Portal: NFQ's digital asset mgmt.

Check out our "Near Field Query Tap Authentication" proposal under Miscellaneous Challenge for pertinent info about NFQ hardware and a deeper dive into the tech behind this idea. 

https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Near-Field-Query-tap-authentication/384588-48088

Links to everything mentioned in our proposals is listed at the end of the detailed plan under Resources. 

The NFQ project is supported by NFT-DAO and the University of Wyoming's Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation. The co-founders are UW engineering majors. This structure empowers students and organizations to explore ideas like NFQ. Both organizations have encouraged our idea and we are grateful for their support. NFT-DAO is backing our proposals as part of their mission to inspire students. Thank you to all the team and community members who are helping this become a reality.

Product

Our dApp, named "Portal," will interact with our NFQ tag authenticator (See linked proposal "Near Field Query Tap Authentication" for more details) to provide secure transactions utilizing touch as part of the authentication. Tapping an NFQ tag will direct you to the Portal app. It will use NFQ's custom code library and Glow language for integration into EVM-compatible blockchains. The backend of Portal to do operations on blockchain will be built using Glow language. This compatibility with all EVM-blockchains will allow us to be flexible to the best blockchain solution available.

"Portal" will ultimately have many functions. These include a wallet, a buy/sell function (smart contracts to facilitate peer-to-peer trading of NFTs), custom NFQ-enabled marketplaces based on NFT DAO's BXCR framework for online shopping, and a USD or crypto payment system for online shopping. These marketplaces will be implemented into the "shop" function of Portal and can act as the medium of NFTs and the B2C market. The purpose of Portal is to act as the connection between physical products and digital assets. This dApp is half the equation and allows the maximization of our NFQ tag (see linked proposal). By leveraging the Plutus dApp store, this application will bring everyday consumers into the Cardano ecosystem. Portal will run on Plutus but our main focus will be our standalone app.

Market

(More in-depth analysis in linked proposal Near Field Query tap authentication)

We are targeting counterfeit luxury items as our first addressable market. As we leverage economies of large scales and reach more markets, any quality item that could be counterfeit could benefit from an NFQ tag to insure the item's integrity. As we leverage economies of scale, our reach will expand into commodities and could penetrate into the metaverse. A brand can protect their consumers and market share using digital signature verification on an NFT. We can ensure a brand's authenticity and create a simple and easy to use ecosystem for decentralized, secure, and verified transactions of NFTs (utilizing our NFQ tag as part of the verification.) The "Portal" dApp will communicate with the NFQ tag to provide the secure transmission of verified data (brand authentication, ownership, and more) through a simple and easy user interface (UX) and NFT technology.

Acquisition

Our plan is to start with the basic app structure's design and development. We will prototype the app as an outline for app design and create a proof of concept to show investors and implement into a product demo video. This proof of concept can be shown to angel investment in the hopes to accelerate the process of development. Our strategy is to push off investment as long as possible so we can maximize the development of our value proposition. At the same time, the app structure will be built out and linked to our NFQ tag using Glow's custom integration. We will be contracting Mutual Knowledge when our code library for NFQ is nearly complete for a custom and proprietary connection between NFQ and Portal's blockchain functionality. When a minimum viable product is reached (capable of product authentication and NFT queries) we will present to an early round of investors. This round of investment will be used to refine Portal to be ready to implement into multiple markets. Furthermore, it will help expand the capability of Portal into smart contracts, payment solutions, marketplaces, and P2P trading which will drive business adoption and bring more applications to Cardano.

Monopoly

Our advantage stems from our ability for our flexible and native interaction onto blockchain (NFTs, smart contracts, and crypto payments) and our partnership with NFT DAO. Their BXCR framework supports businesses to easily build a custom NFT marketplace for each individual business. This will be integrated into Portal to allow a more decentralized online shopping experience based on NFT transactions. These NFTs will not only be capable of initially purchasing on Portal, but able to be sold and resold through a peer-to-peer trading network. Our plan is to have an initial selling fee, and a very low transaction fee to cover networking costs. As we scale and adopt better technologies, NFTs can become very cheap to mint and interact with. We will be taking advantage of blockchains with low minting costs as we move forward into the consumer market. The ecosystem of NFQ and Portal will be a seamless consumer experience that will bring more utility and application for businesses to apply NFTs to their products.

