[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Fix Cardano’s Cross-chain Swap Liquidity Crisis

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

168780

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

4

[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?

When it comes to cross-chain swaps, it is difficult to bridge liquidity to/from Cardano in a non-custodial way: existing solutions are centralized, lack liquidity, lack HW support or provide clumsy UX

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

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

Yes

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

Yes; the cross-chain swap functionality proposed here utilizes SwapKit’s SDK and NEAR Intents API. We have permission to use both.

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

No

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.

No; the SwapKit SDK and NEAR Intents API is open source, but NUFI wallet’s codebase is not. We (like other Cardano wallets including Eternl and Vespr) have not open-sourced our wallet’s codebase due to concerns around it being cloned and distributed with malicious code added.

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

Cross-chain

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously launched in the market (whether by you or others).

Compared to existing cross-chain swap solutions, NUFI’s proposal:

• Offers thousands more trading pairs to/from Cardano (through SwapKit’s protocol and DEX aggregation, and NEAR Intents) with aggregation for fetching better rates and deep aggregated liquidity to fulfil swaps
• Is fully non-custodial and does not require KYC or signup
• Can be used with all existing Cardano/Bitcoin/Ethereum/EVM/Solana wallets (through multi-seed phrase/private key import) and 6 hardware wallets

Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.

Decentralized cross-chain swap functionality will be accessible inside NUFI’s browser extension wallet and web wallet interface (in the ‘DEX’ section, and accessible from the Assets and Accounts screens by clicking ‘Exchange’ next to an asset).

• The MVP will demonstrate the ability to swap thousands of assets across chains, to and from ADA, in a fully non-custodial way using SwapKit and NEAR Intents integrations.
• The MVP will display routes and offer choices, display all associated swap fees, and – after swapping – allow assets to be deposited either in a user’s NUFI wallet profile, or an external wallet (for assets that NUFI wallet doesn’t support in its interface). Order history will also be accessible in NUFI's interface.

Multi-seed phrase/private key import functionality will be available inside NUFI wallet’s browser extension wallet and web wallet.

• A user will be able to consolidate wallets and assets on different chains (Cardano, Bitcoin, Ethereum and EVM, Solana) into one single wallet interface by adding multiple seed phrases or private keys to a single wallet.

We will open up both features for testing as we progress; these will be accessible via a staging version of NUFI wallet (pre-production) and the link for this will be made available to the Cardano community in NUFI’s Discord server, on X, and – with the consent of the Catalyst team – through Catalyst channels.

Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.

We will consider the project a success if:

• Users (without needing support) are able to swap assets to and from Cardano from popular chains (including Bitcoin, Ethereum, EVMs like BNB, Aritrum, Optimism and Polygon, and Solana) in a fully non-custodial way
• Monthly volume using the proposed swap solution reaches 10 million ADA within six months after completing the final milestone
• Users (without needing support) are able to successfully restore/consolidate multiple existing wallets (on Cardano, Bitcoin, Ethereum/EVM, and Solana) into one wallet interface by adding multiple seed phrases and/or private keys to one wallet profile; users' assets on different chains are easily managed and swapped from a single interface

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Background: Problems with exiting cross-chain swap solutions

Lack of liquidity

• There are almost no decentralized cross-chain swap protocols that support Cardano. Even the most popular ones have very little liquidity, and users who swap across chains to Cardano receive significantly less crypto than they spend as a result.
• Pain point: a lack of liquidity on protocols reduces your portfolio’s value when you swap assets across chains to Cardano.

Lack of hardware wallet support

• Hardware wallet users cannot easily swap assets to and from Cardano; end-to-end support for hardware wallets is hard to guarantee as it requires wallets on different chains to support the same device and, importantly, a protocol supporting these wallets.
• Pain point: a user’s wallets on different chains do not always support the same hardware wallets and, if they do, a protocol may not support the wallets themselves.

Centralized options aren’t secure

• There are many centralized exchanges that support swapping assets to and from Cardano; however, centralized exchanges require a user to create an account (which may not be possible based on a user’s location) and share personal details through KYC procedures. A centralized exchange can prevent a user from withdrawing funds from the exchange under the guise of anti-money laundering (AML) or fraud prevention.
• Pain point: centralized exchanges don’t give you full control over your funds and require you to share personal information (that could link your real-world identity with your crypto activities).

NUFI’s solution:

Non-custodial cross-chain swaps with aggregated liquidity, broad hardware wallet support, and multi-chain wallet consolidation

NUFI’s proposal has two parts:

1. integrate SwapKit/NEAR Intents into NUFI wallet to provide cross-chain swap functionality; and
2. enable multi-seed phrase/private key import so that Cardano users can restore their existing Cardano, Bitcoin, Ethereum/EVM, Solana and other wallets into one single wallet interface and swap assets across chains seamlessly.

