Since the last report, we have deployed various additional carbon tokens on testnet, and extended the code base to include much richer functionality, added to the educational material and concluded extensive research into existing tokens on ERC-20 that could be converted to Cardano. We have also done a lot of financial modelling on existing carbon token data to better understand price dynamics.

As the MARLOWE OPEN TOOLS & USE CASES Challenge Setting unfortunately did not get funded for Fund-10, we will encourage Pioneers and interested proposers to collaborate using financial applications from two working references, Dynamic Hedging: Managing Vanilla and Exotic Options by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives by John C. Hull, to create use cases for DeFi from Marlowe financial primitives to working on-chain financial contracts complete with examples, Github gists and Blockly. I am also working on shorter video content for contracts such as call spreads, barrier options and condors to demonstrate yield generating DeFi use cases that go beyond the current DeFi applications like yield farming and stablecoins. In a new video, a Marlowe angle on blockchain protocols that initially launched as "oracles" and have since rebranded as "betting", such as Augur, is introduced to propose business ideas around "futures on outcomes".

Slight delay in the voting and results for Fund-9 but now anticipating next Monday to have the results. In case the challenge setting for Fund-9 Marlowe Open Tools & Use Cases gets funded the project will cover mentorship and resources for proposers wishing to use Marlowe and submit in this category as well. Otherwise, services will launch around the time Fund-9 results are now expected or a little later to organically grow the Telegram for this purpose. Since last report created two more videos about TradFi financial "primitives" and their implementation as Blockly and Marlowe, with the idea of a parallel track developing between Gists / Templates / Best Practice publication and more philosophical musings on the future of DeFi alongside the Mentorship series. In the meantime, the Marlowe team has launched an amazing looking new Website and GIFs about use cases and I hope to follow suit with something of my own.

In case the challenge setting for Fund-9 with the title MARLOWE OPEN TOOLS & USE CASES gets funded the project will cover mentorship and resources for proposers wishing to use Marlowe and submit in this category as well. Otherwise, services will launch around the time Fund-9 results are now expected or a little later to organically grow the Telegram for this purpose.

https://marlowe.world/

Currently doing the Marlowe Pioneer Program and Mock Incubator. Monthly video launches starting end of June (last week of each calendar month). KPI Check-ins after 3 months = last week August 2022, 6 months = last week November 2022, 9 months = last week January 2023, 12 months = last week April 2023.

There are considerable synergies with proposals 800062 and 800063 that we will address in reporting from July 24th using Jira going forward (open source license for BlockCarbon foundation).

Potentially challenging factors to take note of: #1 DeFi Total Value Locked has fallen over 50% from its peak (https://defillama.com/) as trust in stablecoins has been eroded since the last reporting period with the failure of Terra. This is potentially good for Cardano projects to make inroads in "DeFi dominance" vs ERC-20 carbon tokens, but also could be a headwind for future token issuance. #2 Over the last two periods - as mentioned in the last report - there has been intensive press coverage of carbon credits on the blockchain and the voluntary carbon market in particular (FT, Bloomberg, The Economist and others). The consensus is that low-quality projects from old vintages make up the bulk of trading volume and current "sweeping the floor" practices may not help the price but instead dilute the value of carbon credit benchmarks. This presents a chance for BlockCarbon and Cardano to "set things right" but also might require more detailed documentation to potential token investors. #3 The upcoming Vasil hardfork requires a review of how tokens interact with smart contracts. Similar to #1 and #2, this will improve the protocol and the quality of our product, but requires more work.

This is the first time that funded proposers have to submit a monthly report prior to initial funding batch. I have created social media channels and reserved a web domain, enrolled int the Marlowe Pioneers Program and finished the preliminary reading resources. Excited to get started!

After the initial two months since funding spent mainly on research and development, we will now enter the phase of the roadmap where we will have much stronger engagement with the community, other players in the carbon space, and academia, with the goal of launching the first BlockCarbon token towards the end of the second quarter.

We have seen a lot of interest for the BlockCarbon token launch, but also a large number of carbon-related tokens newly launched or in the pipeline by other projects. To increase the impact and ensure the high quality of our product, we have proposed new projects for Fund-8 on catalyst. One of them is a carbon marketplace and exchange (https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/398034) and the other an ERC-20 Converter for carbon tokens (https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/398046). This is in line with the outlook already provided for Fund-7 (https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/381939).