Last updated a week ago
Cardano's DeFi ecosystem lacks a regulated rail to connect its stablecoin to mainstream platforms where millions of users transact, limiting USDA adoption to crypto-native venues.
Integrate USDA into Zero Hash's regulated infrastructure powering 70+ payment, brokerage, and tokenization platforms with 6M+ users across 200+ jurisdictions for mainstream adoption.
Please provide your proposal title
Integrating USDA with zerohash to access TradFi institutions
Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA
1000000
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?
Cardano's DeFi ecosystem lacks a regulated rail to connect its stablecoin to mainstream platforms where millions of users transact, limiting USDA adoption to crypto-native venues.
Supporting links
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
No
Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'
The project depends on our internal Security team's review of the mint/burn process for USDA and if we can support it, along with our internal Compliance review of USDA as a token we can support as a heavily regulated entity.
Will your project's outputs be fully open source?
No
License and Additional Information
The project will not be open source. It will be proprietary on Zero Hash’s platform.
Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal
Financial Services
Describe your established collaborations.
Describe funding commitments.
Describe your key performance metrics.
Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem
Cardano's DeFi ecosystem lacks regulated infrastructure to connect USDA stablecoin to mainstream financial platforms where millions of users already transact. Without this bridge, USDA adoption remains confined to crypto-native venues, limiting liquidity, credibility, and real-world use cases.
Traditional financial institutions and regulated platforms require compliant, secure infrastructure with proper licensing and regulatory oversight before integrating digital assets. The absence of such infrastructure prevents USDA from reaching mainstream users and institutional adoption channels.
This integration delivers Cardano's first globally regulated stablecoin rail by connecting USDA to Zero Hash's established infrastructure serving 70+ payment, brokerage, and tokenization platforms with 6M+ users across 200+ jurisdictions.
Zero Hash already operates the exact infrastructure USDA needs to integrate: regulated custody, liquidity provisioning, and compliance frameworks with established client networks across multiple jurisdictions. The integration requires no additional regulatory approvals, eliminating years of compliance development time.
The approach provides immediate access to mainstream financial platforms through a single integration connecting USDA to Zero Hash's network of Tier-1 platforms including payment processors, brokerages, and tokenization services.
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
Platform Adoption: Number of Zero Hash client platforms integrating USDA functionality, tracked through partnership agreements and technical implementations.
User Engagement: Aggregated, anonymized transaction counts measuring mainstream user interaction with USDA through regulated channels.
Transaction Volume: On-chain USDA transaction volume tracked via Cardano blockchain explorers and internal reporting tools.
**Ecosystem Growth: **Liquidity inflow from regulated channels, institutional credibility improvements, and blueprint establishment for future Cardano asset integrations.
Unique Approach
This solution uniquely leverages existing regulated infrastructure rather than building new compliance frameworks. Zero Hash's proven track record integrating blockchain assets like Polkadot, WorldChain, and zkSync demonstrates capability to deliver secure, compliant, and technically complex integrations at scale.
Value to Community
This integration provides unprecedented mainstream access for Cardano's stablecoin while demonstrating the ecosystem's institutional readiness. The connection to regulated infrastructure brings fresh liquidity from outside crypto markets and enables new user segments to access Cardano-based financial services.
For the Cardano DeFi ecosystem, USDA becomes more accessible as a base pair, collateral asset, and settlement currency for DEXs, lending protocols, and yield markets. Institutional trust increases through operation within highly regulated U.S.-anchored frameworks.
All metrics tracked through Zero Hash's client integration systems and Cardano blockchain verification with regular public reporting.
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?
Existing Infrastructure
Zero Hash operates production-ready infrastructure serving 70+ institutional clients with 99.99% uptime and billions in annual transaction volume. The platform holds comprehensive regulatory licenses across 200+ jurisdictions, providing immediate compliance coverage without additional approval processes.
The technical integration leverages Zero Hash's proven blockchain asset integration capabilities, demonstrated through successful implementations of various digital assets including complex smart
contract tokens and cross-chain assets.
