NEXUS: RealFi Soundcards for Cultural Heritage

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

NEXUS: RealFi Soundcards for Cultural Heritage

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

50000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

6

[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?

The music industry revolves around products and royalties, while the actual value lies in connections between artist, listener and cultural heritage. It rarely flows back to communities who create it.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r1438YuBRNmHt2sc3wDHmluHjVrpHO16?usp=sharing
,
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_OdY5rBDidGGRxBsGKfDesR9XffSujh4/view?usp=sharing
,
• https://nexussoundcards.world

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

In contact with NMKR/NEWM as technical partner for NFT minting & API integration (CIP-25/68) - essential for scalable, secure Cardano tokenization from scratch.

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

Please provide details on the intellectual property (IP) status of your project outputs, including whether they will be released as open source or retained under another licence.

All code, smart contracts, DAO tools, and NFT utilities fully open source under MIT license - promotes global music community replication and Cardano adoption.

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

Music

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Who you’re targeting, how you’ll reach them, and why this matters for Cardano?

Who we are targeting

NEXUS generally speaks to everyone who is interested in the current AI rollout/hype and wonders if humans will get left behind, how the system values culture and community and is interested in empathy, listening and real impact on the ground.

Specifically at first we are targeting three main groups in the global music ecosystem and to Cardano at the same time:

• Musicians and cultural guardians – people and their instruments: bandleaders, traditional players, choirs, instrument makers, community organisers. Those who keep handmade cultural heritage or endangererd language alive, but online are reduced to tracks, streams and short-form content. The deep relationship between artist, instrument and community is rarely recognised or rewarded.

• Listeners, fans and collectors – people who already support artists by buying tickets, merch, vinyl or donating to projects. They feel that their support disappears in opaque systems and are looking for more direct, accountable ways to stand behind the music and communities they love.

• Community builders, educators and Cardano projects – people building hubs, courses, content or tools who need a concrete, human example of how Cardano can hold cultural value, not just financial products

How we will reach them

• Locally (starting in Maputo, Mozambique as Chapter 1): via trusted partners like Hodi Association / Smile Trio / MASX. We join rehearsals and community events, carry out interviews. Then show how these relationships can be represented as Soundcards on Cardano.

• Globally in the music world: through short video stories, case notes and the NEXUS White Paper. We target independent artists, small labels, festivals and cultural organisations that already care about heritage and fair value flows and invite them to imagine their own NEXUS Chapter.

• Inside Cardano Web3: via social media and community updates, Twitter/X Spaces, Discords and collaborations with projects like NMKR and NEWM and EMPOWA.

Generally people want to become part of something bigger. A movement, a narrative. Thats why we structure the whole platform in chapters (as Chapter1 as PoC) with clear outcomes, to step by step grow a movement.

Chapters would create a local cardano presence where it was not well known before and making more unique content appealing to the music/artist/consumer communities available on Cardano.

At the same time holding a soundcard enables playful engagement with other members and learn about the culture and history behind the instrument. Our long-term goal is simple: a child wishing for a Soundcard for Christmas because it is fun to play with, while unknowingly protecting cultural heritage.

Connection and tangible outcomes.

Story telling and games is how we reach peoples interest.

Why this matters for Cardano

As we aim to strengthen the backbone of the music world, music schools, instruments, and instrument makers, teachers etc, and their communities, where the conditions for music was created in the first place. This is a fantastic showcase how Cardano can be "Blockchain for Good"

Also Music is a direct line into people’s emotions. Almost everyone understands what it means to feel a connection to an artist or a scene; very few people feel anything for a ledger or a smart contract. NEXUS uses that emotional entry point to make Cardano tangible.

• The project treats music and cultural heritage as relationships that can be held and routed through Cardano. Soundcards honour a specific artist–instrument connection; Chapters define a shared cultural goal (for example building a music school). Blockchain becomes the quiet infrastructure that keeps this flow transparent.

• In the broader Cardano music stack, projects like NEWM focus on ownership of songs and royalties. NEXUS works one layer deeper – around connection, practice and community. Together these layers form a fuller picture: ownership where it is needed, and visible support for the relationships that make the music possible in the first place.

• NEXUS is designed as a fractal of Project Catalyst Chapter 1 is the first edition of Soundcards, a treasury and a documented payout into a cultural initiative. If this copy works, other scenes and projects can repeat the pattern at their own scale. Catalyst is the place where this first copy is tested, refined and documented for others to use within the NEXUS ecosystem.