Challenges

Funding is our biggest challenge. We've managed to avoid the bulk of HR costs by hiring an extremely capable individual who can build most of our system in a timely manner and trading equity upfront. Each milestone will correspond to bonus equity packages, solidifying his role in the company.

Marketing this idea to clients is another noteworthy challenge. The cost to travel to businesses and present the idea can build up fast, especially when a minimum of three people would be involved (PR rep, CTO, and a Co-founder). We plan on utilizing remote technology like Zoom to present our product to most of these companies to avoid that unnecessary cost. Of course, large and influential companies would require those travel expenses as that would increase likelihood of success.

Infallibility of our system is a core challenge and requires experts in cybersecurity and blockchain. We are contracting a coding firm called "Pay Stars" that have expertise in security systems and testing. They will provide end to end security from the NFQ tag to all phones and the blockchain. Then they will run a testing campaign to ensure our system cannot be hacked in any way, shape, or form as well as protect consumer's privacy and be compliant with privacy laws around the world. We are also in communications with the University of Wyoming's Cybersecurity Education and Research (CEDAR) center, but that relationship is only budding at the current moment.

Budget

Glow: $13000 ($80/hr, 160hrs)

UX design: $3000 (Assets and furbishment of app & website)

Flutter: $8000 ($50/hr, 160hrs)

Cybersecurity and testing: $11,000 ($70/hr, 160hrs) [Pay Stars]

Our budget includes: hiring and compensating programmers for Glow, UX development, cybersecurity consulting, and other R&D and miscellaneous expenses to cover anything unexpected. Completing stage one of this project is beyond the scope of this challenge's funds and likely requires outside investment. We are asking Catalyst for the amount we think is appropriate to get us to a minimum viable product and is relative to the total impact, number of proposers, and amount of available funds.

This budget of $35,000 will be used to fund Glow development and support the front and backend of Portal. More specifically it will cover: integration into blockchain through Portal (Glow), functional app structure and design (flutter), and contracting Pay Stars to ensure end-to-end system integrity. These funds can accomplish a proof of concept and a minimum viable product to be able to present to the first round of investors and would be a great help in accelerating and increasing the value proposition of our business. We will spend the fund as stringent as we can on the most significant early challenges to maximize the impact of Catalyst on our project. 

Roadmap

Three months: Core app structure built talking to a tag prototype. Application demo and proof of concept video done. Documentation (req. docs, business concept, pro-forma) all done.

Six months: Working authentication process and native touch application of blockchain (communication to NFQ tag) running on a functional app interface. Polish the app to go from functional to marketable. Hire UX designer for both website and App.

Twelve months: Our dApp backend complete and functionality (marketplaces, P2P trading, smart contracts, and payment) is nearly (if not) completed. At this time, our product (tag and dApp) is applied into more brands, markets, and applications. Polished app published to iOS and Android app stores and ready to take to market. Integration into Plutus dApp store started. Refine the product to become a new standard of B2C use cases. Stage 2/3 of our project started.

Resources

Near Field Query tap authentication

https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Near-Field-Query-tap-authentication/384588-48088

Portal: NFQ's digital asset management

https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Portal-NFQ-s-digital-asset-mgmt/384580-48088

NFT DAO :

https://builtoncardano.com/nft-dao

UW Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation : http://www.uwyo.edu/acct-fin/cbdi/

BXCR : https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/NFT-DAO-Boxcar-framework/382053-48088

CTO Github :

https://github.com/rkinb

MuKn/Glow :

https://mukn.io

Pay Stars :

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-thornhill-194817/

Thank you to the CAs and voters who review this proposal and we hope you gain the excitement about NFQ that we have. :)