Midnight Explorer: A Privacy-Preserving Blockchain Explorer

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Midnight Explorer: A Privacy-Preserving Blockchain Explorer

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

138856

[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?

Midnight does not have tools to explore on-chain data, track network activity, or support dApp development, leaving the community with little visibility and ability to experiment with the ecosystem.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://www.midnightexplorer.com
,
• https://github.com/Tech-Expansion
,
• https://x.com/midnightexplr

[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

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.

The Front End will be completely open-source when finished. Our idea is that users themselves will be able to improve the interface and add new features themselves.

The back End will be open-sourced in another stage probably.

[Theme Selection] Theme

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

Analytics

[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).

At the moment, Midnight does not have an official or fully featured block explorer available to the community. This makes it difficult for developers and experimental projects on Midnight to check transactions, track blocks, and smart contracts.

Our project is innovative in that:

• The first block explorer built specifically for Midnight, providing on-chain data on transactions, blocks, smart contracts, and pools. This is a foundational tool that the ecosystem is currently lacking.
• Direct integration with the indexer, ensuring data is constantly updated and accurate, helping developers test and monitor the network effectively.
• Serving as the basic infrastructure for the ecosystem, supporting other projects such as wallets, dApps, analytics tools, and DeFi applications running on Midnight.
• Access to structured and visual data, making it easy for the community and developers to observe network activities, test smart contracts, and develop projects on the platform conveniently.

Therefore, the product not only meets the urgent needs of the Midnight community today, but also creates a foundation for other applications and tools to develop sustainably in the future.

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

The Midnight Explorer project will demonstrate the Midnight network's ability to access and display on-chain data. Specifically:

• User-friendly interface that makes it easy for non-tech users to use.
• Allows users to look up information about transactions, blocks, smart contracts, and pools on the Preview testnet.
• Displays data in a structured, intuitive, and easy-to-understand way, helping developers test dApps and monitor network activity easily.
• Integrated with an indexer, ensuring data is constantly updated and synchronized, accurately reflecting the network status.
• Provides an open API, allowing other projects to access data for analysis, dashboards, or dApp testing.

The MVP is currently accessible at:

https://preview.midnightexplorer.com/

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

Midnight Explorer’s actual success metrics will focus on assessing usage, developer impact, and ecosystem support. Specifically:

1. Number of people accessing and using MVP/Explorer

• Measured by web visits and API requests per week.
• Goal: ≥ 500 visits/week in the first 3 months of testing.

1. Number of projects/developers using data for testing or developing dApps

• Collected through community surveys, API subscriptions, or direct developer feedback.
• Goal: ≥ 10 projects using testnet data in the first 3–4 months.

1. Completeness and accuracy of on-chain data

• Check explorer data against indexer, measure update latency.
• Goal: data updates ≤ 5 seconds from actual state.

1. Community Engagement and Feedback

• Track the number of questions, issues, or contributions from the community on GitHub and support channels.
• Goal: ≥ 20 issues/useful feedback from developers to improve the MVP in 4 months.

These metrics allow for a realistic measurement of the explorer's impact on the Midnight community, and provide a basis for improvement and expansion of the project when mainnet launches

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

We propose the development of Midnight Explorer, an in-depth blockchain data exploration tool for Midnight. The goal is to address the current limitations of explorers: transaction lookup, smart contract activity, and network state are fragmented, unintuitive, and difficult to access, especially for pre-mainnet Midnight.

Our solution includes:

• Intuitive and user-friendly web interface: Provides a quick and easy-to-understand experience of looking up blocks, transactions, contracts, pools, and network activities.
• Open and full-featured API: Allows developers to access data for analysis, testing dApps, building auxiliary tools, or integrating into other projects.
• Data updates and community guidance: Includes user guides, illustrative examples, detailed documentation, and articles on how to develop on Midnight.
• Preview environment support: The current version will provide preview access, ready to expand when Midnight mainnet launches.

Key features and value for Cardano:

• Increase transparency and data accessibility on Midnight, helping developers better understand smart contracts and network operations.
• Support dApp development by providing data and visualization tools, reducing technical barriers, promoting product testing and deployment.
• Build a bridge between the Cardano and Midnight communities, facilitating sustainable ecosystem development and encouraging open innovation.
• Create long-term and public educational assets, encourage contributions from the developer community, and help the ecosystem grow comprehensively.

