Cardano/Ethereum NFT Ecosystems Map

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

An open source, interactive, planetair-based map of key projects in the Ethereum and Cardano NFT Ecosystems, and corresponding research report on related and unique projects in both ecosystems. 

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

This Proposal is a Collaboration between ArgusNFT, Catalyst Swarm, Fluid7, AIM & the NFT Guild which combine their skills, knowledge, resources and Capacities for this project

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

This Proposal is a partner proposal of the Catalyst Swarm Ecosystem Map, but will build that effort by developing a map of the NFT Ecosystems of both Cardano & Ethereum, along with a corresponding research report to complement this NFT ecosystem map.

The Cardano & Ethereum ecosystems are rapidly growing and as new projects and groups emerge it becomes increasingly difficult to have an overview of the NFT landscape on either blockchain, let alone both.

A lack of awareness of the scope of this landscape leads to the following problems:

1. Suboptimal levels of innovation. To build something truly groundbreaking, it’s extremely helpful to have a broad view of the most influential projects in an ecosystem, as well as cutting-edge projects are being developed and have been developed.
2. Unnecessary tribalism and ignorance about opportunities for cross-chain collaboration.
3. Malinvestment in projects on the assumption they’re innovative, unique, or a team is highly qualified, when in some cases they’re just marketing as original the idea of an innovative project.

To contribute a solution to these problems, we want to facilitate and increase interactions & awareness of each other’s NFT Ecosystems by providing a user-friendly visualisation of the Cardano & Ethereum NFT Ecosystems via a planetair based & interactive map. And to lend additional context and information to this ecosystem map, we’ll publish a summary report of our research into the similarities, differences, strengths and opportunities between both ecosystems.

As committed Community members, we’ve already started to finalize the first PoC of our envisioned map. 

The PoC can be found here https://swarmlab2.gitlab.io/ecosystem-map/

The Poc was developed by Giovanni (ArgusNFT), Felix, (Catalyst swarm) & Jonathan Adjei (Fluid 7). We now expand the Team & Capacity around the Ethereum NFT Ecosystem Map  

We’ve been able to pay for the development of the PoC by the Catalyst Swarm Fund, as the budget was quite acceptable for the first PoC. However, we don't have financial resources available to pay developers & research for further work, therefore we ask the Community to fund our initiative and to allow us to build the map out :)

Our map has a high focus on Visualisation & interaction, we want to design a new and unique experience to explore the NFT Ecosystem on Ethereum. And the report with the map’s design in mind, in a way that will complement the map for those who want more in-depth information

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

With the Ecosystem Map we’ll help projects, people and communities from both Ethereum & Cardano quickly navigate the landscape of key projects and innovative developments. 

The research report will highlight where one or the other ecosystem is excelling, and creators on both sides working on complementary and synergistic ideas, to show possibilities for creative collaboration and cross-chain community building.

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

The primary risk of the map and report not having the intended impact in the community is a lack of awareness of the Ecosystem Map to the Ethereum & Cardano NFT Communities.

Additionally, we ourselves could be unaware of some of the most remarkable projects, platforms and communities in these ecosystems.  

To mitigate the first risk, we’ve included a dedicated Media & Marketing Budget to this Proposal which will allow us to pay for needed support to spread the word & awareness of the Map.

And to mitigate the second risk, we’ve included a significant research budget, as much of time spent on the project will be spent in research - as well as an Ethereum community outreach budget so a member of our team (who is a veteran community and social media manager in the Ethereum NFT space) can do outreach and crowdsource community opinion so to get as good a selection of projects, platforms, etc. in our map (and report) as possible.

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

Q2 2022

Initiate a first Project Team & Collaboration - Done

With Giovanni ( ArgusNFT ), Jonathan Adjei ( Fluid7 ) & Felix Weber ( Catalyst Swarm )

Create first Project Structure on Gitlab - done

https://gitlab.com/swarmlab2 

Create a first PoC Ecosystem Map - done

https://swarmlab2.gitlab.io/ecosystem-map/ 

Setup Project Management Structure on Swarm Dework & Discord - done

https://app.dework.xyz/catalyst-swarm/swarmlabs-ecosyste 

( Executing Team has own private channels on the Catalyst Swarm Discord Server )

Expand the Team & find collaborators - done

AIM & Handshake joined the Project

Submit & Formulate a Proposal for Project Catalyst Fund 9 to enable resources for further development - Done XD

>> Ideascale link <<

Q3 2022

• Begin Research & analytics on the Ethereum NFT Ecosystem
• Begin Research and community outreach for Cardano NFT Ecosystem
• Identify NFT Categories & Clusters in the current Ethereum NFT Ecosystem

