MultiSwap (X-Chain Swaps by Ferrum)

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

MultiSwap reimagines architectural & OpSec best practices, providing the fastest, most secure & feature complete solution on the market while encouraging TVL across Cardano native DeFi protocols.

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

With over 100 partners & an additional 200 clients, Ferrum has proven to be one of the most trusted & reputable Blockchain as a Service companies in the space. We've built & deployed about a dozen products & are regarded as a reliable & timely tech provider by those we work with.

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

MultiSwap is a smart routing multi-chain aggregator and cross-chain swapping platform that solves the problem of fragmented liquidity by routing fractionalized transactions toward optimal arbitrage opportunities across multiple DEXs.

Problems with the existing infrastructure and why MultiSwap is needed

MultiSwap 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 MultiSwap provides are extremely important to understand when determining the problem that we are addressing and how it is different from existing solutions.

Benefits of MultiSwap

1.) Given the fact that Ferrum uses a 2 way bridge LP system as opposed to the aforementioned “lock/burn and mint”, our product lends itself very well to interoperability with eUTXO compatible network

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 mechanism

3.) These architectural advantages also play a major role in the security of the product. 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 our product 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 protocol 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. MultiSwap a multi-chain swapping protocol that uses the APIs from DEXs and taps into DEX liquidity to support the volume being transacted across the protocol. This will not only make assets on Cardano more composable but it will also encourage an immense amount of TVL and liquidity on protocols such as SundaeSwap and others.

5.) Wrapped tokens are subject to the same tax regulations as other cryptocurrencies. One of the main advantages of multi-chain infrastructure as opposed to cross-chain is the tax compliant nature of maintaining record of an asset's native state across networks. By removing the wrapper function inherent in most “burn/lock and mint” protocols, MultiSwap creates a less stressful experience for end users by reducing friction from a taxation and compliance perspective.

6.) Finally, no other interoperability protocol on the market adds utility to the token that is being bridged or swapped. With our unique "bridge swap fee" mechanism, projects who list on our aggregator 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.

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

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.

Research and Development

TARGET MARKET

The first iteration of MultiSwap is used by a global audience who is interested in the "multi-chain future" that Vitalik speaks of. We believe that the next iteration will be used by anyone who uses decentralized protocols as it creates a seamless user experience thus effortlessly bringing value to the Stellar ecosystem.

Not only does MultiSwap appeal to end users but it appeals to projects and companies building dApps and smart contracts across a variety of sectors within the blockchain space. Any and every project can benefit immensely from MultiSwap.

REVENUE MODEL

Revenue is generated on a per swap basis. The way that Ferrum benefits from this is by adding utility to the FRM token. FRM will be used as a routing token. This will encourage projects to add liquidity to any DEX that they are live on using FRM as the paired token. This will reduce fees for their users.

On top of that, a small transaction fee will be charged, in FRM, to those who utilize the protocol. This will likely be less than 1% and will be distributed through a tax distributor to Ferrum.

If projects wish to have their own bridge pool, it will drastically reduce fees for their community. They may do so but this requires technical debt from Ferrum's side and will come with a price tag of around 20k. However, projects who deploy their own bridge pools will have the ability to share in the swap fees that occur in their token.

PRICING STRATEGY

We will go to market with the pricing structure outlined above. However, these models are subject to change iteratively after collecting and analyzing data as it pertains to volume, users, maintenance, and project clients.

For example, we originally started with a 2% transaction fee with the first iteration of MultiSwap, the Ferrum Cross Chain Token Bridge. That fee seemed to be too high for users so we reduced it to 0.5%. From that point on, usage on the bridge spiked drastically. Most of the $139 million in transacted volume occurred after this change was made. Since the launch of our first product in 2018 we have found success with the iterative approach to implementing a pricing, revenue, and feature development strategy. We closely follow the principle of the “build measure feedback” loop and realize that the first strategy may not be the right one. We are quick to adapt to change and always value data driven feedback from users.

The main goal here is to remain as the most inexpensive option for users as other multi-chain aggregators start to deploy.

SALES FORECAST

With over 200 paying B2B clients, Ferrum has had unparalleled success with our products to date. The first iteration of MultiSwap already has over a dozen dApps each of whom paid $30k to be featured on the protocol. Networks pay upwards of 300k USD to be integrated.

We anticipate transaction fees to reach well into 6 figures annually. This revenue goes toward Ferrum reserves and can be allocated to community members in the form of rewards thus increasing the utility of FRM.

Additionally, we anticipate that the revenue generated from dApps and networks to integrate will be well into 7 figures. This revenue is meant to increase the effectiveness and overall reach of MultiSwap.

INDUSTRY AND MARKET RESEARCH

As of October 2021, the Total Value Locked (TVL) in cross-chain bridging contracts exceeded 22 billion. This number was an increase of over 48% in just that month alone. Its important to note that this number is only reflective of bridges - the ability to bridge asset A on chain X for asset A on chain Y. When bridges evolve to multi-chain aggregators like MultiSwap, and the ability to swap asset A on chain X for asset B on chain Y, we anticipate the TVL of multi-chain protocols to increase dramatically when this functionality becomes reality.

