Please describe your proposed solution

For merchants to successfully adopt Cardano Lightning (CL) payments, they need an easy way to integrate CL into their existing business operations. Many merchants, both online and physical, are non-technical users. They need an accessible interface and automation to handle tasks such as invoicing, channel management, and payment tracking, without requiring expertise in blockchain technology.

The core problem we're addressing is the gap between the technical complexity of blockchain payments and the ease of use that merchants need. Merchants require a payment solution that aligns with their day-to-day operations—automated invoicing, simple payment management, and integration with existing business tools such as e-commerce systems.

We’re approaching this challenge by developing a lightweight Cardano Lightning node specifically tailored for merchants and service providers. Our focus is on simplifying every aspect of the merchant experience, from the initial deployment of the node to daily financial operations.

The key features that drive our approach are:

• Dedicated Cardano Lightning Node for Merchants: We are building a dedicated Cardano Lightning node tailored specifically for merchants and service providers. This node will focus on providing lightweight, merchant-centric features, simplifying operations like invoicing, payment notifications, and channel management.

• Simple but User-Friendly Web Administrative Panel: This UI is connected to the node which we build allows merchants to view and manage payment channels, issue invoices, and select from various payment gateways

• Modular Integration and Deployment: Our node will offer flexibility in how merchants deploy and integrate it. Full integration with a Cardano blockchain node is optional, allowing for lighter deployments that can connect through third-party blockchain services

• Developer-Friendly SDKs: Our TypeScript SDKs will make integrating CL into existing e-commerce platforms easy. The SDK will provide APIs for managing channels, generating invoices, and receiving payment updates, meaning developers can easily extend their current platforms to include crypto payments.

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

The Cardano Lightning Merchant Node and SDK aims to provide a streamlined and user-friendly way for merchants to accept and manage payments through the Cardano ecosystem. By making crypto payments more accessible, this proposal directly supports the adoption of Cardano in real-world commerce, thereby contributing to the sustainable growth of the ecosystem.

Our goal is to facilitate the integration of Cardano payments into existing businesses, allowing merchants of all sizes to add a powerful new payment method without technical hurdles. This, in turn, will drive usage of ADA, enhance liquidity in the ecosystem, and help position Cardano as a viable platform for everyday transactions.

Key Outcomes

• Empowering Merchant Adoption: By providing a dedicated Cardano Lightning node tailored for merchants, we enable non-technical business owners to incorporate ADA as a payment method. This drives ADA adoption at the grassroots level, fostering a robust merchant network that will support the Cardano economy's growth and stability.

• Lowering Barriers for Entry: Our solution makes it easy for merchants to get started without needing deep technical knowledge or significant infrastructure investments. This means even small businesses, both physical and online, can participate in the Cardano Lightning ecosystem, expanding the reach of cryptocurrency to new demographics.

• Impact on Cardano's Sustainable Growth: Merchant adoption is a crucial component of a thriving blockchain economy. Each new merchant that joins the network adds to its utility, strengthens liquidity, and encourages more consumer engagement.

Measuring Impact

• Quantitative Metrics:

• Deployment Metrics: The number of deployments without a full Cardano node vs. those with a full node will provide insight into the effectiveness of our flexible, lightweight approach.

• Transaction Volumes and Frequency: We will measure both the total value and frequency of transactions processed by our solution. A steady increase in volume will indicate growing trust and comfort with the solution.

• Qualitative Impact:

• Merchant Feedback and Case Studies: Gathering testimonials and detailed feedback from merchants using our solution will allow us to understand their experiences, highlight success stories, and identify areas for improvement.

• Ease of Integration: Feedback from developers integrating the TypeScript SDK will help us assess how well our APIs and documentation serve the community, focusing on whether the integration process is smooth and effe

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Capability

We are experienced team of Cardano developers (please check team information for more details).

We are are already working on the concept phase proposal for Cardano Lightning. This MVP proposal is a natural continuation of the above concept phase which will turn part of the design into the code.

We were experimenting with L2's on our own before as well:

• Dominic Algernon Wallis already prototyped in Aiken subbit.xyz which is related to this design phase but an independent micropayments proposal.

• Tomasz Rybarczyk is a core maintainer of Marlowe and a CIP contributor. Designed a micropayments capability in the context of Marlowe - the implementation is in the Marlowe Roadmap.

Development process will be public and open-source

Both the output and the development process will be public and open-source. This approach provides an easy way for the Catalyst team and the Cardano community to evaluate the progress at each step of the process.

