Automatic cross-chain token bridge

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

We plan to use smart contracts to automate the token transfer process on our bridge Dapp which would allow us to cooperate with various blockchains and wallets. To be more precise, the user would only need to perform one transaction through:

• A Solidity smart contract

(In this case, the user moves tokens from Ethereum to Cardano and pays a one-time fee in ETH instead of paying fees separately on both chains. After the initial transaction from Ethereum to Milkomeda, the smart contract proceeds to the second transaction from Milkomeda to Cardano to automatically swap milko tokens for CNT tokens and cover the transaction fee with assets from the wallet coded in the smart contract.)

• A Plutus smart contract

(In this case, the user moves tokens from Cardano to Ethereum and pays a one-time fee in ADA instead of paying fees on both chains.) 

What’s more, we want to collaborate with Vacuumlabs (the NuFi wallet team) to integrate the wallet in the token bridge because they plan to make their solution compatible across chains (incl. Ethereum, Cardano, and Milkomeda). 

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

Our proposal would simplify the process of moving tokens between blockchains (from Ethereum to Cardano or vice-versa). The smart contract will retain the info regarding the first transaction (Ethereum → Milkomeda) parameters and use it to proceed with the second transaction (Milkomeda → Cardano) in the background. This should relieve users as they wouldn’t have to manually handle the transaction in the Dapps.

Besides, the Iagon bridge´s integration with NuFi will mainly improve the user experience in the following respects:

1) the cross-chain experience, namely asset migration (as NuFi intends to integrate Ethereum and Milkomeda alongside the existing Cardano integration, meaning a user can connect all 3 accounts to a bridge using a single wallet; furthermore, users can restore their existing Ethereum wallet and have the other accounts created automatically for them tied to this existing seed); and

2) multi-chain asset management thereafter (since a user will be able to manage accounts/assets for the 3 chains from NuFi's interface, plus connect to dApps in all 3 blockchain ecosystems with a single extension).

The partnership’s aim would be to integrate the wallet with our automatic bridge. This way, the bridge user would not need to switch between/connect to different crypto wallets on different blockchains.

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

Since the project’s success depends on the deployment of smart contracts, the main challenge is to deploy them effectively across various blockchains. In the case of the Cardano to Ethereum bridge, Plutus smart contracts needed to be deployed on the PAB. The compatibility and interoperability of both Solidity and Plutus smart contracts is a major concern if we are to deliver the project.

In addition, if our coding base is not properly audited (in the sense of a security audit) by a third party, we may not be able to effectively guarantee the security of all transactions and cross-chain token transfers. 

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

We have done research and pre-preparation for this project with our partners: Nomad and Milkomeda. We estimate the whole timeline to be 3 months. And the key milestones will be:

1. Automatic transferring pioneering from Ethereum → Cardano with Solidity smart contracts.
2. Automatic transferring pioneering from Cardano → Ethereum with Plutus smart contracts.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

The budget will be mainly spent on the following:

1. Paying external Solidity developers for smart contracts.
2. Paying our partners (Nomad and Milkomeda) for tech consulting.
3. Paying an external UI designer to optimize the user interface of the bridge Dapp. 

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

The project will be led by the Iagon’s head of engineering: Andrew Ong.

We will need to hire an external Solidity developer. As regards the Plutus development, we have always collaborated with Metalamp (Kirill Elizarov.)

As for the Iagon’s internal team (see who we are here: https://iagon.com/about ), we’ve got a team of Haskell developers who can work on the Cardano side smart contracts. We’ve also got a team of full-stack/frontend developers able to adjust the current manual bridge by optimizing the UI and perform tests on the testnet.

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

Yes, for audits and possibly for future additions to the bridge (if such additions are necessary). These could include solutions aimed at improving compatibility with other chains.

[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?

ThisThis project is basically a software development project with the following deliverables:

• A Solidity smart contract will be deployed on the EVM chain to automate the Ethereum <->(nomad protocol)<-> Milkomeda <->(C1)<-> Cardano transfer process.

• A Plutus smart contract will be deployed on the Cardano chain to automate the reverse transfer process.

Additionally, this product team adopts Agile methodology and conducts sprint planning for project management based on the tools from Jira boards. Besides progress reports, there will be a certain number of QA sessions for bug exploration and beta tests before the final launch. Intermediate progress will be reported as a KPI metric that shows the progress of each development sprint in percentage. project is basically a software development project with the following deliverables:

A solidity smart contract will be deployed from the EVM chain which automates the transfer from 

Ethereum <->(nomad protocol)<-> Milkomeda <->(C1)<-> Cardano

A Plutus smart contract will be deployed from the Cardano chain which automates the reverse transfer from the above. 

Additionally, this product team adopts Agile methodology and conducts sprint planning for project management based on the tools from Jira boards. Besides progress reports, there will be a certain amount of QA sessions for bug exploring and beta tests before the final launch. Intermediate progress will be reported as a KPI metric that shows the progress in percentage of each development sprint.

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

The project’s success is the release of Iagon’s token bridge with smart contracts implemented to allow the user to swap any supported ERC-20 tokens for CNT tokens in one step. This would also include simplified web3 authentication and being able to cover all transaction fees in either Ethereum or ADA, depending on the transfer’s direction.

All this would considerably improve the user experience. The transfer would be much easier to carry out and the total waiting time would be much shorter than it is at the moment (currently, the process involving two manual steps takes 60 to 90 minutes in total).

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

It is an entirely new project.