Explain the total size and trends of your industry (is it growing or shrinking?), and target market (what share is realistic for you to obtain?), either through primary market research (information you gather yourself) and/or secondary market research (information from sources such as trade organizations and journals, magazines and newspapers, Census data and demographic profiles).

OPPORTUNITIES 

Wrapped tokens are subject to the same tax regulations as other cryptocurrencies. While this can be one of the biggest threats to other interoperability protocols on the market one of the main opportunities for us as multi-chain infrastructure as opposed to cross-chain is the tax compliant nature of maintaining record of an asset's native state across networks. By removing the wrapper function inherent in most “burn/lock and mint” protocols, MultiSwap creates a less stressful experience for end users by reducing friction from a taxation and compliance perspective.

COMPETITION 

Router Protocol - Router is one of the leading competitors when it comes to cross-chain aggregators. While their architecture isn’t as sound as Ferrum’s, they have received funding from Coinbase Ventures and other tier 1 VCs.

MultiChain - Multichain, previously AnySwap, is a pioneer in bridging technology. While they do not have swapping functionality, it seems to be on their radar. Regardless, they have a strong presence in the bridging sector that we’d like to take market share from as well.

Celr - Celr is similar to AnySwap in regards to ease of use and market share. They also have an incredible team capable of implementing multi-chain aggregation.

Rango Exchange - Rango is a project to keep an eye on. They raised just a small amount of funding but they are quite ambitious as they share the same goals of pushing beyond bridging and enabling cross-chain swapping. That being said, they do not offer eUTXO compatible support as of yet.

RESOURCES AND RELATIONSHIPS

Ferrum boasts a robust network of partners, clients and incubated projects across a wide array of sectors within the blockchain industry. These various entities make up the Ferrum Ecosystem – also known as the Iron Alliance!

Here you’ll find testimonials and a long list of high caliber projects who have been by Ferrum’s side throughout our journey.

We’ve never seen so much widespread attention being paid by all the major L1s to a single product. This alone is extremely validating that we’re on the right track to achieve Interoperability 2.0. With relationships and support from the likes of Avalanche, Polygon, Algorand, Harmony, Pocket Network, Moonriver, Casper, Shiden, Velas, Fuse and others, MultiSwap is poised to become the most interoperable protocol on the market and will surely add value to any network who decides to integrate with it.

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

Risks

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 that can be found here. For example, the signing of withdrawals is often centralized to favor speed and security. Ferrum Network has updated our Node Signing Architecture and related Infrastructure (v2.0.0) to enable decentralized Node signing. This major update has provided 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 MultiSwap. This major upgrade will be pivotal in improving MultiSwap's architectural security without compromising speed and maintaining the protocols reliability.

Another threat that Ferrum’s MultiSwap faces is somebody replicating the idea of 2 way Bridge pools as opposed to the default mechanism most prevalent in the market currently - the “Lock and Mint” protocol. 

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

Milestones

Milestone #1:

Milestone Title:

Scoping and Defining Resources for Cardano Aggregator Integration

Milestone summary / objective:

Duration: 20 Days

- Scope out the integration of Cardano with the aggregator, including details about Bridge Pool setup on Cardano. (7 days)

- Determine if Cardano integration can also support multi-chain DEX based liquidity option for bridge liquidity or if a 2 way liquidity pool bridge with on-bridge liquidity is the only feasible option. (7 days)

- Define resources and work required to integrate and start integration. (6 days)

At the completion of this milestone, we will be requesting payment for upcoming milestones to cover resource allocation and development cost.

Deliverables:

- Scope document for aggregator

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:

Milestone Title:

Build, Deploy, and Internally QA Bridging Shell App

Milestone summary / objective:

Duration: 75 Days

- Build and deploy a shell app that will allow swaps among: (35 days)

1. Cardano <> Ethereum

2. Cardano <> BSC

3. Cardano <> Polygon

4. Cardano <> Avalanche

5. Cardano <> Moonriver

6. Cardano <> Harmony

7. Cardano <> Shiden

8. Cardano <> Other networks if integrated prior to milestone commencement

- Integrate aggregator with one of the Cardano’s compatible wallets (30 days)

- Share Bridging shell app with internal QA and incorporate QA feedback (10 days)

Deliverables:

- UI deployment for aggregator interaction

- Smart Contract Deployment of aggregator

- 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 <> Other networks if integrated prior to milestone commencement

- Internal QA feedback incorporation

Milestone #3:

Milestone Title:

Testing by Catalyst and Audit Submission

Milestone summary / objective:

Duration: 30 Days

- Share tech with Catalyst for testing and incorporate their feedback. (5 days)

- Share smart contract with auditing firm in parallel to above step (Same 5 days)

