CHARLI3 Open Source Oracle Marketplace and Launchpad

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

CHARLI3 Open Source Oracle Marketplace and Launchpad

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

595000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

7

[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 an open source scalable, community-governed oracle framework to support DeFi, cross-chain data, and real-world asset adoption.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://milestones.projectcatalyst.io/projects/1100091
,
• https://milestones.projectcatalyst.io/projects/1200080
,
• https://www.charli3.io
,
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ABZHsnXHbkGTxPfN92bmBUYBoade6htL/view?usp=drive_link

[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

MIT License: This project will be released under a temporary non-commercial open source license for the 18-month development period, ensuring the community can access, test, and contribute while preventing commercial exploitation. Upon project completion, the codebase will transition to a full MIT license, making it permanently open, free to use, and commercially deployable by anyone.

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

Layer2

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe your established collaborations.

Charli3 has established relationships with the major labs: Anastasia Labs, Mlabs, and Txpipe. Additionally, we work closely with the Steelswap.io and Moneta teams to develop innovations such as the Cardano Token Data API, Charli3 Dendrite, and USDM's Proof of Reserve. We have an established MOU with Fida.finance and the Howden Group, ongoing discussions with RWA specialists such as Zengate and their World Food F14 proposal. That said, this proposal is to enhance our existing mainnet solution (partnerchain oracle network) to onboard with RWA, Insurance/Finance, and cross-chain integrations.

Describe funding commitments.

Our MOU with the Howden grop agrees to support up to 2M in funding for an insurance use-case. But to be abundantly clear, we are submitting this proposal as a Community governed oracle partnerchain so Cardano builders can launch, manage, and use their own custom oracle networks. These will include templates for micro finance, insurance, RWA, price feeds, and anything else listed in the marketplace.

Describe your key performance metrics.

Success will be measured by launching the marketplace with wallet login, 5+ ready-to-use oracle templates, and at least 10 operators listed. Our goal is Wo onboard 25+ people to the marketpalce. Likewise we aim for 3–5 active oracle networks posting data, generating 50k+ mainnet transactions on Cardano during the project period. Adoption will be validated through marketplace activity, operator participation, and template usage, establishing a strong foundation for future growth. Integrations enabling direct on-chain token data from an Ethereum chain and midnight are stretch goals.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

TLDR: Opensource Partnerchain with Oracle Launchpad and Marketplace

What’s the Problem?

Oracle infrastructure on Cardano today is fragmented and fragile. Builders operate in silos, spinning up “oracles” that are little more than centralized data feeds, multi-sig scripts, or API pulls dressed up as robust systems. Every Catalyst round funds dozens of RWA price feeds or “oracle” projects that ultimately duplicate work without creating shared standards. Communities are tribalistic, protective of their tokens, and unwilling to cooperate across networks. Meanwhile, outside of Cardano, oracles are understood as essential infrastructure — projects like Supra or Flare receive $15–90M in funding because blockchains cannot function securely at scale without them.

The consequences of weak oracle infrastructure are real and devastating:

• Mango Markets (2022): $114M drained after oracle price manipulation.
• bZx Protocol (2020): $8M stolen due to reliance on a single manipulated data point.
• Compound (2021): $147M mistakenly distributed because of an oracle misconfiguration.

Cardano cannot afford to repeat these mistakes, yet adoption of robust oracle infrastructure here remains low. Orcfax is still testing its incentivized off-chain model without a mainnet solution fully deployed with it. Bootstrapped multi-sig “oracles” continue to be spun up in isolation. And the lack of a common marketplace or shared foundation means protocols are forced to choose between competing, incomplete solutions — or build their own from scratch.

Our Track Record

Charli3 has proven what’s possible. We started building the first decentralized oracle on Cardano in 2021, deployed to mainnet in October 2022 with 100% uptime and zero failures. We have delivered 11/11 funded Catalyst projects, completed research into Input Output’s partnerchain tooling, and built the first functioning partnerchain use-case: a decentralized oracle MVP posting data directly onto Cardano. Our data has been rock solid, our track record unmatched.

So why hasn’t adoption surged?

The reality is simple: running oracles on Cardano is expensive and inefficient. Every data post carries an on-chain transaction fee, which compounds quickly and makes sustainable use impractical. Without a shared infrastructure layer, every project has to rebuild the same components from scratch—wasting resources, fragmenting the ecosystem, and driving up costs that most teams simply cannot afford.