Expected Impact:

• Developers and new users can easily monitor, test and interact with the Midnight network.
• Increase the number of tested smart contracts and dApps, improving the quality of applications on the ecosystem.
• Support the developer community to expand their skills, improve the capacity to build the Midnight and Cardano ecosystem.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

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

The Midnight Explorer project will bring practical value to the Cardano and Midnight community by providing a comprehensive, transparent and convenient Midnight network data lookup tool, developers and project teams can easily track transactions, smart contract status, blocks, pools and events on the testnet.

This will help shorten the time to develop dApps, as developers can test, demo and adjust projects directly on the preview environment before the mainnet launch, thereby improving product quality and reducing operational risks. In addition, providing an open data access API will create opportunities for projects to build dashboards, analyze transaction behavior and deploy other support tools, contributing to the expansion of the Midnight ecosystem.

We will measure the impact of the project through quantitative and qualitative indicators, including:

• Number of preview network users accessing the explorer: Track web and API visits.
• Number of projects using the data to test or demo dApps: Collect direct feedback from developers through surveys and support teams.
• DApp development efficiency: Evaluate cases where developers shortened debugging or test deployment time thanks to the explorer.

Project results and opportunities will be shared via:

• Public web preview.midnightexplorer.com.
• A preview network data access API, allowing projects to integrate and use it for testing, research, or add-on tool development.
• Regular reports on traffic metrics, projects using the explorer, and new improvements are continuously updated for the community.

The Midnight Explorer project will become a foundational tool to help the Cardano and Midnight developer community accelerate dApp development and testing, while supporting ecosystem expansion with transparent data and flexible integration capabilities.

[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?

Proven Competence. TEX Labs has a track record in the Cardano ecosystem, winning awards at scientific research competitions, hackathons, and organizing community workshops/events. These activities build trust and provide direct insights into user needs.

Team Competence: The team consists of 3 key members and has had projects funded by funds 11, 12, and 13, each with 5+ years of software development experience, 2+ years of developing and operating Cardano Blockchain infrastructure, 4+ years of full-stack software development (microservices, clean architecture, database optimization, caching, message broker). Proficient in Haskell/Plutus, Rust, Aiken, and modern frontend/backend technologies. Successfully deployed many Cardano projects with CIP-25, CIP-30, CIP-68, achieving high reliability in real-world environments.

Validate feasibility. We build for real community needs. The roadmap starts with an MVP focused on key “user jobs,” then iterates rapidly with public releases and open demos. Success metrics are clearly tracked (active users, transactions processed, latency, error rates) and adjusted based on feedback.

Transparency & Accountability. Open source development from the ground up:

• Public repo (https://github.com/Tech-Expansion) transparent issues/roadmap
• Regular progress updates (bi-weekly/monthly) with live changelog
• Milestone delivery with verifiable artifacts before moving to the next phase
• Transparent financial reporting, milestone-linked spending

With community-driven design, disciplined engineering, and transparent operations, TEX Labs is ready to deliver projects reliably and responsibly.

Current status & proof of concept.

• The project has passed the idea stage and has a public prototype running at https://preview.midnightexplorer.com
• Front-end and back-end infrastructure are updated and guaranteed to run stably.

Evidence of early demand.

Although Midnight is in testnet, our Google Analytics statistics show that it has reached over 1,000 global users (as of 2025-11-26, UTC+7). This confirms the need for a dedicated Midnight explorer/API to serve developers and users right from the testing phase, and is a viable basis for expansion to mainnet.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Optimize database and query speed

Milestone Outputs

1. Optimize the entire backend indexer and database, enhancing the ability to query on-chain data efficiently.
2. Reduce response time for common queries to ensure a smooth experience for developers and users.
3. Improve the stability and synchronization of the explorer, ensuring that all transactions and blocks are accurately updated.

Acceptance Criteria

1. Response time for 90% of common queries ≤ 3 seconds, guaranteeing fast and stable user experience.
2. No data synchronization errors occur during at least 7 consecutive days of testing.
3. System uptime maintained ≥ 99% during the testing period, with no downtime affecting data.

Evidence of Completion

1. Performance and synchronization test reports, including detailed screenshots and logs.
2. Monitoring dashboard showing uptime and number of successfully processed requests, demonstrating load capacity and stability.
3. Live demo on the preview environment proving that all features operate correctly.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

23143

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Expanding on-chain data visibility

Milestone Outputs

1. Display comprehensive data on transactions, blocks, pools, and smart contract interactions on Midnight Explorer.
2. Provide a visual interface that allows users and developers to query and filter data easily.
3. Add advanced search features by transaction ID, wallet address, or block number, enabling detailed analysis.