How this supports Grassroots Growth & Onboarding

Every musician who joins NEXUS also onboards their own community – bandmates, students, families, local audiences. The network effects can be huge: one Chapter becomes a seed for many.

In Chapter 1 our direct circle already includes around 50 active musicians in the Hodi / Afro-Swing / MASX universe and their neighbourhoods, plus Smile Trio, a successful touring band with international reach. In total this represents a reachable audience of several hundred people.

For this first Chapter we set conservative targets of 1000 new wallets and 10000 on-chain actions (mints, purchases, treasury transactions, simple votes). The network effects can grow over time: one Chapter becomes a seed for many. Ending each Chapter with funding for music schools and cultural spaces creates impact that lasts for years and quietly places Cardano at the forefront of onboarding new music communities into Web3.

Provide a list of key activities of your project:

1. Storytelling, UX Visual Design (Core Layer)

Design the NEXUS experience so that musicians and listeners can intuitively understand and enjoy Soundcards.

• Co-create the visual language “Rooted in Flow” (cards, icons, Chapter identity).

UX design for the Soundcard journey: discover → listen → understand → support → vote.

• Graphic design for Soundcards, Chapter pages and simple explainer diagrams.

• Video style guide for all interviews, case notes and promo clips.

Outputs:

– 1 NEXUS visual & UX style guide

– Soundcard + Chapter UI mockups

– 3–5 branded explainer visuals / short clips

⸻

1. NEXUS Metadata Standard (Academic Circle)

A selected group of ethnomusicologists and cultural-heritage scholars finalises the Soundcard metadata standard

• Define how musician–instrument relationships, customs, instrument provenance, cultural context and guardianship are modelled on Cardano.

• Align terminology with existing museum/archive practices where possible.

• Prepare the standard so it can be reused by future Chapters, NGOs and partner institutions.

Outputs:

– Metadata Standard v1.0 (peer-validated)

– Public documentation for reuse in future Chapters and by cultural partners

⸻

1. Curated Soundcards for Cultural Guardians (Pilot Set)

Produce a first curated set of high-value Soundcards that set the benchmark for quality, ethics and narrative depth:

• At least one Cultural Guardian for endangered languages (e.g. an artist like Aragaki Mutsumi or Mikel Urdangarin as reference type).

• At least one instrument maker / builder (e.g. Timbila/Mbira builder as cultural heritage guardian).

• At least one community-based ensemble (e.g. Hodi / Afro-Swing / Smile Trio as world-music touring band).

• Each Soundcard includes audio, photos, interview, full metadata and “Rooted in Flow” attributes.

Outputs:

– 10–15 fully curated Soundcards (audio, visuals, interviews, metadata complete)

– Clear template for future Chapters (cultural guardians, communities, touring artists)

⸻

1. Core Infrastructure & Utility Layer (Ecosystem Foundation)

Build the technical and organisational foundation that makes NEXUS repeatable as a fractal inside Catalyst:

• Implement the Soundcard minting flow (NMKR integration, CIP-25/68-compliant).

• Set up the Chapter treasury structure for Chapter 1 (receiving primary sales, routing funds to the music school milestone).

• Specify and configure simple utility patterns:

• quartet-style attributes (roots, flow, community, learning) Soundcards can be collected and interactively played

• basic quests (e.g. complete a set, answer a story question → on-chain interaction)

• Prepare the governance pathway for Chapter 2 (integration path for Midnight + Sundae Labs-style governance in the roadmap).

Outputs:

– Live minting pipeline on Cardano

– Operational Chapter 1 treasury configured for school funding

– Documented utility logic (quartet attributes + basic quest flows)

– Governance roadmap for Chapter 2 (not implemented yet, but clearly specified)

⸻

1. Soundcard Creation Workshops (Online & Local)

Hands-on workshops where musicians learn how NEXUS works in practice

• Open a Cardano wallet and receive or mint a first Soundcard.

• Understand how their musician–instrument relationship is documented via the metadata standard.

• See how Chapter treasuries work and how their Soundcard connects to a concrete goal (Maputo music school).

Outputs:

– 4–6 workshops (10–20 participants each)

– 40–80 musicians onboarded into Cardano via NEXUS

⸻

1. Artist Interviews and Cultural Case Notes

Give each curated Soundcard a human voice and educational value:

• Short interviews (1–3 min) where artists explain their instrument, its cultural meaning and their personal relationship.