Track Record
Zero Hash has successfully integrated blockchain assets including Polkadot, WorldChain, and zkSync, demonstrating repeated capability to deliver secure, compliant, and technically complex integrations at enterprise scale. The platform's regulatory standing and institutional client base provide validated foundation for USDA integration.
Milestone Title
Custody support
Milestone Outputs
Comprehensive technical review of USDA integration with Zero Hash custody, liquidity, and compliance systems. Regulatory review under Zero Hash’s Token Acceptance Framework. Finalized integration roadmap with milestone criteria.
Acceptance Criteria
USDA passes technical compatibility checks; integration architecture approved by Compliance; development timeline locked and set in zerohash product roadman with Product & Engineering team so sprints are set.
Evidence of Completion
Technical assessment summary; published integration roadmap. We can provide anonymized custody dashboard screenshots or short GIF showing USDA wallet creation so that we can tell USDA is integrated into our custody infrastructure.
Delivery Month
2
Cost
100000
Progress
30 %
Milestone Title
Liquidity support
Milestone Outputs
USDA liquidity established on Zero Hash infrastructure, available for Zero Hash custody updated to support USDA (wallet creation, send/receive, monitoring). Liquidity systems configured for USDA (mint/burn capability, RFQ/CLOB setup)
Acceptance Criteria
USDA can be minted, burned, and traded in Zero Hash internal systems programatically, so that the smart contracts can be leveraged successfully in a safe and regulatory-compliant manner fitting our infrastructure standards.
Evidence of Completion
We can provide short video of Zero Hash minting/burning USDA, including showing dashboards that we review for the minting and burning. We can also show test transactions revealing that a mint/burn transaction has taken place.
Delivery Month
2
Cost
200000
Progress
60 %
Milestone Title
Compliance Review Complete
Milestone Outputs
Full review by Zero Hash Compliance; USDA approved under Token Acceptance Framework, where the token working group committee has voted to approve USDA, and all necessary legal and compliance documentation have been reviewed.
Acceptance Criteria
Internal working group votes and approves support of USDA. All stakeholders are aligned, including cross-functional team members across legal, compliance, and regulatory and they are all satisfied with the token.
Evidence of Completion
We can share evidence of the working group meeting to vote on support of USDA, including a snapshot of meeting minutes.
Delivery Month
2
Cost
200000
Progress
70 %
Milestone Title
Zero Hash full API support
Milestone Outputs
USDA fully supported via Zero Hash API, enabling platform partners to integrate USDA seamlessly on the backend and make all of the necessary API calls from wallet address creation to send/receive and deposit/withdraw.
Acceptance Criteria
USDA supported on Zero Hash custody and set up for liquidity (RFQ and CLOB) - RFQ = request for quote, and CLOB = central limit order book, both systems used to power trading for on/off-ramps and brokerage.
Evidence of Completion
We can share API call log and anonymized API response showing USDA transaction completion such as an on-chain transfer.
Delivery Month
2
Cost
250000
Progress
80 %
Milestone Title
Zero Hash SDK full support
Milestone Outputs
USDA supported on Zero Hash SDK product. Our SDK product is a separate standalone product that enables businesses to integrate with our stake in just a few lines of code, so that they can interact with stablecoins in just a few hours.
Acceptance Criteria
Customers of Zero Hash SDK product can seamlessly interact with USDA by accepting USDA and transferring it. There are no errors and this can be done at scale so that our enterprise clients are ready for this asset.
Evidence of Completion
We can share SDK function call log and anonymized output showing USDA transaction such as a send/receive.
Delivery Month
2
Cost
200000
Progress
90 %
Milestone Title
USDA live with Zero Hash platform
Milestone Outputs
Platform powered by Zero Hash goes live with USDA. This can be a client across our brokerage, tokenization, or payments business amongst the 70+ institutional clients that we power. This means that the end users can interact with USDA.
Acceptance Criteria
USDA has been traded on a platform powered by Zero Hash. An end user of a platform that we power conducts a purchase, send, or receive USDA and can do so without handling wallet address management, or gas fees.
