A standard for token verification

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

On most DEXes on Cardano, everybody can list their tokens and create liquidity pools without additional registration. In general, we want to keep the opportunity to trade open for everyone, allowing for greater flexibility and decentralization. However, we have to be careful as this also poses the risk of fake projects going unnoticed.

At MuesliSwap we have started a process where projects register to get verified. During the verification process, we check whether the policy-id of a project is legit and also displayed on the website of a project. Additionally, we require projects to publicly display certain information like a token description and tokenomics/distribution.

Verification is not a gateway to being tradeable via MuesliSwap. A non-verified token is simply per-default marked as such, but may still be traded. Having no visual warning about the state of a token can only be achieved by becoming manually verified. Scam tokens may be additionally tagged in extreme cases. This protects our users from fake projects and also ensures that everybody can easily verify the policyID themselves. 

We would like to extend our current approach by establishing a verification standard, that can be accessed and used by all projects building on Cardano. 

In detail, we will create and maintain a website with a transparent verification process.

Projects can submit their tokens to be verified, while developers and users can browse the website or use the corresponding API endpoints.

The project will result in a consistent API that may be used by developers of DApps and end-users alike to check for flagged, verified, or unknown tokens.

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

Having a token verification standard that is accessible by everybody leads to more security and greater trust in projects that are submitted to the verification process. We have received overwhelming feedback from our own users regarding this service and want to extend it to other platforms. We are confident that this will be a valuable service to the whole community of users and developers.

[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 verification process, we have in place has already been successful itself, we are confident that we will be able to extend it to the degree described in the proposal. The main risk is low adoption. We will mitigate this by using the reach of our own community and our inclusion in the Cardano DeFi Alliance to popularize the usage of the service. Also we will not encounter any budget problems as any extra costs will be covered by the MuesliSwap team. As we have a big development team we will also not encounter any risks like development staff leaving the team. 

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

Development: (1 month)

Community Outreach, spreading awareness: (2 Weeks)

Maintenance: (Open end)

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

Development: (100 hours, 10000 USD)

• server setup
• development, UX
• API endpoints

Community outreach, marketing: (25 hours, 2000 USD)

Maintenance: (Open end, 10000 USD)

• Verifying projects
• Availability

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

The MuesliSwap development team will work on this project. The MuesliSwap development team currently consists of 9 developers with experience in different fields from which most are long-standing Cardano community members. With Muesliswap being the first major DAapp launching in November 2021 the team has gained a lot of experience in developing on Cardano.

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

We are not planning to return for further funding in a later round for that specific project. The remaining costs of maintaining the service are planned to be covered by the MuesliSwap team and a small verification fee of 50 ADA.

[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 progress will be verifiable on the website itself and shared via our social media channels.

As the repository behind the verification will be open-source, anyone can track the order and content of the verification database and verify that submissions are processed correctly.

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

This project is successful whenever it allows somebody to verify a token, increasing the trust in projects on Cardano.

We are confident that this will be a great service for the community and hope that it establishes a new security standard and more awareness of fake projects in general.

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

No