• Case-note videos highlighting cultural guardians and endangered traditions (e.g. rare instruments, threatened languages, community ensembles).

• All content published as open educational material and linked directly to the corresponding Soundcards.

Outputs:

– 10–15 interview clips (open educational content)

– 3–4 public case-note videos (Cultural Guardian focus)

⸻

1. Community, NGO &Cultural Partner Onboarding

Connect NEXUS with institutions that already work on cultural heritage and education:

• Present NEXUS to at least one museum / archive as a future “living label” / hybrid tokenisation use case.

• Engage NGOs and cultural initiatives (e.g. Hodi Association, community music school in Maputo) to anchor Chapter 1 in real institutions.

• Participate in Cardano X Spaces, Discords to show NEXUS as a concrete cultural use case and invite collaborations with projects like NMKR, NEWM and governance partners.

Outputs:

– 3–5 formal or informal partner commitments (music school / NGO / cultural initiative / Cardano projects)

– 4–6 recorded Cardano community presentations / events

What are your success metrics?

1. Foundation & Standards

• Metadata Standard v1.0 for NEXUS Soundcards is completed and published.

• Standard is peer-validated by ≥3 ethnomusicologists / cultural-heritage experts.

⸻

1. Curated Cultural Guardian Set

• 10–15 fully curated Soundcards are live (audio, photos, interview, metadata complete).

• Set includes at least:

• 1 endangered-language artist

• 1 instrument builder

• 1 Artist 100k Follower

• 1 community ensemble / world-music touring band (Smile Trio–type).

⸻

1. Storytelling, UX & Visual Design

• 1 NEXUS visual and UX style guide is completed and applied across all materials.

• Soundcard and Chapter UI mockups are user-tested with ≥10 musicians/listeners;

• ≥80% report the experience as “easy to understand” and “motivating to support”.

• 3–5 branded explainer visuals or short clips are published, reaching ≥10,000 combined views.

⸻

1. On-Chain Activity & Treasury Impact

• ≥1000 Soundcards are minted in Chapter 1.• ≥5000–10000 on-chain actions (mints, purchases, simple quest actions, treasury transactions, votes).

• ≥10,000 ADA is routed transparently from the Chapter 1 treasury into the Maputo music school initiative (first construction/equipment milestone).

• At least 1 fully documented value-flow path is published (from Soundcard sale → treasury → school).

⸻

1. Workshops, Onboarding & Community

• 4–6 Soundcard workshops (online + local) are delivered with ≥40–80 musicians participating.

• ≥80–150 new or reactivated Cardano wallets are created/used through NEXUS activities.

• 6–10 “Cardano for World Musicians” workshops to onboard world musician

⸻

1. Constent & Cultural Reach

• 10–15 short artist interviews and 3–4 Cultural Guardian case-note videos are published as open educational content.

• These reach ≥2,000 combined views/listens across channels.

• In follow-up surveys, ≥70% of respondents report a “better understanding of the cultural context behind the music”.

⸻

1. Partnerships & Ecosystem Growth

• ≥3–5 active partners are engaged (e.g. music school, NGO or cultural initiative, museum/archive, Cardano projects such as NMKR/NEWM/governance partner).

• NEXUS is presented in 4–6 public Cardano events or social media

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

What NEXUS stands for - a hybrid ecosystem “Rooted in Flow”

NEXUS provides a solution for the problem how to tokenize culture appropriate and with dignity. It treats music and culture not as products, but as living relationships - between musician and instrument, tradition and innovation, human and community. Music and culture are not about ownership; they are about connection, rooted identity and value that must keep flowing.

These relationships rarely appear on any ledger, and the value they generate almost never flows back into the communities that keep them alive. Cultural artefacts behave more like languages than like objects - they carry stories, codes and responsibilities that cannot be “owned” in a narrow, financial sense.

Today, platforms count streams but erase context. Major labels and streaming platforms profit from cultural musical treasures, while artists and

communities usually come away empty-handed.

Around 1% of stars collect 90% of the revenue, while the remaining 99% of musicians-

especially countless world musicians and local ensembles-share the meager rest.Stories, languages and fragile traditions disappear behind numbers, while most musicians remain underpaid. At the same time, AI can copy almost any sound, but it cannot recreate the lived relationship between a person, an instrument and a place. Cardano has the tools to protect that relationship - but there is no concrete, human ecosystem that shows how.

NEXUS uses Cardano to make this invisible relationship visible and accountable again.