Part 1: SwapKit/NEAR Intents integration

Integrating SwapKit/NEAR Intents into NUFI’s non-custodial wallet interface will allow users to swap thousands of assets to/from ADA in an easy, non-custodial, and cost-efficient way.

Cardano users will be able to:

• Restore multiple existing wallets (for Cardano, Bitcoin, Ethereum, all EVM chains, Solana and SVM chains) into a single non-custodial wallet interface
• Swap thousands of assets to/from ADA – including BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, USDT, USDC – with a couple of clicks (and in one transaction)
• Swap assets at the best rates: SwapKit aggregates cross-chain protocols and DEXes to find the best rates for each swap (furthermore, a user will be able to choose the swap’s route or use a fallback exchange, powered by Changelly, if liquidity is too low or a given pair is unavailable)
• Have orders fulfilled without losing value (thanks to the aggregated liquidity that SwapKit/NEAR Intents unlocks)
• Swap assets using a hardware wallet: Ledger, Trezor, Keystone, BitBox02, OneKey, and GridPlus devices supported
• Swap with no KYC or signup needed
• View swap history in NUFI’s interface
• Swap bridged assets for Cardano tokens using NUFI’s existing Cardano DEX aggregator (powered by DexHunter)

The proposed SwapKit integration can be used with existing (non-NUFI) wallets thanks to…

Part 2: Multi-seed phrase/private key import

This functionality allows a user to combine multiple seed phrases/private keys into a single wallet in NUFI’s interface.

With this, a user will be able to:

• restore their Cardano, Bitcoin, Ethereum, EVM, Solana and SVM wallets into a single wallet interface to make assets easily available for use with the SwapKit solution
• move liquidity from ‘my BTC wallet’ to ‘my ADA wallet’ with a couple of clicks
• into the same wallet, add hardware wallet accounts; Ledger, Trezor, Keystone, BitBox02, OneKey and GridPlus devices supported. Please see https://nu.fi/chains/support for more information

Supported seed phrases types: 12, 15, and 24-word BIP-39 mnemonics

Supported private key type: cardano-cli .skey format

FAQs

Q: If I restore my wallet into NUFI, does it change my existing wallet setup?

A: No; you can restore your wallet into an unlimited number of wallet interfaces and use all interfaces at the same time without changing your wallet’s setup. You’ll see the same assets/accounts in each interface.

Q: Can I remove a seed phrase or private key from my wallet after importing it?

A: Yes, you’ll be able to remove a seed phrase or private key after importing it, which will remove the associated accounts/assets from your wallet.

About SwapKit

SwapKit is a multi-chain swap and DeFi SDK/aggregator that lets apps and wallets perform cross-chain token swaps, bridging, and DEX trades through a single interface.

SwapKit integrates major decentralized non-custodial cross chain protocols such as ThorChain, Chainflip, Maya Protocol and NEAR Intents on 30+ major chains. It also aggregates 12 on-chain DEXes. Therefore, SwapKit is able to find a route for almost any token to any token. SwapKit does not support Cardano yet (although it is supported on NEAR Intents and should be supported on Maya Protocol later this year) but it should add Cardano support soon.

If SwapKit won’t add Cardano support in time, we will integrate Near Intents (which supports Cardano already) and add SwapKit support on top of it once available (as SwapKit support will enable advanced routing also through DEXes, including eventually a Cardano DEX).

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

SwapKit/NEAR Intents integration:

• Will open up deep-liquidity routes for users who want to move funds in and out of Cardano; Cardano users will benefit from being able to swap to ADA from other chains without suffering significant loss due to low liquidity
• Will enable Cardano users to trade thousands of assets on other chains for ADA in a single interface (i.e. without needing to use multiple protocols with multiple wallets, and without needing to pay multiple transaction fees); hardware wallet users will also benefit from the extensive HW support that this solution offers

Multi-seed phrase/private key import:

• Will enable users to consolidate wallets on multiple chains into one single wallet interface so that assets can be swapped across chains seamlessly

[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?

The NUFI wallet team is best-placed in Cardano to deliver such a project; the team has vast experience of multi-chain wallet architecture, including cross-chain swaps. Alongside creating a multi-chain wallet that supports Cardano and hundreds more blockchains, we successfully integrated a semi-custodial cross-chain Exchange (powered by Changelly) and we fully understand the intricacies of integrating this type of solution.

Alongside this, our reliability is proven by our strong track record of building in Cardano, which includes developing AdaLite.io (Cardano’s first browser-based wallet in 2018), the Cardano firmware and apps for both Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets, Cardano compatibility for MetaMask wallet (aka Cardano Wallet Snap), and Cardano’s first SSO solution (the last two of which were funded by Project Catalyst voters in Fund11 and completed within budget, on time, and in full).

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Integrate swapping functionality via SwapKit

Milestone Outputs

• Integrate SwapKit's cross-chain swap SDK into NUFI wallet staging environment
• Enable account-to-account swaps across chains for assets supported inside NUFI wallet
• Design UI and user flows to achieve a fast and intuitive user experience

Acceptance Criteria

The criteria for acceptance will be met when a working integration exists in NUFI wallet's staging environment, and a cross-chain swap - e.g. BTC to ADA - can be executed successfully with the required UI elements working as intended.