We will form a working group around the idea and facilitate the discussion so everything will be transparent and easy to track on our pages: <https://github.com/cardano-lightning> and <https://cardano-lightning.org>

What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1: Research and Design

a. Milestone Outputs:

• Understand a variety of different merchant business opertaions and work flows, particularly with respect to payment solutions.
• Explore what attributes of a payment system are important to them, and collect feedback on pros and cons of existing solutions.

b. Acceptance Criteria:

• Write-up of interview with multiple merchants.
• A MoSCoW requirements document for Stratus, so that it can fit into and extend existing merchant work flows

c. Evidence of Completion:

• Report and design documentation available on GitHub under CL project organization: <https://github.com/cardano-lightning/>

Milestone 2: Node Implementation

a. Milestone Outputs:

• L1 abstraction layer that makes the Cardano full node optional.
• Core node functionality established, including invoicing (on-demand/recurring) and payment notifications.

b. Acceptance Criteria:

• On-demand and recurring invoices can be generated and tracked.
• Payment notifications triggered upon invoice settlement.
• Cardano Node abstraction working, with integration of third-party blockchain entry points.

c. Evidence of Completion:

• Implementation and documentation available on GitHub under CL project organization: <https://github.com/cardano-lightning/>

Milestone 3: Administrative Panel Development

a. Milestone Outputs:

• Web-based administrative panel allowing non-technical merchants to manage channels and invoices.
• Payment gateway selection integrated, including registry of supported gateways based on static registry.

b. Acceptance Criteria:

• User interface for channel and invoice management is functional.
• Merchants can view invoice statuses and history through the panel.
• Payment gateways can be selected from a static registry in the UI.

c. Evidence of Completion:

• Implementation and documentation available on GitHub under CL project organization: <https://github.com/cardano-lightning/>
• Deployment of the node on the testing infrastructure with admin panel accessible to the public.

Milestone 4: SDK Development (TypeScript API Client)

a. Milestone Outputs:

• TypeScript SDK with API clients for payment integration.
• Channel lifecycle management API and hooks for payment notifications.

b. Acceptance Criteria:

• The SDK supports channel lifecycle operations, including opening, monitoring, and closing.
• Webhooks or similar mechanisms are available to notify merchants of payment status changes.

c. Evidence of Completion:

• Published TypeScript SDK with installation instructions on GitHub under CL project organization: <https://github.com/cardano-lightning/>
• Sample integration demonstrating API use for channel management and payment notifications.

Final Milestone: Deployment Packaging

a. Milestone Outputs:

• Deployment packages for Debian-based systems, static Linux binaries, and NixOS module.
• Final close-out report
• Final closeout video

b. Acceptance Criteria:

• Node software can be deployed on target systems using provided packages.
• Final closeout report is publicly available
• Final closeout video is publicly available

c. Evidence of Completion:

• Implementation and documentation available on GitHub under CL project organization: <https://github.com/cardano-lightning/>
• Packages and binaries available for download and installation.
• Link to final closeout report
• Link to final closeout video

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Tomasz Rybarczyk

• Professional experience:
• Nearly 20 years of coding and software design.
• Tons of open source.
• Cardano experience: ~3 years
• Member of Marlowe Team
• Profiles:
• Github Profile
• LinkedIn Profile

Dominic Algernon Wallis

• Professional experience:
• Phd in geometric topology. Former Data scientist/ ML eng.
• 10 years in software development.
• Cardano experience: ~3 years
• Runs artisan dapp dev house, Kompact.io
• Profiles:
• Github Profile
• LinkedIn Profile

Nicolas Henin (Consultant/Reviewer)

• Professional experience:
• 15 years in software development.
• North American Start-ups operating in Health/Wearable, Ad and Fin Tech industry.
• Cardano experience: More than 3 years
• Delivered on Cardano Mainnet: ICO Mechanism, an audited Smart Contract for World Mobile
• Member of Marlowe Team
• Profiles:
• Github Profile
• LinkedIn Profile
• Core Maintainer of Marlowe

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

M1: 15 days

M2: 20 days

M3: 12 days

M4: 15 days

M5: 5 days

Contingency: 7 days

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Total: 75 days

Cost per day: 1875₳ (3.33 Ada / $) ~ 570$

Total: 75 * 1875₳ = 150000₳

No dependencies

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

This proposal represents exceptional value for the Cardano ecosystem by transforming the foundational design work of Cardano Lightning into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), ensuring practical implementation based on validated concepts. By investing in the development of a dedicated merchant-focused Cardano Lightning node, we are directly supporting the adoption of ADA for real-world transactions, which is crucial for expanding the utility of Cardano.

This team's collective experience includes previous work on core Cardano projects, such as Marlowe, and they are already actively engaged in the concept phase of the Cardano Lightning project (Phase 1), which has laid the groundwork for this proposal. This proposal is the natural continuation of that work, leveraging the knowledge gained during the concept phase to develop a functional MVP. This means that our team can hit the ground running, with no need for ramp-up time.

The costings reflect standard rates for skilled blockchain developers and network engineers in Europe, ensuring that funds are allocated to experts capable of executing according to the plan. Stratus will deliver significant long-term value through reusable, scalable infrastructure designed for Cardano’s continued growth and integration into real-world financial networks.