“Rooted in Flow” expresses the core logic: roots = identities, stories and places; flow = the value, attention and care that move through these relationships and must circulate rather than accumulate.

It also responds directly to a widely felt concern inside Cardano: real adoption remains thin because few projects bring actual communities on-chain. NEXUS fills that gap with musicians, cultural guardians and neighbourhood institutions - real users with real value flows.

NEXUS Soundcards – documenting lived relationships

The core tool is the NEXUS Soundcard: a curated, hybrid NFT documenting the relationship between a musician and an instrument in its cultural context. Each Soundcard bundles:

•	audio (practice, performance, multisamples)

•	images / short video / optional 3D capture

•	a short “case-note” interview

•	a standardized cultural-heritage metadata set (co-designed with ethnomusicologists)

Economically, each Soundcard is Rooted in Flow:

1.	a share supports the musician and their immediate community

2.	a share enters the Treasury / Flow Fund that finances a cultural initiative — for Chapter 1, a community music school in Polana Caniço.

Beyond being a static NFT, each Soundcard becomes a small utility hub: simple quests, listening/comparison games, and curated exhibitions. In Fund 15 utilities remain intentionally simple - enough to show meaningful on-chain engagement without overwhelming new users.

The full utility suite from the NEXUS White Paper - sample-bank interaction, richer games, user-generated Soundcards, advanced metadata logic - is planned for later Chapters. Fund 15 delivers the minimal complete pattern.

Storytelling and gamification are the main ways people understand culture, connect emotionally, and recognise impact.

NEXUS also functions as a research lab: exploring how cultural value can be represented on-chain without collapsing culture into financial assets. Culture can never be fully tokenised, but it can be supported, traced and made visible.

Long-term, NEXUS is designed as a self-sustaining cultural DAO. Each Chapter becomes a node in a fractal pattern: local autonomy + shared standards + common on-chain tools. And placing human handmade efforts and traditional instruments as an anchor for what we humans are/were/ can be in the midst of the early eve of the awakening of the AI era and transhumanism.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

Why this matters for Cardano

Most people feel nothing for a ledger. They feel something for a song, for a voice, for an instrument that shaped their childhood.

Music offers an emotional entry point that blockchain hardly is able to create on its own.

NEXUS uses that entry point to make Cardano tangible:

•	Soundcards document real relationships between musicians, instruments and communities.

•	Each mint routes value into a transparent Flow Fund supporting a concrete cultural initiative (Chapter 1: the community music school in Polana Caniço).

•	Participants can literally point to a classroom or an instrument purchase that exists because of an on-chain decision.

This is Cardano’s missing link: a simple, human interface that shows what decentralised value-flow means outside tech circles.

The Fractal Pattern

NEXUS introduces a repeatable pattern inside Project Catalyst:

Soundcards to local Flow Fund to documented cultural payout to public playbook.

Chapter 1 in Maputo is the first fractal of this pattern.

After successful implementation, other Chapters (Kenya, Colombia, Okinawa, Basque Country) can replicate the same structure using the same tools, metadata standard and governance logic.

Catalyst funds the first instance. Over time, the network becomes a global constellation of cultural hubs on Cardano - each one documenting heritage, routing value transparently, and building long-term cultural infrastructure.

Why community music schools matter

In places where institutions are fragile, community music schools are not “arts programs”; they are the backbone of neighbourhood life.

They’re where children meet after school, where values and confidence are passed down, where languages and rhythms survive, where cultural identity is rehearsed every week.

Tying Soundcards directly to such schools turns Cardano into infrastructure for dignity and continuity, not speculation.

This is blockchain-for-good in its most concrete form.

Grassroots Growth

Every musician who joins NEXUS also brings their own circle - bandmates, students, families, local audiences.

This creates natural network effects without marketing:

musician to micro-community to neighbourhood → wider region.

Chapter 1 already includes:

•	~50 active musicians in the Hodi / Afro-Swing / MASX universe

•	the broader Polana Caniço / Maputo community scenes

•	Smile Trio (touring band with international reach)

•	cultural guardians like the Mukhambira  (instrument makers) and endangered-language singers

This connects local street-level culture with global audiences - and gives Cardano a real-world face people can recognise and trust.

From story to verifiable change

Because the detailed Success Metrics section already exists, the Impact section only states the direction.