- Catalyst team will test the aggregator and provide their feedback / report bugs (if any). The feedback provided by Catalyst will be reviewed by Ferrum team. Ferrum team will implement the mutually agreed upon feedback and share the product with Catalyst to approve and sign off the milestone. (25 days)

Deliverables:

- Catalyst provides feedback

- Ferrum incorporates the mutually agreed upon feedback provided by Catalyst

- Catalyst signs off on shell app post their feedback incorporation

- Submission of smart contracts to a third party auditing firm

Milestone #4:

Milestone Title:

Multi-Chain Aggregator Mainnet deployment, testing and incorporation of final feedback 

Milestone summary / objective:

Duration: 35 Days

- Deploy on mainnet (5 days)

- Incorporate audit feedback if audit is completed (10 days)

- Conduct internal testing (5 days)

- Share the product with Catalyst and incorporate the final feedback (15 days)

Deliverables:

-Ability to conduct swaps across below networks with Cardano:

1. Cardano <> Ethereum

2. Cardano <> BSC

3. Cardano<> Polygon

4. Cardano <> Avalanche

5. Cardano <> Moonriver

6. Cardano <> Harmony

7. Cardano <> Shiden

8. Cardano <> Other networks if integrated prior to milestone commencement

- Able to add/remove liquidity on all networks

- FOUNATIONNAME signs off on mainnet testing

Milestone #5:

Milestone Title:

Incorporate audit feedback and launch - MultiSwap

Milestone summary / objective:

Duration: 20 Days

- Incorporate final audit feedback provided by a third party (15 days)

- Launching the product on production mainnet (5 days)

Deliverables:

- Sign-off on audit completion by the third party auditor

- Launch on production mainnet

- Product is live and available to users to swap tokens

Marketing and Sales

Articles

At Ferrum, we believe that content is king. That’s why we will prepare a set of highly informative and engaging articles outlining the problems MultiSwap is solving. These articles will be the base of all of the next marketing and lead gen activities and they will focus on educating and inspiring our users and clients.

PR and Influencer Campaigns

We will run PR campaigns with our external agency to send out press releases and publish educational and technical content about MultiSwap on different crypto news sites. We're currently working with Twitter and YouTube Influencers that will promote InifnitySwap to their audiences. These campaigns will build up momentum for InfintySwap within a broader crypto community.

YouTube & Podcast Series

Before and after the launch of the InifnitySwap, we will record a selection of videos explaining the product and the way it works. We then turn the videos into standalone podcast episodes for our series “Crypto at the Ferrum Roundtable” - these episodes are available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more. Our podcast series has proven to be one of the best ways to grow our community and userbase organically. 

Social Media & Lead Generation

We will also be utilizing all of our social media and community platforms to generate interest and promote MultiSwap. These include our following on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Telegram, and Discord. This will be key to building engagement and hype within our community. We will also automate the lead generation process by optimizing Linkedin Sales Navigator and tools such as MeetAlfred to reach out to the highest quality of prospects, directing them to our MultiSwap demo calls.

Email Automation

On our Hubspot CMS, we will set up automated workflows with emails that will be regularly sent out to our vast database of email addresses and previously generated leads before and after the launch of MultiSwap. These emails will consist of both written and video content that will educate and build interest amongst our users. 

AMA Sessions

Ferrum will also dedicate an AMA session on our Discord Server to answer all MultiSwap questions the community might have - and we will also turn this into a YouTube video and an episode of our podcast. 

Website Promo

We will develop an updated landing page for MultiSwap on our website with the main call to action on the homepage to go and participate in the launch of our new product. On this page, users will be able to find all relevant articles, videos, and information regarding MultiSwap.

We will turn each of these individual pieces of MultiSwap promotional content into announcements for Telegram and Discord.

Sales Team

We have a team of around 5 sales and product representatives whose core responsibility is ensuring the usage of our products. They focus on inbound and outbound lead generation, integration consulting, and general support for projects leveraging our technology.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

The funds from the grant will be used to fund the allocation of engineering, project management, support and executive resources to integrate MultiSwap 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!

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

Naiem Yeganeh, PHD - Founder, CEO and Lead Developer 

Having 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 COO

Ian 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 - CSO

Taha 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 Ferrum's wide array of products.

Email: Taha.Abbasi@Ferrum.Network

Salman Haider - Lead Blockchain Architect

Salman 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 the 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.

Email: Salman.haider@ferrum.network

Nichell Logue - EVP Operations

Nichell 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 Growth

Nick 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

The rest of the incredible team can be found here: https://ferrum.network/about-ferrum/

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

We have previously applied for Catalyst in the past by breaking our proposal into multiple submissions. We did this to reduce the funding that would be required for that particular round. This strategy, however, proved to be rather confusing and cumbersome. Therefore, we've discussed internally and decided that the value proposition for joining the Cardano ecosystem is well worth the reduced funding and expedited timeline and have returned with a lower requirement for funding the entirety of the MultiSwap integration.

In short, no. We will not be returning for further funding as this integration will suffice for the integration of Cardano with MultiSwap.

[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?

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 Catalyst 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.

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

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!

[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.