Off-chain oracle solutions try to bypass this, but they create a different problem: trust. Without on-chain records or transparent explorers, users must take the operator’s word for what happened, opening the door to hidden risks and unverifiable claims. For cash-strapped Cardano projects, the temptation is to adopt the lowest-cost solution that “works,” even if it sacrifices security.

The danger is that these risks don’t always show up in everyday market conditions. They surface in moments of volatility—like during the U.S. election, when liquidations quietly rippled through protocols while end users were none the wiser. Bootstrapped multi-sig feeds and API hacks can hold together in calm markets, but history across other chains (Mango, bZx, Compound) shows that when stress hits, the costs of fragile oracles are paid in the hundreds of millions.

Yet the conversation on Cardano often gets muddied. Politics, tribalism, and social drama drown out real technical concerns. Builders face the perverse incentive of silence: to admit data insecurity is to admit potential exposure of user funds, and admitting that risk often obligates them to adopt more expensive solutions that their budgets simply cannot handle. It’s easier to downplay the problem than to confront it head-on.

THE SOLUTION

This proposal changes all that.

We will evolve our existing partnerchain MVP into a community-owned oracle launchpad and marketplace — a public resource where everything needed to spin up a new oracle network is in one place:

• Ready-to-use oracle templates (everything needed to pull price feeds, setup RWA Pricing oracles, and etc.)
• Listings of oracle data providers and node operators.
• Documentation, guides, and education for builders.
• A transparent governance model to ensure community oversight.
• An open-source framework, allowing anyone to also run their own private network if they prefer.

The marketplace is designed to remove fragmentation by giving builders a single hub to access oracle templates, connect with data providers, and onboard node operators. Instead of siloed, one-off oracle solutions, the **partnerchain becomes a neutral infrastructure layer **— low-cost, scalable, and open.

The goal is bigger than just infrastructure: it is to drive community, communication, adoption, and education. Charli3 could wait for the bull market to expose weaknesses in existing oracle setups and profit from solving those issues. Instead, we are choosing to open up everything we’ve built, invite the community to participate, and deliver a better data infrastructure layer for Cardano as a whole.

Deliverables

• Open sourcing and Access
  • Open source the Charli3 oracle codebase under a restricted license during development, with full MIT license release after completion.
  • Open access to the partnerchain MVP and bridge solution.
• Partnerchain MVP enhancements
  • Integrations with Cardano, Midnight, and Ethereum to supply direct on-chain token data.
  • Enhancements including a flexible reward mechanism so networks can use any token as their base currency.
• Launch Oracle Marketplace
  • Launch of the marketplace with wallet login, oracle templates, operator listings, and data provider monetization.
  • Onboard additional node operators to expand participation.
  • Documentation, guides, and educational materials to make adoption straightforward.
• Ecosystem and Governance Plan
  • Ecosystem onboarding: Expanded node operator participation, plus documentation, guides, and workshops to support adoption.
  • Clear transition path from Charli3-managed networks to community-run networks.

This is not a whiteboard idea. We already have a functioning mainnet solution. This project funds the enhancement and scaling of that solution into a neutral, community-driven marketplace — one that ensures Cardano enters the next market cycle with the robust oracle infrastructure it deserves.

Rollout Plan

**Months 1–3: **Open source release, partnerchain MVP access, and publication of initial documentation.

Months 4–6: Core enhancements delivered (integrations + flexible reward mechanism).

Months 7–9: Marketplace launch with wallet login, templates, and operator/data provider listings.

Months 10–12: Governance framework rollout, expanded onboarding of node operators, educational workshops, and final MIT license release.