Q4 2022

• Ongoing Research to categorize, structure and map the NFT Ecosystem
• Completion of Research Report
• Initiating first PoC of the ETH NFT Ecosystem
• Integration - Setup Automated processes for any projects to join the map
• Integration - Hover Menu
• Integration - expand node 
• example: https://vasturiano.github.io/3d-force-graph/example/expandable-nodes/ 
• Integration - Large 4x map
• example: https://vasturiano.github.io/3d-force-graph/example/large-graph/ 
• Integration - Colour highlighted Categories

Q1 2023

• Release of the first version of the Cardano and Ethereum NFT Ecosystems map based on proper research and development. (The V1 envisions to provide a framework and process by which market stakeholers can register additional Projects to the map and to grow & extend the map’s size.)
• Simultaneous Release of Ethereum and Cardano NFT Ecosystems research report.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

Project Management - $3,600

90 hours over 4 months (40 usd per hour) 

NFT Community Outreach - $4,200

Cardano Outreach - 25 hours (40 usd per hour) 

Ethereum Outreach - 80 hours (40 usd per hour) 

Research - $6,000

Cardano Research - 40 hours (50 usd per hour)

Ethereum Research - 80 hours (50 usd per hour) 

Report Writing - 60 hours (50 usd per hour) - $3,000

Development - $17,500

1 Full-time developer, 7 weeks (62.50 usd per hour)

Treasury Management - $1,600

1 Person, 40 hours (40 usd per hour) 

Media & Marketing - $4,000

Create one demo video

Social Media Marketing (50 hrs. over 4 months @ $50/hr.)

AuraDB Hosting - $1,000

Cloud hosting (250 usd per month for 4 months)

Total Budget: $40,900

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

ArgusNFT - Management, Development, Coding, Ecosystems Research

Catalyst Swarm - Coordinations, Community Engagement, Cardano Ecosystem Research

Giovanni - Co Founder & CTO at ArgusNFT - Senior Software Engineer - DevOps Advocate, Plutus Pioneer and Stake Pool Operator (EASY1 Pool). 

Anthony - Co Founder & CBDO at ArgusNFT - NFT ecosystem researcher and writer. Anthony has extensive experience researching blockchain ecosystem projects, particularly in the NFT space, and many years professional writing experience.

Natasha - Social Media Management / Community Engagement ArgusNFT - Natasha has an MBA in management, and has been a social media manager for several Ethereum NFT projects where she focuses on community building via Twitter and Twitter Spaces.  

Jonathan Adjei - Director at Fluid7

Jonathan Adjei is a Catalyst Community ( OG ) Member since early Catalyst days and director at Fluid7, very engaged at Catalyst Swarm & Gimbalabs and helps this Project to have a clear and strong project management on place

NewMindflow - NFT Guild

NewMindflow ( Annamaria & Rares ) - Deep knowledge of and network in the Cardano NFT ecosystem, including innovative projects and platforms. Founding members of the NFT Guild.

Felix Weber - somehow lead at Catalyst Swarm

Felix is the guy who brings the network and the glue to the project, making sure everyone has everything needed to successfully collaborate for the Proposals successful execution.

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

If this proposal becomes a success, we will most likely return to a future Catalyst Funding Round to enable resources for further development & improvement of the developed ecosystem map. If the map and report are widely appreciated by the community, additional work could entail updates to the Cardano and Ethereum ecosystem map and report, and the incorporation of additional NFT ecosystems into the map and report.

[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?

The development of the Ecosystem Map is fully open sourced, hosted on the SwarmLabs Gitlab. https://gitlab.com/swarmlab2 

The research report is published and used to market the Ecosystem Map (and the Map also links to the report).

The Project Management will be tracked via Dework & Discord Integration on the Catalyst Swarm Discord & Dework Server

Dework: https://app.dework.xyz/i/0m6XgGE7wrVTyzZcV2Q6oR 

Discord: 

All transactions & payments are fully tracked and documented via the Catalyst Swarm Treasury & accounting system on Discord & Github. 

https://discord.gg/6jk8mVuYqA 

Social media marketing and community engagement efforts are tracked to gauge effectiveness of marketing and engagement strategies, as well as community interest in the tool and report. 

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

We'll consider this project a success when a well established and developed, open source Ethereum/Cardano NFT Ecosystem map is launched, and the corresponding research report is published, and both are accessible and widely known by thousands of market participants in both NFT ecosystems.

[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 a new proposal.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

SDG rating SDG # 9: "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation."

Target 9.1 is: "Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans-border infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and fair access for all"

Target 9.5 - "Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending."