Ferrum: InfinitySwap-Milestone 1-2

[IMPACT]

InfinitySwap is a smart routing multi-chain aggregator that solves the problem of fragmented liquidity by routing fractionalized transactions toward optimal arbitrage opportunities across multiple DEXs. InifintySwap does not utilize a “lock/burn and mint” protocol. These are the most commonly used mechanisms in the space currently to bridge or swap assets across networks. These types of protocols are also the same ones that have been the targets for many of the cross-chain exploits that have plagued the industry in recent months. By removing the ‘lock/burn and mint’ mechanism involved in standard bridges and reinventing the architecture behind the way assets are bridged, our objective is to improve the security, efficiency, efficacy, and experience for end users. These architectural advantages that InfinitySwap provides are extremely important to understand when determining the problem that we are addressing and how it is different from existing solutions.

1. Given the fact that Ferrum uses a 2 way bridge LP system as opposed to the aforementioned “lock/burn and mint”, InfinitySwap lends itself very well to interoperability with non EVM compatible networks. Hence why projects like Algorand, Pocket Network and Casper have given grants to Ferrum to bridge their non EVM compatible networks with the world of solidity.

2. As a result of the aforementioned architectural advantages, projects building on Cardano would not need to worry about losing nuances embedded in their token contracts such as reflection (RFI), dividend, or burn mechanisms. Due to the nature of “lock and mint” bridges, standard generic open zeppelin contracts are being minted on the destination chain. This strips the bridged asset of its inherent functionalities.

3. These architectural advantages also play a major role in the security of the bridge. This article references the security measures taken along with a copy of the audit that passed with flying colors and high praises from the founder of Zokyo. In short, the fact that the bridging contract never has control over the token contract of any asset using the protocol, means that exploits involving upgradeable mint functions or large amounts of liquidity being held on the bridge cannot be carried out.

4. Our 2 way bridge LP system also allows for not only cross chain bridging of Token A on Network A for Token A on Network B but also allows for the cross chain swapping of Token A on Network A for Token B on Network B. Most interoperability protocols are simply bridges, however InfinitySwap is a multi-chain aggregator and swapping protocol that uses the APIs from DEXs on various networks, tapping into DEX liquidity to support the bridge liquidity. This will not only make assets on Cardano more composable but it will also encourage an immense amount of TVL and liquidity and add value to SundaeSwap DEX and others.

5. Finally, no other bridge on the market adds utility to the token that is being bridged. With our unique "bridge swap fee" mechanism, projects who list on our bridge can set customizable fees that are charged in their native token. Some projects choose to burn those fees thus making their asset deflationary, others choose to use it for rewards to incentivize staking or adding liquidity, others simply use it as a revenue source. These fees can be distributed via bulk multisender to as many wallets as desired.

We use an iterative and lean approach toward integration and development in general. We focus heavily on quicker deployments internally to incorporate feedback, then start detailed usability, security, functionality and reliability testing to capture any gaps in our initial approach. We quickly implement this feedback and then get the product in the hands of our customers when it passes our standards for performance and security.

Once the product is in the customer’s hands, we utilize an effective feedback loop to continuously improve our product by prioritizing the feature enhancements and bug fixes based on the priority of the feedback we are receiving.

In order to integrate with Cardano we’ll be utilizing the same principles. We will first scope out the integration, then start with a shell app version of the deployment that will explore the possibilities of the functional integration. Based on the results of this initial effort, we’ll identify high traction and demand areas to prioritize and build further into a production ready product. We will then proceed to develop and deploy the integration through our deployment cycle. Dev -> QA -> UAT -> Staging -> Launch.

We will repeat this process to integrate the rest of our product suite and future products as well.

After the integration is complete we will have a very strong go to market strategy. This will entail but is not limited to working with Market Across (top marketing/PR firm in the space), Influencer marketing, interviews, AMAs, and trading competitions using InfinitySwap.

The main risks that any interoperability protocol faces are that of security breaches. We will implement architectural and OpSec security measures to ensure the security of the protocol.

This includes: Node architecture and related infrastructure updates. For example, the signing of withdrawals is often centralized to favor speed and security. Ferrum Network is updating the Node Signing Architecture and related Infrastructure (v2.0.0) to enable decentralized Node signing. This major update will provide additional security and reliability layers while allowing stakeholders like Cardano to run Generator and Validator nodes for withdrawals. The ability for more stakeholders to run Generator and Validator nodes brings state-of-the-art decentralization to the bridge. This major upgrade will be pivotal in improving InfinitySwap's architectural security without compromising speed and maintaining the protocols reliability.

[FEASIBILITY]

Milestone #1: Scoping and Defining Resources for Cardano InfinitySwap Integration

Milestone summary / objective

• Scope out the integration of Cardano with InfinitySwap, including details about Bridge Pool setup on Cardano.
• Determine if Cardano integration can also support cross-chain DEX (via SundaeSwap or other DEXs) based liquidity options for bridge liquidity or if a 2 way liquidity pool bridge with on-bridge liquidity is the only feasible option.
• Define resources and work required to integrate and start integration.

Deliverables

• Scope document for token bridge

Both documents need to enlist the risks and potential mitigatory and contingency measures against those defined risks. This will help us with early identification of blockers and possible solutions.

