Last updated 3 months ago
New developers face high barriers on Cardano due to unfamiliar functional languages and complex tooling like Nix, CHaP, and Cabal, slowing onboarding and innovation
Enable Solidity to run on cardano by extending and open sourcing our proprietary compiler for imperative languages to UPLC, as well as our tooling for supporting rapid dApp development.
Please provide your proposal title
Enable Solidity Smart Contracts on Cardano
Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA
135000
Please specify how many months you expect your project to last
12
What is the problem you want to solve?
New developers face high barriers on Cardano due to unfamiliar functional languages and complex tooling like Nix, CHaP, and Cabal, slowing onboarding and innovation
Supporting links
Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?
No
Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'
No dependencies
Will your project's outputs be fully open source?
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.
Yes - we aim to build an open-source developer environment where builders can make smart contracts using Solidity for the Cardano Blockchain.
Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal
Developer Tools
Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously launched in the market (whether by you or others).
There are significant barriers preventing new developers from building on the Cardano blockchain. Most engineers in both Web2 and Web3 are trained primarily in imperative programming languages, while Cardano’s core tooling and smart contract development rely heavily on functional paradigms. This mismatch creates a steep learning curve and discourages many capable builders from entering the Cardano ecosystem.
In addition, Cardano’s development environment depends on several complex tooling layers and dependencies, such as Nix, CHaP, and Cabal, which must be correctly configured before meaningful development can even begin. The setup process is often time-consuming, fragile, and difficult to troubleshoot, especially for those new to the ecosystem. Together, these factors significantly increase the technical and time-related costs of building on Cardano, slowing innovation and limiting ecosystem growth.
We plan on providing a solution that allows builders the capacity to build in a well established language (Solidity) directly on the Cardano blockchain. This allows us to greatly simplify the on-boarding process for new builders, allowing for significant new innovation to be brought to the blockchain.
Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.
The MVP will demonstrate that Solidity contracts can be successfully compiled into UPLC and executed on the Cardano blockchain via the Sky Developer Environment. It will include:
A working Solidity to UPLC compiler extension
Solidity-based example smart contracts deployed on Cardano testnet (e.g. ERC-20 equivalent, escrow, multisig, dex function, etc.)
A local developer environment with no Nix, CHaP, Cabal, or near all classic Cardano dependencies
A GitHub repository containing the compiler, documentation, and examples
The MVP will be accessible via a public GitHub repository. This will serve as proof that imperative languages can be effectively supported on Cardano without sacrificing performance, cost efficiency, or security.
Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.
Success for this project will be measured by a combination of technical, community, and on-chain adoption metrics:
On-chain / technical metrics
Developer & ecosystem metrics
Ecosystem adoption metrics
These metrics together will show tangible developer adoption and network impact.
Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem
We will extend our proprietary compiler for producing high throughput and inexpensive on-chain validators using Jai to support Solidity as a first class imperative language.
This will be done by adding the Solidity grammar to the Lexicographical Analyzer and by crafting EVM equivalent operations for UTXO based chains that allow minimal if any changes to support all of the common language patterns and best practices currently enjoyed on EVM chains, as well as bolstering the security, robustness, and simplicity by merging it with the UTXO model of Cardano.
Our current compiler already has many benefits for dApp development including a full suite of tools for testing on and off chain, transaction building, transaction and validator introspection, debugging, a functional mockchain and historical transaction replay. It also has zero dependencies and the whole suite is fast (contract compilation and testing in milliseconds) and without setup bloat (no waiting for nix builds or cabal solves).
We plan to also provide examples and documentation, and a migration guide to further support adoption and velocity for those coming to Cardano from EVM chains, or those looking to build with imperative languages instead of the functional ones currently available.
Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community
By having support for a popular and imperative language in the Cardano ecosystem, we attract new and old builders to innovate and bring forth new dApps to revolutionize the ecosystem, this will bolster Cardano’s place in the crypto, bringing in liquidity and positive press.
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?
Vyfinance is a team with a deep, demonstrated expertise in Cardano and its development, having been consistent builders in the Space for nearly 5 years. We have conducted extensive research in dapp development, and have been presenting our research to IOG and the Cardano Foundation - having recently presented in Edinburgh at the UPLC conference. This video is shared above.
Milestone Title
Compiler Extension & Solidity Suppor
Milestone Outputs
An extended version of the Sky compiler supporting core Solidity syntax, including variables, loops, functions, structs, mappings and contract patterns. The lexing and parsing layers will be upgraded to support Solidity as a first-class language, producing a stable intermediate representation compatible with UPLC compilation.
Acceptance Criteria
The compiler must successfully parse and compile Solidity smart contracts into an intermediate representation without errors. At least five example contracts (token, escrow, multisig, staking, simple swap) must compile successfully and be ready for mapping to UPLC-compatible logic.
Evidence of Completion
Public GitHub repository containing the updated compiler, Solidity grammar implementation, test cases, and example contracts demonstrating correct compilation output.
Delivery Month
4
Cost
45000
Progress
50 %
Milestone Title
Solidity to UPLC Mapping
Milestone Outputs
A complete mapping layer translating Solidity/EVM constructs (state, memory, function calls, logic flows) into a UTXO-compatible form that can be compiled into Untyped Plutus Core (UPLC), while preserving contract functionality and minimizing developer-side changes.
Acceptance Criteria
Multiple Solidity contracts must compile end-to-end into valid UPLC bytecode and execute correctly on Cardano testnet. Outputs, state transitions and validation results must match expected behaviour in both simulation and real chain execution.
Evidence of Completion
Testnet transaction hashes showing successful deployment and execution of multiple Solidity contracts compiled to UPLC, along with published test scripts and documentation.
Delivery Month
6
Cost
25000
Progress
10 %
Milestone Title
Tooling / Environment / Debug
Milestone Outputs
A complete developer environment, including command-line tools and optional UI, enabling compilation, testing, debugging, transaction building and validator inspection for Solidity-based Cardano smart contracts without Nix, CHaP or Cabal dependencies.
Acceptance Criteria
Developers must be able to install Sky in less than 10 minutes and successfully write, compile, test, debug and deploy Solidity contracts using provided tools. The system must support mockchain testing, transaction replay, and debugging outputs.
Evidence of Completion
Installation guide, demo videos, working binary releases, and a full usage walkthrough published alongside the repository and community documentation.
Delivery Month
9
Cost
20000
Progress
10 %
Milestone Title
Security & Validation
Milestone Outputs
A comprehensive security and validation phase including internal audits, fuzz testing, edge-case simulations and an external review process to ensure compiled Solidity-to-UPLC contracts are secure, deterministic and resistant to known exploit patterns.
Acceptance Criteria
All critical and high-risk vulnerabilities must be identified and resolved. The system must pass internal and external audit checks and correctly handle malformed inputs, unexpected logic conditions, and edge-case scenarios without breaking determinism or safety.
Evidence of Completion
Published security audit report, resolved issue log, and verification tests demonstrating stability, correctness and resistance to attack vectors.
Delivery Month
10
Cost
25000
Progress
10 %
Milestone Title
Documentation and Guides
Milestone Outputs
Full documentation suite including installation guides, Solidity-to-Cardano migration handbook, tutorials, API references, sample projects and best-practice documentation specifically targeted at Web2 and EVM-native developers transitioning to Cardano.
Acceptance Criteria
A complete, well-structured documentation website and developer guide must be available, featuring step-by-step tutorials, explanations of differences between EVM and Cardano, and working example projects suitable for production experimentation.
Evidence of Completion
Published documentation portal, public GitHub wiki, downloadable guides and working example repositories referenced in the materials.
Delivery Month
11
Cost
10000
Progress
10 %
Milestone Title
Developer Support & Community
Milestone Outputs
A community support program including workshops, AMA sessions, tutorial videos, developer office hours and direct onboarding support to help Solidity developers begin building smart contracts on Cardano using the Sky environment.
Acceptance Criteria
At least three live workshops or recorded sessions must be conducted, along with continuous support via Discord/GitHub. New developers must be able to successfully onboard, build a simple dApp and deploy a test contract using the system.
Evidence of Completion
Recorded workshop sessions, community transcripts, engagement metrics, GitHub activity from new contributors and feedback reports from participating developers.
Delivery Month
12
Cost
10000
Progress
10 %
Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources
Compiler Extension & Solidity Support: 45,000ADA
Includes: Implementing grammar and parsing.
Solidity to UPLC Mapping: 25,000ADA
Includes: Design and logic to bridge between the two languages.
Tooling / Environment / Debug: 20,000ADA
Includes: Sky developer UX
Security & Validation: 25,000ADA
Includes: Testing, code review
Documentation and Guides: 10,000ADA
Includes: Developer onboarding, and examples
Developer Support & Community: 10,000ADA
Includes: Workshops, written/video tutorials, and demos.
Total 130,000 ADA
How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?
This project provides exceptional value to the Cardano ecosystem by dramatically lowering the barrier to entry for developers worldwide.
With 135,000 ADA, Cardano receives:
i) A completely new smart-contract development pathway
ii) A bridge for all of the existing Solidity developers
iii) An open-source, zero-dependency development environment sorely needed to onboard new builders to the ecosystem
iv) Increased innovation through simplified new builder acquisition pathways
v) Long-term competitiveness with EVM-based ecosystems
The impact far exceeds the funding amount. Comparable work in the private sector would likely cost over $500,000+, and would not necessarily be open source. We are able to achieve this given the research and development that has gone into our V3 DEx, and we want to bring it to the community!
I confirm that evidence of prior research, whitepaper, design, or proof-of-concept is provided.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal includes ecosystem research and uses the findings to either (a) justify its uniqueness over existing solutions or (b) demonstrate the value of its novel approach.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal demonstrates technical capability via verifiable in-house talent or a confirmed development partner (GitHub, LinkedIn, portfolio, etc.)
Yes
I confirm that the proposer and all team members are in good standing with prior Catalyst projects.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal clearly defines the problem and the value of the on-chain utility.
Yes
I confirm that the primary goal of the proposal is a working prototype deployed on at least a Cardano testnet.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal outlines a credible and clear technical plan and architecture.
Yes
I confirm that the budget and timeline (≤ 12 months) are realistic for the proposed work.
Yes
I confirm that the proposal includes a community engagement and feedback plan to amplify prototype adoption with the Cardano ecosystem.
Yes
I confirm that the budget is for future development only; excludes retroactive funding, incentives, giveaways, re-granting, or sub-treasuries.
Yes
I Agree
Yes
Project Lead: Steven Ward
AI Engineer and Data Scientist: John Ward
Blockchain Systems Engineer (Plutus/Solidity): Skylar O'Quinn
Developer tools Engineer: Ryan Feltkamp
Technical Writer & Community: Dylan Mccoy