User Journeys

• Other Oracles: Competing oracles can list their templates, contribute adapters, or even launch managed networks on the marketplace. Instead of fragmentation, they gain visibility and adoption while keeping their autonomy.
• Data Providers: Whether AI agents, exchanges, or institutional feeds, providers can publish adapters on the marketplace and monetize access. This creates new revenue streams and lets builders easily plug in their data.
• Node Operators: Operators join the marketplace, are listed transparently, and connect directly with builders. Instead of being locked into a single vendor, they can secure multiple networks and earn rewards.
• DeFi and Lending Builders: A protocol needing reliable price feeds for loans can select a ready-to-use template, choose trusted operators, and connect to data sources — all without reinventing the wheel.
• RWA Builders: Projects tokenizing assets like real estate or commodities can use pre-built RWA oracle templates, connect to on-chain feeds, and ensure reliable pricing without designing infrastructure from scratch.
• Retail Users: Everyday Cardano community members benefit indirectly. With stronger oracle infrastructure, lending, trading, and RWA platforms become safer and more transparent, reducing systemic risk of loss.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

Impact

The impact of this proposal is to make oracle adoption on Cardano a reality, not just an aspiration. We remove barriers, lower costs, and entice the community to actively participate by running and securing the Partnerchain.

Empowering the Community

Community members will not just consume data — they will earn yield by staking and securing networks, voting on operator performance, and becoming active participants in governance. This keeps the Partnerchain sustainable while ensuring that ownership stays with the Cardano ecosystem.

Cross-Chain Connectivity

With direct on-chain reads and posting capabilities, C3 Networks connects Cardano to other blockchains — including Ethereum, Polkadot, and the upcoming Midnight. This bridges Cardano’s protocols with external ecosystems, creating a two-way data highway that expands Cardano’s reach and relevance in the multi-chain era.

Marketplace of Oracles

Instead of 15 isolated RWA price oracles, all with fragmented adoption and limited support, we deliver a single unified marketplace. Builders can find what they need in one place, whether it’s an RWA template, a DeFi price feed, or exotic agent-driven data streams. Developers can also monetize their own templates, creating an ecosystem of reusable infrastructure. This ensures that adoption compounds rather than fragments.

Solving Fragmented Innovation

Right now, oracle innovation on Cardano is fragmented. Each team reinvents the wheel, and siloed approaches slow adoption. With the Partnerchain marketplace, we unify these efforts under a single framework. Vendors like Orcfax can participate as marketplace providers, offering managed closed-source networks or publishing templates alongside community-created oracles. This puts power back in the builders’ hands while creating a level playing field. New innovations can thrive here without competing destructively, and the community gains a single robust oracle infrastructure it can trust.

Decentralization Beyond the Protocol Layer

Cardano’s base chain is world-class, and its dApps are thriving. But in between them lies a weak point: centralized, bootstrapped, or unsafe data infrastructures. With C3 Networks, we fill that gap, creating a decentralized data infrastructure layer that is transparent, secure, and community-run. This strengthens Cardano’s claim as a fully decentralized ecosystem.

Tier 1 Data Integrations

By enabling Cardano-run oracle networks to source and post data across chains, we unlock tier 1 integrations that are otherwise out of reach. This includes token data, RWA feeds, and new agentic use cases. These integrations will increase Cardano’s competitiveness with global solutions like Chainlink while showcasing the strength of our community-driven model.

Building a Public Good for Cardano

Charli3 is deliberately stepping back from being a managed service provider and evolving into a steward of a public good. By committing to an MIT open-source license after the development phase, we ensure that the Partnerchain will be free, transparent, and community-controlled for the long term. This eliminates vendor lock-in and maximizes Cardano’s ability to attract enterprise, RWA, and DeFi adoption.

Global Competitiveness & Urgency

Chainlink already secures billions of dollars across DeFi, with over $15B+ lost on other chains in the past three years due to oracle failures, exploits, and mispriced data feeds. These failures include:

Mango Markets (2022) – $114M drained due to oracle price manipulation.

bZx Protocol (2020) – $8M stolen after a single data point manipulation.

Compound (2021) – $147M mistakenly distributed because of an oracle misconfiguration.

Cardano has so far avoided these disasters, but only because adoption is still maturing. Entering the next bull market without this infrastructure would be a grave risk. The time to fund and secure this project is overdue — Cardano must catch up to ensure its protocols and users are protected.

Quantifiable Results & Measurable Impact

• Transaction Volume: Targeting 500,000+ on-chain data points posted during the 10-month period — ensuring constant activity and transparency.
• Community Participation: 50+ external node operators onboarded and 100+ community stakers actively securing networks.
• **Template Adoption: **At least 5 custom oracle templates created, including 2 for RWAs, enabling plug-and-play adoption by DeFi and enterprise builders.
• Protocol Safety: Adoption by major Cardano DeFi protocols will reduce risk of liquidations and mispriced assets. Oracle failures have cost users $100M+ in single events on Ethereum — this infrastructure prevents Cardano from repeating those mistakes.
• Cross-Chain Reach: Live integrations with Cardano, Ethereum, Polkadot, and Midnight — extending Cardano’s relevance across ecosystems.
• Developer Output: 10+ new dApps or integrations leveraging C3 Networks within the first year, showcasing real-world use cases and commercial viability.

By tying funding to measurable adoption, safety, and transaction counts, this project guarantees visible, quantifiable results that will solidify Cardano’s position as a leading blockchain ecosystem.

[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?

Charli3 is one of the oldest and most recognized projects in the Cardano ecosystem, active since 2021 and continuously building without pause. In that time, we have delivered 11/11 Catalyst-funded projects on track to completion with a proven history of accountability and follow-through. We are best known for launching the first decentralized oracle solution on Cardano in October 2022, which has operated with 100% ecosystem uptime since inception. This is not theory or promises — our team has already executed at scale and delivered working mainnet infrastructure where others remain in testnet phases.

Track Record of Delivery

• 11 Catalyst-funded proposals delivered with evidence-based reporting.
• Two successful third-party audits completed (CertiK and Anastasia Labs).
• First functioning partnerchain use case: a decentralized oracle MVP in Substrate posting data directly to Cardano.
• Proven collaboration with major Cardano labs including TxPipe and MLabs, alongside deep engagement with dApps, SPOs, and infrastructure providers.
• Longstanding credibility as ecosystem educators and contributors, with leadership that has also advised at Emurgo Academy.

List of Notable Completed Projects:

https://milestones.projectcatalyst.io/projects/1100090

https://milestones.projectcatalyst.io/projects/1100091

https://milestones.projectcatalyst.io/projects/1100093

https://milestones.projectcatalyst.io/projects/1200080

https://milestones.projectcatalyst.io/projects/1300066

While competitors are still in incentivized testnet or using limited multi-sig setups, Charli3 has shipped real, reliable mainnet infrastructure. The aim of this proposal is to evolve that infrastructure from a team-administered MVP into a community-governed, open-source launchpad and marketplace — one that the entire Cardano ecosystem can use, extend, and scale.

Technical Feasibility

1. We have already solved the hardest problem: building and deploying a functioning partnerchain oracle network that posts data to Cardano. Building on this foundation is a natural, achievable next step.
2. Partnerchain expertise: Our research and implementation of the oracle MVP demonstrated how Substrate-based sidechains can inherit Cardano’s security guarantees. This is live, auditable code, not a whiteboard design.
3. Oracle depth: From token feeds to RWAs, we understand the challenges of cost efficiency, governance, latency, and integrity. Our design experience includes cross-chain integrations with EVM chains, Polkadot, and upcoming Cardano ecosystem chains like Midnight.
4. Ecosystem integration: Our enhancements will include flexible reward mechanisms that allow any token as a base currency, templates for rapid deployment, and integrations to bring direct on-chain token data from Cardano, Midnight, and Ethereum.

Why We Can Deliver

Charli3’s history of shipping live infrastructure, passing audits, and collaborating with key Cardano labs makes us one of the most credible teams in the ecosystem. From Haskell/Plutus smart contracts to Rust/Substrate partnerchain tooling, our cross-functional expertise spans the full stack of oracle engineering. We have built bridges, on-chain logic, validator rewards, governance structures, and partnerchain infrastructure already proven on mainnet.

Recognizing Gaps

While our technical record is unmatched, adoption requires more than code. Fragmentation, tribalism, and high costs have slowed oracle adoption on Cardano. We recognize that to succeed, this marketplace needs marketing, onboarding, and community engagement beyond our core technical team. We will seek outside support to ensure that builders, node operators, and data providers are not only aware of the platform but equipped to use it effectively.

Why Fund This Now

Cardano’s DeFi and RWA ecosystem is growing, but oracle adoption is dangerously behind other blockchains. Competing chains fund oracles at levels of $15M–$90M because they are mission-critical infrastructure. Without a shared infrastructure layer, Cardano risks entering the bull cycle with fragmented, unsafe, or prohibitively expensive data solutions — putting protocols and user funds at risk. The time to act is overdue.