NEXUS drives measurable, verifiable change through:

•	new wallets created through real human interactions

•	on-chain behaviour linked directly to cultural meaning

•	formal partnerships with NGOs, schools, museums, cultural institutions

•	open educational content (interviews, case notes, workshops) that expands Cardano’s reach far beyond the crypto space

•	visible, public payouts into cultural infrastructure

For Chapter 1, the separate Success Metrics section anchors this direction in clear targets of around 1,000 new or reactivated wallets and roughly 10,000 on-chain actions (mints, purchases, votes, treasury actions, quests).

Cardano gains a tested, human-readable pattern that other regions can copy - a fractal model for decentralised cultural empowerment.

[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?

Music is not just entertainment or sound. Music is the very reason how our ancestors survived and thrived on many different levels and created language in the first place. Music (Rhythm, melody and harmony) is an intense activity where almost all of our brain is activated and builds its architecture from ever since we are in the womb. Music tradition especially holds all the human values of a person/community, and always was an anchor for where we are coming from to where we are going to. Especially as a German musician, I have a specific awareness of how much of our traditions were disrupted and lost after the Second World War, often due to their misuse by Nazis. This left later generations feeling ashamed to engage with these roots, resulting in deep cultural disconnection. On the other hand, I was deeply inspired by cultural guardians worldwide resisting industrialization, globalization, conflict, etc., to keep their traditions not only alive, but innovative, transformative. The globalization is coming to an end and the world is looking back to its roots.

Simultaneously, we are reaching out to a new era of tech augmented transhumanism. NEXUS doesn't resist this wave, it rides it. We place our cultural anchor right in the center of this transformation. Though it is written on another page, but let me mention briefly, that pulling off a project like NEXUS needs someone with the heart, wisdom and focus that my team and I and people I encountered and have worked with through the years definitely exhibit. I was always drawn to the power of decentralization and Cardano for its academic, impactful approach, but was always unsure how to tokenize and strengthen culture without putting it in a "container" - what tokens essentially are. Also its very tricky to combine the real world cultural artifacts with the playfulness and storytelling oriented style of Web3 communities. I/we have now found the solution and this is our proposition: NEXUS.

We take direct strategic inspiration from Cardano ecosystem partners like Empowa and its Think Tank, where I contributed insights in 2022 and am a current community member. Just as they successfully proved how NFTs can bring real value on the ground to fund housing (RealFi), NEXUS is applying this RealFi ethos into to cultural infrastructure (music schools).

There are many different aspects and inspiration coming together that we try to weave together like a web or a mushroom network, that I can’t fully display here. So this is just the beginning. Let's bring this movement to life together.

Fieldwork of cultural guardians

Personally NEXUS project is the result of years of working with different world music scenes, musicians, academics, instrument makers and educators across Costa Rica, Cuba, Colombia, Mozambique, Okinawa, and Europe and beyond (50+countries). In Maputo, NEXUS is rooted in partners like Hodi Association, Afro-Swing / MASX, and Smile Trio. Instrument makers such as Luka Mukavele and the wider Mukambira lineage keep Timbila/Mbira traditions alive; in Okinawa, artists such as Aragaki Mutsumi protect endangered island languages through song; in the Basque Country, singers like Mikel Urdangarin bridge local poetry and modern songwriting. Or Yoel Moncaris, Cartagena, Colombia. A global network in music already exists. We just need to bring it on chain.

Bridging institutions and street-level practice

The team is used to navigating very different worlds:

• museum and archive specialists (Humboldt Forum Berlin context, ethnomusicologists)

• community music schools and cultural NGOs

• street musicians, bandleaders and philharmonic-level players

A Soundcard must make sense to a cultural-heritage scholar and to a percussionist rehearsing in a backyard. NEXUS is built exactly at this intersection.

Academic, artistic and on-chain background

The project lead, Yannick Mäntele, studied philosophy, ethnomusicology, anthropology, jazz trumpet and music education (Berlin, Göttingen, Freiburg, Amsterdam) and worked as a journalist and educator. Beyond academia, he is an active professional musician in several world-music and intercultural ensembles. He has long-term, on-the-ground experience with cross-cultural rehearsal culture, fairness in collaboration, and the complexities of cultural appropriation - both scholarly and lived. This combination is essential for a project that works with the ethics of cultural representation.

Key mentors & advisors

Luca Mukavele - master musician and cultural guardian from Maputo; advises which musicians/instruments belong in Chapter 1, ensures respectful storytelling, and connects NEXUS to the future community music school and local institutions.

Dr. Ruirui Ye - ethnomusicologist (Asia/China focus); guides metadata design, research ethics and cultural context, ensuring that the NEXUS schema is academically solid and compatible with museum/archive standards.