Evidence of Completion
A short video walkthrough showing USDA live on a Zero Hash-powered platform and completing a real transaction, plus an on-chain transaction hash for verification
Delivery Month
2
Cost
50000
Progress
100 %
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
Detailed Budget Breakdown by Milestone
⸻
Milestone 1: Custody Support — ₳100,000
• Duration: 2 months
• Allocation: ~50% (Planning & assessment phase)
• Personnel Costs (₳75,000):
• Partnerships Lead: 2 × 6,000 = 12,000
• Business Lead: 2 × 9,000 = 18,000
• Product Lead: 2 × 7,500 = 15,000
• Engineering Lead: 2 × 8,000 = 16,000
• Technical Lead: 2 × 7,000 = 14,000
• Infrastructure & Compliance: ₳25,000
⸻
Milestone 2: Liquidity Support — ₳200,000
• Duration: 2 months
• Allocation: 100% for Engineering/Product; 75% others
• Personnel Costs (₳135,000):
• Partnerships Lead: 2 × 9,000 = 18,000
• Business Lead: 2 × 13,500 = 27,000
• Product Lead: 2 × 15,000 = 30,000
• Engineering Lead: 2 × 16,000 = 32,000
• Technical Lead: 2 × 14,000 = 28,000
• Infrastructure & Security: ₳65,000
⸻
Milestone 3: Compliance Review Complete — ₳200,000
• Duration: 2 months
• Allocation: 100% (full team)
• Personnel Costs (₳150,000):
• Partnerships Lead: 2 × 12,000 = 24,000
• Business Lead: 2 × 18,000 = 36,000
• Product Lead: 2 × 15,000 = 30,000
• Engineering Lead: 2 × 16,000 = 32,000
• Technical Lead: 2 × 14,000 = 28,000
• Regulatory & Legal: ₳50,000
⸻
Milestone 4: Zero Hash Full API Support — ₳250,000
• Duration: 2 months
• Allocation: 100% (Full technical implementation)
• Personnel Costs (₳150,000):
• Same as Milestone 3
• Infrastructure & Testing: ₳100,000
⸻
Milestone 5: Zero Hash SDK Full Support — ₳200,000
• Duration: 2 months
• Allocation: 100% (Production-ready SDK)
• Personnel Costs (₳150,000):
• Same as Milestone 3
• Client Integration & Support: ₳50,000
⸻
Milestone 6: USDA Live with Zero Hash Platform — ₳50,000
• Duration: 2 months
• Allocation: ~25% (Low engineering, focused on docs/strategy)
• Personnel Costs (₳37,500):
• Partnerships Lead: 2 × 12,000 = 24,000 (100%)
• Business Lead: 2 × 4,500 = 9,000 (25%)
• Product Lead: 2 × 1,875 = 3,750 (12.5%)
• Engineering Lead: 0
• Technical Lead: 2 × 350 = 700 (5%)
• Docs & Marketing Support: ₳12,500
The total project budget is ₳1,000,000, distributed across two main categories:
• ₳697,500 is allocated to Personnel, covering the full team across all milestones — including the Partnerships, Business, Product, Engineering, and Technical leads.
• ₳302,500 is dedicated to Infrastructure, Legal, and Support, which includes systems setup, security, compliance reviews, documentation, and marketing.
How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?
This ₳1,000,000 investment delivers unprecedented mainstream access for Cardano's stablecoin through established regulated infrastructure serving 6M+ users across 200+ jurisdictions. The integration provides immediate institutional credibility and liquidity access without requiring years of regulatory development.
Zero Hash's proven track record serving 70+ institutional clients with 99.99% uptime demonstrates the platform's enterprise readiness and regulatory compliance. The investment enables USDA to compete directly with traditional stablecoins in mainstream financial markets while establishing a blueprint for future Cardano asset integrations.
The integration creates sustainable competitive advantages for Cardano by providing regulated market access that other blockchains lack, positioning the ecosystem for institutional adoption while demonstrating real-world utility at unprecedented scale.
Terms and Conditions:
Yes