Charli3 is uniquely positioned to deliver this transformation: we already run the mainnet MVP, we have the ecosystem’s trust, and we are committing to open-sourcing all code so the marketplace becomes a neutral, community-owned public good. What we need now is the community’s support to expand, decentralize, and formalize this infrastructure so Cardano enters the next market cycle prepared.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Hiring, Project Planning & Open Source

Milestone Outputs

• Hire technical and operational team members required for development and delivery.
• Establish and publish a clear roadmap with timelines and roles.
• Open source Charli3 oracle codebase under a restricted license upfront, with MIT release committed at project close.

Acceptance Criteria

• Roles documented, with named team members assigned.
• Roadmap and roles of team published in GitHub/docs.
• GitHub repository publicly available with clear license terms and visibility for community review.

Evidence of Completion

Signed contracts and team bios published.

Roadmap included in GitHub/docs repo.

Public GitHub repo showing open access and license information.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

75000

Progress

10 %

Milestone Title

Partnerchain Integration & Public Accessibility

Milestone Outputs

Complete technical integrations with Cardano, Midnight, and Ethereum for token data reads and posting.

Provide public access to partnerchain MVP with bridge solution.

Deliver onboarding documentation and guides for developers to begin building.

Acceptance Criteria

Successful posting of data from all three networks into partnerchain verified.

Public access endpoints for partnerchain made available and tested.

Documentation reviewed and confirmed as usable by at least one external developer.

Evidence of Completion

Transaction hashes proving cross-chain data posting to Cardano.

Public demo endpoints for access to partnerchain MVP.

GitHub repo with developer docs and onboarding guides visible.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

175000

Progress

40 %

Milestone Title

Marketplace Back-End Development

Milestone Outputs

Build secure back-end with wallet authentication, template registry, operator listing, and flexible reward mechanism supporting multiple tokens.

Create staging environment for internal testing of marketplace features.

Acceptance Criteria

Wallet login works for template submission and operator registration.

Token reward mechanism successfully tested with test tokens.

Staging environment verified as stable and ready for internal testing.

Evidence of Completion

Demo showing login, template upload, and operator listing functions.

GitHub commits documenting back-end development.

Testnet transactions proving multi-token reward mechanism.

Delivery Month

4

Cost

100000

Progress

50 %

Milestone Title

Marketplace Front-End & Onboarding

Milestone Outputs

Develop and launch user-facing marketplace front-end with search, listings, and dashboards.

Onboard initial node operators and list them publicly.

Populate marketplace with at least 5 templates and initial data providers.

Implement staking participation mechanism for node operators on partnerchain.

Acceptance Criteria

Front-end operational with wallet login connected to back-end.

Minimum of 5 templates published and 5+ node operators onboarded.

Staking and reward functionality tested and verified on partnerchain.

Evidence of Completion

Public demo showing marketplace functions (login, template selection, operator listing).

Signed onboarding confirmations from operators.

Transaction proofs of staking and reward distribution on partnerchain.

Delivery Month

5

Cost

100000

Progress

70 %

Milestone Title

Documentation & Testing

Milestone Outputs

Publish complete documentation suite including user guides, developer APIs, and tutorials.

Run external testing with community developers and node operators.

Conduct stress tests on oracle posting, staking, and template deployment.

Acceptance Criteria

Documentation hosted on GitHub/docs and reviewed by external testers.

Testers confirm ability to launch oracles from templates with a working end-to-end flow

Stress test achieves uptime and throughput standards.

Evidence of Completion

Published documentation accessible in GitHub/docs.

Demo video from external testers confirming usability.

Stress test logs showing performance benchmarks met.

Delivery Month

6

Cost

75000

Progress

90 %

Milestone Title

Final Launch, Report & Video

Milestone Outputs

Create a report showcasing adoption metrics and lessons learned

Create final catalyst report and video

Produce and release launch video showing marketplace functions.

Fully launch marketplace to public with templates, operators, and integrations available.

Acceptance Criteria

Final catalyst video completed

Final Catalyst report completed

Launch video produced, edited, and published.

Report detailing adoption metrics and lessons learned completed

Marketplace URL live with public access

Evidence of Completion

Catalyst close out video accepted

Catalyst close out report accepted

Published launch video available online.

Marketplace URL accessible and fully functional.

Delivery Month

7

Cost

70000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Milestone 1 – Hiring, Project Planning & Open Source

Cost: ₳75,000 | Duration: 1 Month | Progress: 10%

Project Manager (1 person, 80 hrs @ ₳120/hr = ₳9,600) – Oversee hiring, roadmap definition, milestone planning, and delivery tracking.

Senior Rust/Substrate Developer (1 person, 100 hrs @ ₳150/hr = ₳15,000) – Initial setup of code repositories, licensing, and partnerchain base infra review.

Haskell/Plutus Developer (1 person, 80 hrs @ ₳130/hr = ₳10,400) – Assess Cardano smart contract integration for staking and operator logic.

Community/Documentation Lead (1 person, 60 hrs @ ₳80/hr = ₳4,800) – Publish bios, roadmap, GitHub documentation, and open-source release.

Legal/Compliance Advisor (fixed ₳5,000) – Review licensing terms (restricted + MIT release commitment).

Operational/Admin Costs (₳5,000) – Contractor onboarding, repository hosting, licenses.

Contingency Allocation: ₳20,200 – Covers unanticipated hiring needs or extended review cycles.

Total: ₳75,000

Milestone 2 – Partnerchain Integration & Public Accessibility

Cost: ₳175,000 | Duration: 2 Months | Progress: 40%

Rust/Substrate Developers (2 devs, 240 hrs each @ ₳150/hr = ₳72,000) – Complete partnerchain integrations with Cardano, Midnight, Ethereum.

Haskell/Plutus Developer (120 hrs @ ₳130/hr = ₳15,600) – Ensure token posting contracts function correctly and testnet/mainnet connections are reliable.

Infrastructure Engineer (100 hrs @ ₳120/hr = ₳12,000) – Set up endpoints, bridge solutions, and monitoring.

Security Auditor (fixed ₳15,000) – Early audit of bridge endpoints and integration points.

Community/Documentation Lead (100 hrs @ ₳80/hr = ₳8,000) – Onboarding guides, dev documentation.

Project Manager (100 hrs @ ₳120/hr = ₳12,000) – Oversee delivery, coordinate cross-chain work, ensure timelines are hit.

Operational & Hosting Costs (₳10,000) – Test environments, cloud servers.

Contingency Allocation: ₳30,400 – Reserved for additional audits or integration issues.

Total: ₳175,000

Milestone 3 – Marketplace Back-End Development

Cost: ₳100,000 | Duration: 1 Month | Progress: 50%

Back-End Developers (2 devs, 160 hrs each @ ₳140/hr = ₳44,800) – Build wallet auth, template registry, operator listing, reward mechanisms.

Smart Contract Developer (100 hrs @ ₳130/hr = ₳13,000) – Implement staking logic, token reward distribution on testnet.

Infrastructure Engineer (80 hrs @ ₳120/hr = ₳9,600) – Build staging environment, CI/CD pipelines, and system tests.

QA Engineer (60 hrs @ ₳100/hr = ₳6,000) – Validate back-end performance, test operator listing, verify templates.

Project Manager (80 hrs @ ₳120/hr = ₳9,600) – Coordinate sprints, resource allocation, and testing cycles.

Contingency Allocation: ₳17,000 – Covers unforeseen back-end scalability or additional token integrations.

Total: ₳100,000

Milestone 4 – Marketplace Front-End & Onboarding

Cost: ₳100,000 | Duration: 1 Month | Progress: 70%

Front-End Developers (2 devs, 160 hrs each @ ₳120/hr = ₳38,400) – Deliver UI with search, listings, dashboards.

UX/UI Designer (100 hrs @ ₳90/hr = ₳9,000) – User flow design, template browsing, operator dashboards.

Integration Engineer (100 hrs @ ₳120/hr = ₳12,000) – Connect front-end with back-end API and staking functions.

Community/Onboarding Lead (120 hrs @ ₳80/hr = ₳9,600) – Onboard node operators, create guides, publish templates.

Project Manager (80 hrs @ ₳120/hr = ₳9,600) – Oversee release, testing, and operator engagement.

QA Engineer (80 hrs @ ₳100/hr = ₳8,000) – Validate onboarding flow, operator listing, staking mechanism.