Further team members:

Lineker Mpunzi - community facilitation, empowerment, workshop lead; translates blockchain concepts into everyday language and holds space around topics of racism and empowerment.

Malte Bogner - audio sample-workflow lead; ensures high-quality recordings and consistent, “Soundcard-ready” audio standards.

Thu Dam - visual identity UX; responsible for the artistic, handmade “Rooted in Flow” visual identity and Soundcard layout/interface.

Together, the team ensures NEXUS is aesthetically strong, culturally grounded, technically clear and socially responsible.

Technical and ecosystem partners

NMKR - confirmed infrastructure partner for NFT minting (CIP-25/68) and revenue routing. Provides the minting flow and keeps Chapter 1 technically robust.

NEWM - Cardano-native music platform; connection established collaboration paths are being explored.

Cardano Foundation contacts - connections (e.g., treasury/governance advisor Thomas Kammerlocher, technical writers like John Greene) strengthen treasury design, governance alignment and future integration with Midnight for privacy-preserving decision-making.

These relationships reduce technical risk and embed NEXUS inside the broader Cardano roadmap from day one.

Proof-of-concept and long-term credibility

NEXUS did not start with Catalyst. Field recordings, early prototypes, interviews, workshops and community relationships already exist across Maputo, Santiago de Cuba, Catarina (Colombia), Okinawa and Europe. What is missing is the on-chain infrastructure and the capacity to document value flows transparently. Catalyst provides the last missing pieces:

Technical capacity - minting flow, metadata standard, intriguing UI, transparent Flow Fund.

Production coordination — turning scattered pilots into a coherent, documented Chapter 1 that others can replicate.

The commitment is long-term: The White Paper and “Rooted in Flow” framework represent years of work. The team will continue expanding the ecosystem even without funding; Catalyst simply accelerates visibility, clarity and reusability for the whole Cardano community.

Clear validation steps (fully verifiable) Feasibility is demonstrated by delivering:

Metadata Standard v1.0 validated by an academic/field-practitioner circle

10–15 fully curated Soundcards with high-quality audio, interviews, photography and metadata

Workshops + micro-sessions resulting in new wallets, mints and at least one Flow-Fund decision

A documented on-chain payout from the Flow Fund into the Polana Caniço community music-school initiative

Each milestone leaves public, verifiable evidence: on-chain transactions, open documentation, published media, signed partner statements. This ensures the team can manage funds responsibly and convert Catalyst support into long-lasting, replicable cultural infrastructure.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Foundation: Standards, Storyworld & Infrastructure Blueprint

Milestone Outputs

• NEXUS Metadata Standard v1.0

A Soundcard metadata schema for musician–instrument–culture relationships, co-created with a small circle of ethnomusicologists, cultural-heritage scholars and active musicians.

• “Rooted in Flow” Visual & UX Guide

Style guide for Soundcards and Chapter pages, including the basic user journey: discover → listen → understand → support → vote. Includes card layouts, icons and simple diagrams.

• Infrastructure

Core Infrastructure for minting and splitting value flows into the treasuary

Acceptance Criteria

• At least 3 named experts (university / museum / field practice) have reviewed and approved Metadata v1.0.

• The UX/visual guide covers Soundcard view, Chapter page and a mobile flow.

• The blueprint contains at least two diagrams (data flow and governance flow) and is agreed between NEXUS and NMKR and possibly Sundae Labs

Evidence of Completion

• Public link to “NEXUS Metadata Standard v1.0” on GitHub / website.

• Public link to the UX; visual guide (Figma or PDF).

• Public link to “Chapter 1 Architecture ; Governance” PDF with diagrams.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

17000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Implementation: Curated Soundcards, Utilities & Community Onboarding

Milestone Outputs

• Live minting pipeline (testnet + mainnet) using NMKR and Metadata v1.0.

•	10–15 curated Cultural-Guardian Soundcards, each including:

•	audio (practice / performance / multisamples)

•	photo / video and, where possible, a 3D scan (LumaAI)

•	a artist interview

•	a complete metadata set

The set includes:

•	at least one instrument maker (e.g. mbira / marimba builder)

•	at least one singer working in an endangered or minority language

•	at least one community leader (Hodi / Afro-Swing / MASX context)

•	Smile Trio (world music, touring band)

•	at least one artist with ~100k+ followers for reach.