Milestone #2: Build, Deploy, and Internally QA InfinitySwap Shell App

Milestone summary / objective

• Build and deploy a shell app that will allow swaps among:

1. Cardano > Ethereum
2. Cardano > BSC
3. Cardano > Polygon
4. Cardano > Avalanche
5. Cardano > Moonriver
6. Cardano > Harmony
7. Cardano > Shiden
8. Cardano > Algorand
9. Cardano > Casper
10. Cardano > Other networks if integrated prior to milestone commencement

• Integrate InfinitySwap with one of the Cardano’s compatible wallets
• Share shell app with internal QA and incorporate QA feedback

Deliverables

• UI deployment for bridge interaction
• Smart Contract Deployment of bridge
• Cardano compatible wallet integration
• Ability to run swaps among

1. Cardano > Ethereum
2. Cardano > BSC
3. Cardano > Polygon
4. Cardano > Avalanche
5. Cardano > Moonriver
6. Cardano > Harmony
7. Cardano > Shiden
8. Cardano > Algorand
9. Cardano > Casper
10. Cardano > Other networks if integrated prior to milestone commencement

• Internal QA feedback incorporation

Deadline will be 60 days after the completion of Milestone 1.

The funds from the grant will be used to fund the allocation of engineering, project management, support and executive resources to integrate InfinitySwap with Cardano over the next quarter and to support the adoption and acceleration of the evolution of this product on Cardano in the following quarters.

We feel that this is the best path forward for Ferrum to be able to justify prioritizing this integration. With a small but quickly growing team, we need to be cognizant of our backlog of items and how this affects our overall roadmap. However, a relationship that entails the aforementioned items, we believe, is crucial to the execution of our overall mission to break down barriers to mass adoption and to the overall success of Ferrum Network. On the same token, through this relationship we intend to add an immense amount of value to and aid in the expansion of Cardano!

Naiem Yeganeh, PHD - Founder, CEO and Lead DeveloperHaving worked as a software engineer at the likes of Microsoft and Amazon to leading a core machine learning team at Bloomberg, Naiem is the mastermind behind the products at Ferrum. His technical prowess has laid the foundation for Ferrum’s success.

Email: Naiem.Yeganeh@Ferrum.Network

Ian Friend, ESQ - Co-Founder and COOIan worked for many years as a lawyer before meeting Naeim in 2018 and deciding to embark on the Ferrum journey. Ian is one of the most beloved founders in the space and is the face of the company. The confidence that he has been able to instill not just in the community but also the multitude of projects that Ferrum has advised is invaluable to the success of Ferrum.

Email: Ian.Friend@Ferrum.Network

Taha Abbasi - CSOTaha has co-founded a multitude of companies including a wildly successful software development house called Web N App. Taha has worked as the CTO of multiple companies including National Geographic - Singapore and has led teams responsible for the Mars 2020 and Europa missions at NASA. Taha serves as the CSO at Ferrum and oversees the development of Ferrums wide array of products.

Email: Taha.Abbasi@Ferrum.Network

Salman Haider - Lead Blockchain ArchitectSalman has a rich-experience of 7 years working in corporate companies from being a Software Engineer to CTO. He had worked with Etisalat (Largest Telecom Network in Asia) & Avanza Innovations as a Senior Blockchain Engineer & Project Head of UAE Trade Connect (UTC - National Trade Finance Platform) and implemented the Blockchain Solutions in 13+ National Banks of UAE. (https://www.etisalatdigital.ae/en/uae-trade-connect.jsp).

He has been working in Blockchain Space for past 2 years with an in-depth and diverse experience in developing & Architecting Complex Blockchain Systems. He also teaches Blockchain Architecture at Althash University as an Associate Professor & Faculty Chair.

Salman is serving as a Senior Blockchain Architect at Ferrum & providing cross-bridging solutions for EVM to Non-EVM Compatible chains. He is currently implementing the cross-bridge for Algorand & Casper Blockchains.

Email: Salman.haider@ferrum.network

Georges Chouchani - Smart Contract and Blockchain ArchitectGeorges started his career as a Data Science engineer and database security machine learning architect. In 2017, during the Bitcoin and Ethereum surge, he got interested in decentralization and permissionless trustless transactions on deterministic state machines.

Spending day and night learning everything about blockchain and smart contracts, participating in multiple hackathons, Georges started working with different projects on the Ethereum blockchain and then moving to the Cosmos Ecosystem using Rust to build different DeFi protocol smart contracts and finding solutions for building safer and more scalable communication protocols between smart contracts. George has worked with over 10 startups and projects in the blockchain sphere.

Georges is now serving as a Smart Contract and Blockchain Engineer at Ferrum Network building Rust smart contracts for staking and cross-bridging solutions on different blockchains.

Email: georgeschouchani1@gmail.com

Nichell Logue - EVP OperationsNichell served as both a Project Manager and ultimately a Team Leader at CSC for over a decade before joining as the EVP of Ops at Ferrum. CSC ​​is the world’s leading provider of business, legal, tax, and digital brand services to companies around the globe. At Ferrum, Nichell plays an integral role in ensuring the internal operations of the company are running smoothly. She’s a genius in terms of creating SoPs for the otherwise overwhelming amount of moving pieces at the company and also heads up our HR department.

Email: Nichell.Logue@Ferrum.Network

Nick Odio - EVP Partnerships and GrowthNick is a serial networker. From being heavily involved in the music industry, working with Grammy award winning artists, to leading field operations divisions for companies, Nick has extensive experience in areas related to strategic partnerships and relationship management, as well as strategic initiatives.

Nick.Odio@Ferrum.Network

[AUDITABILITY]

We use SCRUM tactics and run 2 week sprints. We will provide Catalyst with a open sourced Jira board to track the progress of each task and epic.

Ferrum Network vows to provide Progress Updates to the Foundation every month to any of the information provided above:

• Progress reports: detailing how our project is advancing, including any deviation from the initial plan or if you expect such deviations in the future.

• Financial reports: expenses and other items related to the use of our budget, including any deviation from the initial plan or any expected deviations.

This project will not be considered a success until the product is deployed to production and we are seeing substantial transaction volumes and assets listed on the aggregator. We want people to be talking about this product on all mediums!

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