Contingency Allocation: ₳13,400 – Reserved for adjustments during onboarding and user support needs.

Total: ₳100,000

Milestone 5 – Documentation & Testing

Cost: ₳75,000 | Duration: 1 Month | Progress: 90%

Documentation Lead (120 hrs @ ₳80/hr = ₳9,600) – Complete user guides, API references, tutorials.

External Testers (5 testers, 40 hrs each @ ₳80/hr = ₳16,000) – Validate usability, stress test deployments.

QA Engineer (100 hrs @ ₳100/hr = ₳10,000) – Run stress tests on staking, templates, data posting.

Developers (2 devs, 60 hrs each @ ₳140/hr = ₳16,800) – Fix issues found in stress testing and external reviews.

Project Manager (60 hrs @ ₳120/hr = ₳7,200) – Oversee validation and test results reporting.

Operational Costs (₳5,000) – Hosting, monitoring dashboards, testnet infrastructure.

Contingency Allocation: ₳10,400 – Reserved for extended test cycles or bug-fixing sprints.

Total: ₳75,000

Milestone 6 – Final Launch, Report & Video

Cost: ₳70,000 | Duration: 1 Month | Progress: 100%

Media Production Team (fixed ₳15,000) – Catalyst close-out video, marketplace launch video.

Project Manager (60 hrs @ ₳120/hr = ₳7,200) – Coordinate reporting, delivery acceptance.

Community Lead (100 hrs @ ₳80/hr = ₳8,000) – Public comms, community update, adoption report.

Developer Support (60 hrs each for 2 devs @ ₳140/hr = ₳16,800) – Ensure final marketplace deployment stable and issues fixed.

Auditor/Reviewer (fixed ₳7,000) – Final review of marketplace deployment readiness.

Operational Costs (₳5,000) – Hosting, domain, public release infra.

Contingency Allocation: ₳11,000 – Covers unexpected last-mile fixes, infra scaling, or marketing boosts.

Total: ₳70,000

Contingency Plan

A 10% contingency buffer (₳59,500) is built into the allocations above. This ensures flexibility if additional audits, infrastructure scaling, or external marketing are required. If not fully used, remaining contingency will be rolled into community adoption campaigns and grants to onboard external node operators and data providers.

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

We believe this proposal represents exceptional value for money for the Cardano ecosystem. With a total budget of ₳595,000 distributed across six structured milestones, we will deliver a fully open-source, production-ready oracle launchpad and marketplace. This will provide an enduring public good that lowers barriers to adoption, unifies fragmented efforts, and ensures Cardano enters the next market cycle with a robust, scalable data infrastructure.

The following points highlight why this initiative delivers strong value relative to cost:

1. Proven Track Record of Delivery

Charli3 is one of the oldest and most recognized names in the Cardano ecosystem. We have established relationships with major development labs such as TxPipe, MLabs, and others, and we have already passed two independent audits (CertiK and Anastasia Labs).

We have repeatedly shown that we can deliver technically complex solutions on time and to a high standard. This proposal is not a “whiteboard idea.” We already have a working partnerchain MVP and a functioning mainnet solution. Catalyst funding will be used to scale and open access, not to start from scratch.

Our history demonstrates that we take stewardship seriously, and that funds allocated will translate directly into tangible infrastructure for the community.

2. Open Source, Public Good Orientation

The project explicitly open-sources all code, beginning under a restricted license during development and releasing fully under MIT upon completion. This ensures the Cardano ecosystem gains a permanent, reusable foundation for oracle networks.

By open-sourcing, we prevent vendor lock-in and give the community freedom to adapt, extend, or fork the infrastructure for specialized use cases. This creates compounding ecosystem value beyond the life of the grant.

Other oracle providers or teams (including competitors) will be able to benefit from the codebase, marketplace, and partnerchain infrastructure. In this way, Catalyst funding acts as an investment in ecosystem resilience, not in a single company.

3. Efficient Budget Structure

The total budget is divided into six milestones, each with clear deliverables, acceptance criteria, and evidence of completion. This ensures funds are only released against proven progress, reducing risk of misallocation.

Cost per milestone has been carefully calibrated: early funding focuses on hiring and open-sourcing (₳75,000), while the heaviest investment is in integration and infrastructure work (₳175,000). Costs then taper as the project moves into testing, documentation, and launch.

