Great Impact, Great Funding

Scalability, decentralization, security and interoperability are pillars of a successful 3rd gen blockchain platform.

Quality projects will increase performance and utility of Cardano over a longer horizon. Prospects for growth and novel uses are improved.

At the end of this challenge, we will be asking ourselves:

Did we manage to make it easier for great teams to fund research and development of critical infrastructure projects for Cardano through Catalyst?

Did we manage to add more infrastructure solutions to Cardano to help it scale, interact, decentralize or perform better or safer?

Did we attract (or keep) independent, non-IOG, developer and/or research teams to work on Cardano’s key infrastructure?

This challenge is designed to provide a large budget for larger projects that can research and then deliver finalized products in a mid-term time horizon (up to 12 months) while also providing regular updates to the community along the way.

Some specific guidelines are introduced, for the submission of a proposal in this challenge:

The budget for a single proposal should not be below $200,000

Proposals should be for complete projects, with published solutions and/or deployable or usable by end users on delivery

The delivery should take place within 12 months from start of funding

As part of the proposal submission, the team must explain the expected beneficial impact of the project on the Cardano system in detail so that the proposal’s expected impact can be fully assessed

The proposing team must provide one or more ways of keeping the Cardano community (In addition to the Challenge Team) updated on progress during project implementation at least on a monthly basis with a focus on transparency

The proposing team must provide detailed references for the team and the individual members working on the proposal - thus proving relevant experience with the subject matter and that they are capable of delivering the solution

Guiding questions for proposers

• What are the key problems facing Cardano in the coming period in terms of scalability?
• What are the key problems facing Cardano in the coming period in terms of interoperability?
• What are the key problems facing Cardano in the coming period in terms of decentralization?
• What are the key problems facing Cardano in the coming period in terms of security?
• What are the best infrastructure solutions used on other ecosystems that could serve as inspiration for Cardano?

What are the bottlenecks that are already looming on the horizon that could stifle Cardano’s growth and need to be resolved and why are they urgent?

More ambitious projects with greater impact should compete for larger funding under this challenge if they can prove their proposal will have a large impact and the team has competency in the topic.

This challenge invites proposers to apply for funding for projects that tackle core issues affecting Cardano’s present and future, such as scalability, interoperability, decentralization.

The precise theme of the proposed project is free, but should comply with the challenge brief.