transparency & Trust
All rewards are distributed through smart contracts with public proofs (Merkle roots and claim txs).
This builds trust in Cardano as a transparent settlement layer compared to off-chain or manual reward schemes.
Reusable Infrastructure for the Ecosystem
Fraud detection heuristics and Merkle distributor contracts will be open-sourced, enabling other Cardano builders to launch their own incentive programs.
This raises the baseline infrastructure quality for future engagement platforms.
Enterprise & CEX Partnerships
By integrating major exchanges (MEXC, Gate.io, KuCoin, Bybit), Cardano gains visibility in broader crypto markets.
Joint ventures with companies like Iagon demonstrate Cardano’s ability to deliver enterprise-grade solutions.
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 Capabilities
Farmroll:
Live product: Farmroll.io, a gamified questing platform with 110k+ users, 745k+ quests completed, 40+ organizations served, and $319k in distributed rewards.
Proven delivery: Two years of continuous platform development, feature rollouts, and integrations with Cardano/EVM.
Expertise: Community engagement, on-chain verification mechanisms, UX/UI design, and incentive structures.
Iagon:
Enterprise experience: A Cardano-native company providing decentralized storage and computing infrastructure.
Track record: Successfully delivered enterprise-grade products with compliance and scaling in mind.
Expertise: Secure API integrations, distributed system architecture, and partnerships with institutional actors.
Joint Capability:
Together, Farmroll and Iagon bring community adoption + enterprise reliability. This joint venture covers both user-facing engagement design and the technical/infrastructure robustness required for CEX integrations.
Milestone Title
Milestone #1 – Specification & Compliance Review
Milestone Outputs
Outputs: A detailed product specification covering all system modules, including trader onboarding, issuer dashboard, and on-chain payout flow. Compliance experts will deliver a memo assessing campaign legality across target regions, while UX designers deliver Figma prototypes for all core user journeys.
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance Criteria: Completion of a signed-off specification document, compliance memo addressing legal and regulatory risks, and Figma designs that fully illustrate the trading flow, issuer setup, and reward claim process, ensuring readiness for development.
Evidence of Completion
Evidence of Completion: A published product specification document available for the community, a compliance report addressing regulatory concerns, and publicly shared Figma prototype links that show the functional design of both trader and issuer experiences.
Delivery Month
1
Cost
60000
Progress
10 %
Milestone Title
Milestone #2 – CEX Connector & Browser Extension MVP
Milestone Outputs
Outputs: Delivery of a non-custodial browser extension allowing traders to securely store CEX API keys locally, with connectors for MEXC, Gate.io, and KuCoin. A trade ingestion engine will capture orders, validate them against exchange APIs, and apply initial fraud rules such as self-trade filters and minimum order sizes.
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance Criteria: The extension connects successfully to the 3 selected exchanges in sandbox environments, validates trades against exchange APIs without exposing private keys, and applies fraud checks that automatically exclude invalid or manipulated trades from reward calculations.
Evidence of Completion
Evidence of Completion: Open-source GitHub repository with the extension code, demo video showing live trades being validated and ingested through the extension, and technical test reports that confirm fraud filters and data validation are functioning as intended.
Delivery Month
3
Cost
240000
Progress
40 %
Milestone Title
Milestone #3 – Cardano On-Chain Rewards System
Milestone Outputs
Outputs: Development and deployment of the Reward Vault and Merkle Distributor smart contracts, enabling secure prize pool funding and verifiable on-chain reward claims. The system will include a user-friendly claim UI integrated with Cardano wallets (Lace, Eternl, Nami, Flint, Typhon) and will first launch on testnet.
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance Criteria: Traders must be able to claim testnet rewards successfully through their connected Cardano wallets, with Merkle proofs that match trading volume data. The contracts must demonstrate secure vaulting of prize pools, transparent distribution logic, and error-free claim validation on testnet.
Evidence of Completion
Evidence of Completion: Public testnet transaction hashes showing claims, deployed contract addresses, a technical QA report documenting correct Merkle proof validation, and a live demonstration of the claim UI integrated with multiple Cardano wallets.
