BitFins Cross-Chain NFT Aquariums

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

We are designing digital aquariums that collectors can customize with their own NFTs (of any project) including from other chains. We already have support for Cardano and Ethereum NFT wallets.

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

Tyler Shavalier (Project Lead) - 12 years in graphic design & marketing

Hookman - 2 years game development, 21 years software coding experience

Brett Raymer (Marketing & Expansion) - Over 20 years in the aquarium industry, Previously COO of $10 million dollar aquarium business

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Promoting NFTS as useful rather than negative

NFTs and crypto have a widely negative view by the broader population outside of blockchain. Many projects don't inherently have a utility that can connect to the traditional world. This makes it difficult to properly educate people on the benefits so the first step is to show actual ways that NFTs can be beneficial as a form of digital assets for somebody to own.

Using digital aquariums, we are providing a fun way for people to make use of virtually any NFT that they own through a gallery style customization where even profile pictures or art pieces can be displayed in the background as your fish (digital pets) swim around them. This also allows us to branch into the aquarium hobbyist industry where there is not currently a viable virtual option for people to collect, breed, and interact with fish they enjoy. This gives value to the Cardano community that collects NFTs, other blockchains we add support for, and people outside of the crypto space all in one solution. The growth of BitFins is beneficial for both our company and the rest of the blockchain space by shining a light on the benefits of the technology to people unfamiliar with it.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

Our project, BitFins, would act as a way to connect with collectors on each chain we bridge to in order to give them exposure to Cardano and a project that is utility-based past what may exist in their own ecosystem. Each chain we implement wallet support for can unlock virtually all of those NFTs being usable on our platform for users. We can also approach prominent projects on chains such as Ethereum, Polkadot, and more to become partners where their specific projects can gain extra perks inside of the BitFins aquariums like statues, custom NFT image frames, limited edition collaboration NFT sales, etc. Our platform is currently in beta and free to use through our website. We have a webapp that works on both Mac/Windows and a downloadable app for Windows computers.

This is mutually beneficial as it exposes those communities from other chains to Cardano and vice versa, bringing a circle of engagement through valuable partnerships.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

Some of the most prominent risks to us succeeding in bridging chains with our project would come down to coding problems and funding. Paying developers can be costly if our in-house team cannot figure out the code by themselves and code on other chains can take a bit longer to interact with our systems since we started with Cardano as a base.

To circumvent the funding issue, we have designed plans that allow us to continually mint new content through NFTs for our community every few months in order to have something available that brings in funding. This coincides with also being open to collaborating with investors outside of blockchain through our aquarium industry connections where a lot of entities in that space are looking to gain entry into NFTs and crypto.

For the coding issue, we have designed our platform to essentially be able to read most standard metadata formats once we have a chain's wallet verification in place for the aquariums. For example, we can add a Polygon that can then read assets easily once we understand how their chain stores data inside of assets, allowing us to not have to make complicated adjustments for every single chain. Chains with less stringent metadata standards will likely need to be given access for more prominent projects to start and then we can scale our code over time to cover more types of metadata formats.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

1. Adding support for more Ethereum NFTs, Integrating VR functionality, Optimizing for broader PC/Mac systems (Estimated end of July 2022)
2. Finishing the main aquarium platform fully and launching our next phase of development, Integrating one more blockchain alongside Ethereum (Estimated between October-November 2022)
3. Expansion into multiple blockchains, Continual aquarium system upgrades, Promotion at large conventions both related and unrelated to crypto (2023 - Onward)

Our game dev is a part of BlockGeneration who is submitting a Fund9 proposal to build a website to generate onchain NFTs for artists. He is currently working on BitFins coding up to 20 hours a week for the platform, so they have more than half the week to allocate towards this other project since they are full-time in the crypto space working.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

Development costs and coding for the aquarium platform - $1000USD per week base rate

(Roughly $12,000 to add a new chain integration, further finish the aquarium platform and expand Ethereum support from our in-house developer over the course of 12 weeks.)

3D modeling for NFT gallery frames, statues, etc. - $300USD base rate per item

(Estimating $3000 for new frames and partnership items to pay our in-house modelers to design them)

Outsourcing development work for wallet integrations, Unity coding, etc. - $3000

(Based on standard asking rates from freelancers we have hired from Upwork for Ethereum to help code in that integration. Quality Unity developers, for example, usually ask for between $30-70USD an hour depending on their specialization.)

Marketing - $2000

(Targeted campaigning on social media and towards NFT collectors residing on chains outside of Cardano. Funds will also be used for materials to promote the aquariums at both blockchain and aquarium hobbyist conventions.)

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

Tyler (Project Lead) -

-Bachelor's degree in Communication Studies, Minor in Business Management

-Experienced in graphic design and content creation for over 10 years each

-Previously employed in financial consultancy services

Brett Raymer (Marketing & Growth) -

-Extensive network in the aquarium industry through his former business Acrylic Tank Manufacturing and his show "Tanked" on Animal Planet

-Vast experience with aquarium design and fish-keeping

-Brett speaking on BitFins at one of the largest aquarium conventions, Aquashella

Matt Hook (Game Developer & Cardano Developer) -

-Design the aquarium engine and continually update it past its final form

-Integrate the Cardano ecosystem with our Unity platform through APIs, smart contracts, etc.

(1 year of Cardano coding experience)

[Online aliases used below for personal privacy]

Shamnium (3D Modeler)

-Design 3D Environment models

-Bake textures (make usable) in our Unity aquarium system

CGFarmer (Character 3D Modeler)

-Design 3D models of creatures, plants, etc.

Adaquariums (Animator & 3D Modeler-

-Animate creatures, design 3D assets

In the future we will be looking to onboard at least 1 more person for our marketing segment and another game developer to assist with large-scale environmental designs.

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

If we are funded and see a need to pursue Catalyst funding in a later round we will look into it as an option. Our project is meant to be scaled for as long as we can so there will never be a shortage of looking to expand into other blockchains, providing more utility for the Cardano community, and bridging blockchain technology to the outside world through BitFins.

After we launch our full design, we are going to pivot into a large marketing plan to build a large presence even outside of Cardano.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

1. We have an open beta that will be actively updated. Anybody following BitFins will be able to use and test the product on their own as we release these updates.
2. We are tracking user profiles made that engage within our aquarium platform. As we enter new periods of growth we will be announcing those stats which are tracked currently through PlayFab.
3. Some upcoming collections will be targeted to collectors that are outside of the Cardano blockchain in limited releases. We will track the progress of how those collections perform outside of a base Cardano audience and share that as it becomes appropriate to do so.

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

1. Our project will be ongoing, so success will come from a user base growing over time that is genuinely interested in all of our content and updates we give them for the digital aquariums.
2. Expansion into the aquarium industry as the premier alternative to traditional aquariums for people who are interested in digital options is our ultimate goal.
3. A successful bridge to as many blockchains that support NFTs as possible and allowing those collectors to use our platform while also showing them the benefits of the Cardano ecosystem.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This is an entirely new proposal.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

Our aquariums conserve more energy than traditional aquariums and are less harsh on fish species being captured as pets from the wild. Digital aquariums will also provide for less invasions from predatory species being released into ecosystems that they should not be in.

SDG Goals

Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development