•	Utility prototype – Quartet / Card Game 

A simple playable prototype that shows how Soundcards can be used as a quartet / trading-card style game (for example a printable PDF deck or a small web demo using 4–8 cards).

•	Onboarding; education content

•	6–10 “Cardano for Musicians” workshops

•	3–4 Cultural-Guardian case-note videos (endangered traditions, rare instruments).

Acceptance Criteria

• At least 20 testnet Soundcards and 10+ mainnet Soundcards minted without critical errors.

•	All 10–15 curated Soundcards comply with Metadata v1.0 and the UX guide.

•	60 or more unique participants across workshops and micro-sessions, with short pre/post questions on Cardano understanding.

•	The utility prototype has been play-tested with at least one small group (documented by a short report or video).

•	All case-note videos are publicly available and linked from the Soundcards or Chapter page.

Evidence of Completion

• Block explorer and NMKR links showing testnet and mainnet mints.

•	Public gallery / playlist for Soundcards, interviews and case-note videos.

•	Public link to the quartet / utility prototype (file, web demo or video).

Delivery Month

5

Cost

18000

Progress

40 %

Milestone Title

Chapter 1 Launch: Treasury Payout, Music-School Impact & Playbook

Milestone Outputs

• Public Chapter 1 launch and Soundcard sale, with a clearly communicated revenue split (artist / Chapter Treasury) and simple UX.

• Chapter Treasury funded on-chain through Soundcard sales.

• At least one documented treasury payout from the Chapter Treasury to the community music-school / cultural-hub initiative in Polana Caniço (e.g. instruments, lessons, rehearsal space).

• “NEXUS Chapter 1 Playbook” (PDF + slide deck) explaining:

• standards and UX

• workshop formats

• technical steps (wallets, NMKR, revenue split)

mini-governance model (little test of voting who holds Soundcards)

• notes for museums / NGOs and cultural initiatives.

• Final communication package: 3-minute video + final report with KPIs and next-step outline for a potential Chapter 2 (e.g. Kenya).

Acceptance Criteria

• On-chain adoption targets reached:

• 500 new or reactivated wallets,

• 10000 on-chain actions (mints, purchases, votes, treasury transactions).

• At least one completed treasury transaction to the music-school initiative, with a short before/after description of how funds were used.

• Playbook reviewed by at least one Cardano project and one cultural partner, who confirm they could use it to start their own Chapter.

• Final report includes a clear KPI table and key lessons learned.

Evidence of Completion

• Block explorer links to sales transactions and treasury payout(s)

• Public download links for the Playbook (PDF) and slide deck.

• Public link to the 3-minute video (YouTube/Vimeo) referencing Cardano / Catalyst.

• Final Catalyst close-out report with KPIs (wallets, transactions, workshops, views, community-channel sign-ups) and a complete documentation of building the music school funded in Chapter 1.

Delivery Month

6

Cost

15000

Progress

40 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

1. UI & Platform Integration — 8,000 ADA

Configuration and light development of the NEXUS interface using NMKR + Cardano tooling:

•	Soundcard minting flow and simple Chapter dashboard

•	pages for Soundcards, artist stories and treasury view

•	wallet connection + basic analytics hooks

Ensures a stable user experience for non-technical musicians and partners.

2.Metadata Working Group — 1000 ADA

Honoraria for a small academic/heritage circle (Dr. Ye, Luca Mukavele + peers) to refine and publish Metadata Standard v1.0 (instrument provenance, customs, guardianship, context).

Output used by museums and future NEXUS Chapters.

1. Curated Soundcards & Storytelling Videos — 14,000 ADA

Production of 10–15 high-quality Soundcards and case notes:

•	audio recording, mixing, basic mastering

•	10–15 short interviews (1–3 min)

•	3–4 Cultural Guardian videos

•	basic subtitles/localisation

•	optional 3D/visual captures

Includes Smile Trio, cultural guardians, endangered-language artists, instrument makers.

1. Community Workshops & Onboarding — 10,000 ADA

Workshops in Maputo + online micro-sessions (“Cardano for Musicians”):

•	venue, facilitation, materials, small stipends

•	wallet setup + first on-chain actions

•	treasury walkthroughs

•	follow-up with the Polana Caniço music-school initiative

Focus: real users → real wallets → real actions.

1. Ecosystem Communication (Story-Led Outreach) — 9,000 ADA

A focused, story-driven communication package (not “marketing”):

•	social-media assets + Rooted-in-Flow visuals

•	short reels from interviews/case notes

•	material for Town Halls, X Spaces, NGO/museum partners

•	documentation that helps other Cardano teams reuse the NEXUS model

Ensures clarity and reach inside and outside crypto circles.