Delivery Month
4
Cost
150000
Progress
70 %
Milestone Title
Milestone #4 – Closed Beta & Mainnet Launch
Milestone Outputs
Outputs: Execution of 2–3 closed beta campaigns with partner issuers, including full leaderboard tracking, fraud detection, and automated payouts in ADA or project tokens. Following successful tests, the platform will launch on mainnet with open issuer onboarding, public documentation, and SDK tools for external integrations.
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance Criteria: At least two real-world beta campaigns are successfully completed with rewards distributed to traders via Cardano wallets. By mainnet launch, at least five issuers have successfully onboarded, campaigns are live, and all fraud prevention and payout mechanisms are confirmed in production.
Evidence of Completion
Evidence of Completion: Public dashboards showing leaderboard and campaign results, mainnet transaction links proving on-chain payouts, written confirmations from issuer partners, and released documentation and SDK materials accessible to the Cardano community.
Delivery Month
4
Cost
150000
Progress
100 %
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
Total Requested Budget: ₳600,000
Milestone #1 – Specification & Compliance Review (₳60,000)
Development of full product specification, technical architecture, UX/UI prototypes, and compliance review.
% of total: 10%
Milestone #2 – CEX Connector & Browser Extension MVP (₳240,000)
Build of non-custodial extension, integration with MEXC, Gate.io, and KuCoin, plus initial fraud detection engine.
% of total: 40%
Milestone #3 – Cardano On-Chain Rewards System (₳150,000)
Deployment of Reward Vault & Merkle Distributor contracts, wallet-integrated claim UI, and testnet validation.
% of total: 25%
Milestone #4 – Closed Beta & Mainnet Launch (₳150,000)
Execution of beta campaigns with issuers, fraud detection validation, mainnet launch, and SDK + docs release.
% of total: 25%
How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?
The requested ₳600,000 budget represents high value for the Cardano ecosystem because it funds the creation of a fully operational trade-to-earn platform that directly addresses a major gap: incentivizing CEX trading while routing rewards on-chain. The project replicates a proven model (CedeHub on Arbitrum) but adapts it specifically for Cardano, ensuring we invest in a solution with validated demand and measurable results.
The cost allocation is transparent and milestone-based: ₳60k for specification and compliance, ₳240k for CEX connector and extension MVP, ₳150k for on-chain rewards, and ₳150k for closed beta and mainnet launch. Each phase delivers tangible outputs (extension, contracts, dashboards, campaigns) that can be independently verified through testnet and mainnet transactions, public repos, and campaign dashboards.
The impact far outweighs the budget: within six months, the platform targets 30+ campaigns, 800+ daily active traders, 10,000+ Cardano addresses claiming rewards, and $500M+ CEX volume attributed to Cardano-funded incentives. These metrics translate directly into more users onboarded into Cardano wallets, stronger liquidity for Cardano projects on exchanges, and reusable open-source infrastructure (fraud filters, Merkle distributor) for the ecosystem.
By leveraging the joint expertise of Farmroll (110k+ users, 745k+ quests completed, $319k distributed) and Iagon (enterprise-grade Cardano infrastructure), the project delivers proven execution at a lean cost relative to expected adoption and economic impact. Catalyst funding ensures rapid deployment, while the revenue model (campaign fees and issuer onboarding) guarantees sustainability beyond the initial funding window.
In short, ₳600k unlocks a platform that brings new users, measurable trading volume, and real-world utility to Cardano, representing exceptional value compared to the cost of delivery.
Terms and Conditions:
Yes
Ivica Zafirovski – COO
Oversees strategy, partnerships, and execution. Leads business development, manages partner collaborations (Cardano Foundation, CV Labs, Snek, Iagon), and ensures accountability for delivery milestones.
Tome – CTO
Responsible for technical architecture and development. Leads the build of the engagement scoring engine, wallet integrations, dashboards, and platform infrastructure in collaboration with Minswap developers.
Anja – Co-Founder & Design and Marketing Lead
Handles UX/UI design and art direction. Ensures the platform is visually engaging and user-friendly. Leads brand identity and creative direction for the Attention Economy Hub.