All costings have been broken down by role, hours, and rate to demonstrate a transparent and professional financial plan. This is not a “lump sum” request; every ADA has a defined purpose and accountability path.

A 10% contingency buffer (₳59,500) ensures unexpected requirements can be met (e.g., extra audits, infra scaling, or user support) without threatening timelines. Any unused contingency will be redirected to community adoption campaigns and onboarding support.

4. High Leverage for Ecosystem Impact

Oracle infrastructure is a critical bottleneck for Cardano adoption. Without affordable, accessible, and standardized oracles, DeFi, RWA platforms, and other dApps cannot scale.

By lowering the cost of running oracles and removing duplication of effort, this project creates a shared public layer that all builders can leverage. This drives down the entry cost for new protocols, increasing ecosystem diversity and competitiveness.

The marketplace provides a one-stop resource for builders, including templates, operator listings, and data providers. This significantly reduces developer friction and accelerates time-to-market for new projects.

Enabling any token as a base currency for oracle networks unlocks flexibility for diverse projects. Builders can tailor economic models to their own communities, encouraging experimentation and growth.

5. Community Engagement and Inclusivity

The marketplace is designed to onboard node operators, data providers, DeFi builders, RWA innovators, and even retail participants. Each user group has a defined journey within the ecosystem, ensuring that benefits extend widely rather than concentrating in a small circle.

By publishing extensive documentation, guides, and tutorials, we lower the barrier to entry for new builders and ensure adoption is not limited to established teams.

Governance and oversight will be structured for transparency and community ownership, reducing trust assumptions and giving stakeholders a voice in how the infrastructure evolves.

This is not just about building tools — it is about fostering a community-driven data layer that strengthens Cardano as a whole.

6. Comparative Cost-Effectiveness

When compared to the scale of funding required by other blockchain ecosystems for similar infrastructure (e.g., multi-million USD grants for oracle and infra projects on Ethereum, Polkadot, or Solana), this budget is highly efficient.

For under ₳600,000, Catalyst is funding the creation of a permanent open-source launchpad and marketplace that removes one of Cardano’s most persistent adoption barriers.

The infrastructure delivered here will have a multi-year lifespan and support multiple bull and bear cycles, without requiring repeated reinvestment at the same scale.

7. Long-Term Sustainability

By onboarding node operators and enabling staking participation, the partnerchain will become self-sustaining. Node operators earn rewards, while projects launching oracles contribute fees. This reduces reliance on external funding over time.

The open-source codebase allows the community to maintain, extend, and adapt the infrastructure even if Charli3 steps back, ensuring resilience.

Transparent governance ensures decisions around updates, templates, and integrations remain aligned with community needs rather than a single entity’s control.

8. Risk Management

Risks have been mitigated through clear planning, phased delivery, and independent audits.

Integration work will be validated by transaction proofs and public endpoints. Back-end and front-end functions will be demonstrated through public demos. Documentation and usability will be confirmed by external testers.

By publishing all code, docs, and results on GitHub, we ensure maximum transparency. Any gaps in adoption or functionality can be addressed by the broader ecosystem.

The contingency reserve ensures that if unexpected technical challenges arise, they do not compromise the overall success of the project.

9. Direct Return on Catalyst’s Investment

For the Cardano ecosystem, value manifests in:

A fully functioning oracle marketplace and launchpad, live and accessible to all.

Reduction of duplicated costs across projects that would otherwise each build isolated oracle systems.

Increased developer and community participation due to lower barriers to entry.

Stronger positioning of Cardano in the next market cycle, with oracles no longer a limiting factor for DeFi, lending, and RWA adoption.

A permanent open-source contribution that strengthens Cardano’s technical foundation.

Conclusion

At ₳595,000, this proposal provides exceptional value for money by combining:

A proven track record of technical delivery.

A commitment to open-source and public good.

A transparent, role-based financial plan with contingency.

Infrastructure that addresses one of Cardano’s most critical adoption bottlenecks.

Wide community benefit across developers, operators, projects, and retail participants.

This project ensures that Cardano does not just “have oracles,” but has a scalable, accessible, community-owned data infrastructure layer that will sustain growth and adoption for years to come.

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