1. Project Management & Administration — 7000 ADA

Coordination across NMKR, NEWM, Hodi/Afro-Swing, Smile Trio and academic mentors:

•	timeline + budget tracking

•	Catalyst reporting

•	Chapter-2 roadmap + playbook preparation

Keeps the project coherent and accountable

1. Governance & Treasury Design — 1,000 ADA

Targeted expert support (e.g. Invariant0) for:

•	transparent Chapter-1 Treasury setup

•	parameters for future community governance

•	preparing a path toward Midnight-enabled privacy

Total: 50,000 ADA

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

NEXUS asks for 50,000 ADA to position Cardano as the chain for lived music and cultural heritage – a place where artists onboard their own communities and where grassroots culture shows up as real on-chain activity and real-world infrastructure.

For Cardano, NEXUS delivers:

• Network-driven onboarding and hubs

Every musician who joins NEXUS brings a whole network with them: bandmates, students, families, local audiences, online followers. Chapter 1 builds a first cultural hub in Polana Caniço (Maputo). This hub is designed as a fractal copy of Project Catalyst itself: curated Soundcards, a treasury and a documented payout into a community initiative. Future Chapters in other regions can repeat the same pattern, growing a mesh of hubs that all run on Cardano.

• On-chain activity now, growing with every Chapter

For Chapter 1 we aim for 1,000 new or reactivated wallets and around 10,000 on-chain actions (Soundcard mints or purchases, simple votes, treasury transactions). These numbers are realistic because onboarding happens through workshops, rehearsals and community events where musicians bring their own circles. Later Chapters add deeper DAO governance and Midnight-based privacy for artist revenue flow (to ensure dignity and avoid income comparison). As more hubs switch on, both the number and the quality of Cardano transactions increase.

• A clear “blockchain for good” narrative

NEXUS turns Cardano’s technology into a simple story: a live relationship between musician, instrument and neighbourhood is documented as a Soundcard; part of every contribution flows to a Treasury; that treasury funds a concrete initiative such as a community music school. Cardano becomes the chain where communities protect languages, instruments and scenes together, not only where they trade tokens. We choose Cardano for its ethos that is aligned with ours.

How the budget is used:

• UI and platform integration with NMKR (wallet → Soundcard → treasury flow)

• Metadata working group (ethnomusicology / cultural heritage experts)

• Recording, editing and design of curated Soundcards and Cultural Guardian videos

• Local and online workshops for musicians and cultural guardians

• Outreach and storytelling so that other Cardano teams and non-crypto audiences can understand and reuse the pattern

• Project management, reporting and treasury/governance design

Financial leverage and sustainability:

The planned community music school in Maputo costs roughly 12,000 USD. Chapter 1 is structured so that first Soundcard edition flows into the local treasury until this target is reached. In other words, Catalyst funds the pattern and the setup; the community, via Cardano, finances the school itself. The school then serves hundreds of students over many years, while the underlying NEXUS infrastructure (metadata standard, UX flow, treasury model) remains available for other hubs at almost zero additional cost.

So 50000 ADA is not just a grant for one project; it is a one-time investment into a self-replicating ecosystem where new Chapters, new artists and new schools can emerge on Cardano without asking Catalyst to rebuild the same foundations again with clear Roadmap and future Chapters.

[Self-Assessment] Self-Assessment Checklist

I confirm that the proposal is a non-technical initiative, with ≤20% of the budget for tech support.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal provides verifiable evidence (portfolio, links, reports) of the team's ability to deliver the project.

Yes

I confirm that the proposer and all team members are in good standing with prior Catalyst projects.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal includes clear objectives with both Output Metrics (what proposal did) and Adoption-Focused Metrics (what effect proposal had).

Yes

I confirm that the proposal clearly explains the user journey and provides a credible plan for how the project will equip and motivate users for future on-chain activity.

Yes

I confirm that the initiative clearly demonstrates how it will grow the Cardano ecosystem or onboard users.

Yes

I confirm that the project plan and timeline (≤ 12 months) are realistic and well-defined.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal commits to public outputs and justifies any exceptions.

Yes

I confirm that the budget adheres to all policies: it is for future work, follows the merchandise rule, and excludes establishing local treasuries, incentives/giveaways, re-grants.

Yes

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

I Agree

Yes