Evidence of Completion

• Video of the above functionality - with a cross-chain swap like BTC to ADA - working properly and as described in this proposal

Delivery Month

1

Cost

57073

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Integrate SwapKit swaps history

Milestone Outputs

• Integration of a user's SwapKit order history inside NUFI wallet (staging) interface; this allows a user to see a swap's status (example: not_started, pending, swapping, completed, refunded and failed)
• Order history will display (alongside basic information like time/date, chain, assets, to/from addresses, hash and block) information about the swap provider and route where available

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance criteria will be met when a user's swap history (with the information detailed above) is working as intended in NUFI wallet staging environment, and a suitable UI and user flow has been implemented alongside it.

Evidence of Completion

• Video of the swap history described above (with examples of cross-chain swaps with different statuses) working correctly in NUFI wallet staging environment

Delivery Month

2

Cost

14634

Progress

40 %

Milestone Title

Integration of SwapKit in NUFI wallet (production) with bugfixing

Milestone Outputs

• Integration of SwapKit (with full cross-chain swap functionality and swap history) in NUFI wallet's production environment
• User testing and feedback with extensive bug fixing and finetuning of UI and UX
• Completion of user documentation

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance criteria will be met when SwapKit is fully functional inside NUFI's production wallet, and - after bug testing is complete - users report no more bugs/issues and report a more-than-satisfactory UI/UX that enables them to perform the action without needing support. User documentation will be available in NUFI's knowledge base.

Evidence of Completion

• Video of the SwapKit solution (including order history) working as intended inside NUFI wallet (production), for example using a BTC to ADA swap to illustrate
• Link to report compiling user feedback before and after bug testing
• Link to user documentation in NUFI's knowledge base

Delivery Month

3

Cost

43902

Progress

60 %

Milestone Title

Multi-seed phrase/private key import functionality

Milestone Outputs

• Enable the import of multiple seed phrases and private keys into a single NUFI wallet interface; test extensively, and invite users from Cardano community to test
• Develop an intuitive UI and user flow alongside the functionality; refine after user feedback
• Develop user documentation
• Create marketing campaign for cross-chain swap functionality and multi-seed phrase/private key import functionality for the Cardano community

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance criteria will be met when the multi-seed phrase/private key import works flawlessly, and feedback from users indicates that the process is straightforward and intuitive. User documentation will be available in NUFI's knowledge base. Marketing campaign has been created on X and Reddit.

Evidence of Completion

• Video of the functionality working as intended in NUFI's production environment
• Report on user feedback before and after UX improvements
• Links to marketing campaign on X and Reddit
• Links to user documentation in NUFI's knowledge base

Delivery Month

4

Cost

53171

Progress

80 %

Milestone Title

Final/Closeout

Milestone Outputs

• Project Catalyst Closeout video showcasing the SwapKit and import functionality working as intended in NUFI's production wallet
• Project Catalyst Closeout report detailing the milestones, challenges, learning points and other content requested by the Catalyst team

Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance criteria will be met when the closeout Video and Report have been created successfully, showcase the development in full, and have been shared publicly using the channels recommended by the Project Catalyst team.

Evidence of Completion

• Link to this proposal's Project Catalyst Closeout Video
• Link to this proposal's Project Catalyst Closeout Report

Delivery Month

4

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Milestone 1 - Integrate Swapkit's swapping functionality

• For research, implementation, testing, project management: 39 dev days at a day rate of 1463 ADA, for a total of 57,073 ADA

Milestone 2 - Integrate SwapKit order history

• For research, implementation, testing, project management: 10 dev days at a day rate of 1463 ADA, for a total of 14,634 ADA

Milestone 3 - Integrate SwapKit into NUFI's production environment

• For research, implementation, testing, project management: 30 dev days at a day rate of 1463 ADA, for a total of 43,902 ADA

Milestone 4 - Enable multi-seed phrase/private key import + Marketing campaign

• For research, implementation, testing, project management: 31 dev days at a day rate of 1463 ADA, for a total of 45,366 ADA
• For support and marketing: 10 support/marketing staff days at a day rate of 780 ADA, for a total of 7805 ADA

Milestone 5 - Final/Closeout

no cost

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

The proposal is value for money for Cardano’s community because:

• It encourages users to bring liquidity into Cardano’s ecosystem: at present, the low liquidity (and resulting loss of value) and poor UX of existing cross-chain swap solutions deter users from swapping to ADA from other chains
• It is significantly cheaper than boosting liquidity on existing solutions, or overhauling their UX to make them viable solutions, and significantly less than a cross-chain DEX would require for integrating Cardano support

[Self-Assessment] Self-Assessment Checklist

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

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

I Agree

Yes