Acceptance Criteria

1. All new data types can be queried and displayed accurately on both desktop and mobile platforms.
2. Developers can search, filter, and export data easily for dApp development or analysis.
3. Interface operates stably with no display errors or downtime during large data queries.

Evidence of Completion

1. Screenshots and video demos showcasing all new features.
2. Feedback from 30–45 developers testing the new data display features.
3. Test reports comparing on-chain data against displayed data to ensure accuracy.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

46285

Progress

50 %

Milestone Title

Provide public API for developers

Milestone Outputs

1. Provide REST/GraphQL API to access transaction, block, pool, and smart contract data.
2. Detailed documentation, illustrated examples, and code samples for developers to integrate easily.
3. API monitoring system to track requests, stability, and response, ensuring continuous operation.

Acceptance Criteria

1. API can handle ≥ 1000 requests/day without errors, ensuring stability in real environments.
2. Complete and transparent documentation allows developers to integrate data into dApps or analytical systems.
3. Response time ≤ 2 seconds for common requests, meeting data retrieval speed requirements.

Evidence of Completion

1. API request logs from the monitoring system demonstrate volume and stability.
2. GitHub repository contains full documentation and code examples for API usage.
3. Feedback from developers testing the API and reporting user experience.

Delivery Month

5

Cost

46285

Progress

80 %

Milestone Title

Community Interaction and Feedback-Based Improvement

Milestone Outputs

1. Collect feedback from developers and the community through GitHub issues, forms, or Discord.
2. Implement improvements on the explorer based on feedback, ensuring the product meets real-world needs.
3. Provide detailed guides and articles on how to use the explorer, supporting developers and new users.

Acceptance Criteria

1. Record ≥ 1100 useful issues/feedback from developers and the community.
2. Implement at least 80% of feasible improvements based on feedback.
3. Guides and articles published on the official website, ensuring clear and easy access.

Evidence of Completion

1. GitHub issues/feature requests and changelog showing improvements made based on feedback.
2. Screenshots or reports of new features after improvement.
3. Links to published guides and community articles.

Delivery Month

6

Cost

23143

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Milestone 1: Optimize database and query speed (4 weeks)

01 Project Manager: 120 hrs × $25/hr = $3,000

02 Senior Developer: 2 people x 120 hrs × $20/hr = $4,800

01 Business Analyst: 120 hrs × $16/hr = $1,920

Subtotal: $9,720 ~ 23,143 ADA

Milestone 2: Expanding on-chain data visibility (MVP Release) (8 weeks)

Resources:

01 Project Manager: 240 hrs × $25/hr = $3,000

02 Senior Developer: 2 people x 240 hrs × $20/hr = $4,800

01 Business Analyst: 240 hrs × $16/hr = $1,920

Subtotal: $19,440 ~ 46,286 ADA

Milestone 3: Provide public API for developers (8 weeks)

Resources:

01 Project Manager: 240 hrs × $25/hr = $3,000

02 Senior Developer: 2 people x 240 hrs × $20/hr = $4,800

01 Business Analyst: 240 hrs × $16/hr = $1,920

Subtotal: $19,440 ~ 46,286 ADA

Milestone 4: Community engagement and feedback-based improvements (4 weeks)

Resources:

01 Project Manager: 120 hrs × $25/hr = $3,000

02 Senior Developer: 2 people x 120 hrs × $20/hr = $4,800

01 Business Analyst: 120 hrs × $16/hr = $1,920

Subtotal: $9,720 ~ 23,143 ADA

==> TOTAL: $58,320 ~ 138,858 ADA

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

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

For this amount, the Cardano ecosystem receives:

• A production-ready Midnight block explorer (web UI + backend + indexer integration) that can be used by all developers and projects building on Midnight.
• Public APIs for on-chain data access, reducing duplicated effort for future dApp and tooling teams.
• Documentation and community support materials that lower the onboarding cost for every new developer joining the Midnight ecosystem.

The project is designed to be open source and reusable: all core components (frontend, backend services and infrastructure configuration) will be published under a permissive open-source licence, so other teams can fork, extend, or self-host the explorer without additional Catalyst funding. This means a single, relatively small grant can support multiple future projects — wallets, dashboards, analytics tools, DeFi protocols — that rely on accurate and accessible Midnight network data.

[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