Please describe your proposed solution.
The cross-chain experience from a user’s perspective
Many of the proposals that address “The Great Migration” naturally focus on encouraging Ethereum-based projects to migrate to Cardano; however, NuFi’s proposal focuses on a project’s existing user base who, to engage with the project after it migrates to Cardano, must first migrate their assets then manage assets on multiple chains thereafter. If this process is not simple, a project can expect significant user drop-off along the way, making migration to Cardano less appealing.
The problem with existing solutions
The existing trustless solutions are not straightforward for non-technical users who want to migrate assets from Etheruem to Cardano. At best, users must configure Metamask to add Milkomeda sidechain’s RPC before creating a Cardano wallet and connecting two wallets to a bridge; at worst, the process involves multiple wallets, multiple bridges and a degree of technical know-how. Alongside this, there is no single entity responsible for providing start-to-finish customer support to migrators in need of help.
> We asked ourselves:
> Q: “How simple should asset migration be for non-technical users?”
> A: “A single multi-chain wallet connecting to a single bridge.”
NuFi’s solution improves the Ethereum to Cardano cross-chain experience for non-technical users by providing a single non-custodial Web3 wallet that:
> ✔️ supports the Ethereum, Milkomeda and Cardano accounts needed for asset migration;
> ✔️ connects all accounts to a bridge where assets can be migrated; and
> ✔️ allows for multi-chain asset management and multi-chain dApp connectivity.
Below is the user journey we envision, the outcomes from a non-technical user’s perspective, and the implementations needed to achieve this:
<u>User Journey Step 1</u>: Preparing accounts
- The user restores an existing Ethereum wallet into NuFi’s interface using its seed phrase or by pairing a hardware wallet; at this time, NuFi creates Milkomeda and Cardano accounts automatically for the user. Alternatively, the user may be able to import an existing Ethereum account into an existing NuFi wallet using a private key.
- Outcome 1: In under 1 minute and with a single action, the user has created all accounts needed for the migration process side by side in a single wallet interface.
- Outcome 2: The user does not need to manually configure Metamask (to support Milkomeda sidechain) nor set up a new Cardano wallet from scratch.
- Implementations needed: Ethereum blockchain and Milkomeda sidechain integrations into the NuFi wallet (NuFi already supports Cardano and we have done basic preparations for EVM chains integration).
<u>User Journey Step 2</u>: Connecting and Migrating Assets
- Using NuFi’s Chrome extension with dApp connector, the user connects the Ethereum, Milkomeda and Cardano accounts to a bridge (such as Iagon Bridge) as needed. Now connected, the user can migrate assets in two send transactions: Ethereum to Milkomeda, and Milkomeda to Cardano, bridging tokens such as USDC and USDT stablecoins, wETH, wBTC, and others. This process could be reduced to just one send transaction if Iagon AS’s Fund9 proposal is also funded (in the ‘Cross-chain Compatibility’ challenge).
- Outcome 1: With a couple of clicks, the user is able to connect all 3 accounts as needed to a single bridge to seamlessly migrate assets.
- Outcome 2: During the asset migration process, the user is able to view transaction statuses/account histories across all 3 chains from a single interface.
- Implementations needed: Develop Ethereum and Milkomeda dApp connectors for NuFi’s existing Chrome extension, and integrate NuFi with an asset bridge.
<u>User Journey Step 3</u>: Multi-chain asset management and connectivity
- After migrating their assets to Cardano, the user engages with the newly-migrated project using the NuFi wallet, and can explore all corners of the Cardano ecosystem.
- Outcome 1: The user is able to use the migrated assets to interact with the migrated project in its new environment, plus explore Cardano’s ecosystem through a non-custodial, hardware wallet-compatible interface. NuFi’s existing in-app functionality makes it possible for the user to connect to Cardano dApps (such as marketplaces, DEXes, DeFi, gaming, metaverses and more), stake $ADA (and participate in ISPOs), visually manage CNFTs in an NFT gallery, trade assets in-app using the integrated Cardano DEX and cross-chain Exchange, and purchase $ADA using card or bank transfer.
- Outcome 2: Support for Ethereum blockchain and an Ethereum dApp connector mean that a user can continue to engage with the Ethereum ecosystem and manage Ethereum assets that are not bridged without needing to switch wallets. Support for Milkomeda sidechain and a Milkomeda dApp connector allow the user to do the same in Milkomeda’s ecosystem.
- Implementations needed for Outcome 1: None (other than those already mentioned in steps 1 and 2 above). NuFi is at present a non-custodial multi-chain wallet (supporting Cardano, Solana and Flow blockchains) with a working Chrome extension and all of the in-app functionality described above.
- Implementations needed for Outcome 2: MetaMask emulation mode
- As we can’t expect many Ethereum-based dApps to support NuFi’s dApp interface initially but still want to give users a full Ethereum dApp experience, we will have a MetaMask emulation mode. If this mode is turned on, when the user tries to connect with MetaMask on Ethereum (or another EVM) blockchain, the connection will be overridden by NuFi and the dApp connection will instead be prompted through NuFi’s Chrome extension dApp connector.
Who benefits from this proposed solution?
1) Non-technical users who need to migrate assets:
Non-technical users can enjoy a cross-chain experience (e.g. asset migration) that is frictionless (because no wallets need to be configured or created manually) and seamless (because Ethereum, Milkomeda and Cardano accounts connect as needed to a single bridge using a single wallet extension).
Post-migration, these same users benefit from being able to manage multi-chain accounts/assets side by side in a single wallet capable of connecting to dApps on each of the 3 blockchains. In addition, users will also be able to connect their NuFi wallet to dApps on different blockchains at the same time without the need to switch blockchain or account in the dApp connector.
2) Projects migrating from Ethereum to Cardano:
A project that decides to migrate from Ethereum to Cardano can rest assured that even its least tech-savvy user base will be able to migrate assets to continue supporting the project post-migration.
3) NuFi:
Through integrating Ethereum blockchain, NuFi will gain the foundations necessary to add additional EVM blockchains in the future (such as Polygon, Fantom, Algorand, BSC and many others, but mainly any other EVM chain that will be built on top of Cardano); these too can integrate with the same bridge and allow for ‘EVM chain > Ethereum > Milkomeda > Cardano’ asset migration in the way described above or they can even build their own EVM chain > Cardano bridges.
Notes:
This proposal references Iagon Bridge (bridge.iagon.com) as a service with which NuFi wallet could integrate to achieve the goals outlined here. The Iagon AS team has agreed to this integration if NuFi’s proposal is funded.
Furthermore, Iagon AS has submitted a proposal in Fund9’s ‘Cross-chain Collaboration’ challenge that would significantly improve the cross-chain experience by making it possible to migrate assets from Ethereum > Milkomeda > Cardano with a single transaction.
Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
NuFi’s proposal addresses specific aims of “The Great Migration” challenge, namely:
“How might we make it easy and fast for dApps and other projects to expand or completely move from Ethereum to Cardano?”
> Asset migration is an essential part of re-deploying a project in the Cardano ecosystem; if this process is not fast and easy, we can expect significant user drop-off along the way. NuFi’s proposal improves the current solutions by reducing the number of steps, wallets and tools needed in the most frictionless manner possible: one multi-chain wallet and one bridge (e.g. Iagon Bridge).
>
> Furthermore, users who migrate to Cardano will be able to manage Ethereum accounts alongside Milkomeda and Cardano accounts for a true multi-chain experience, and connect to Ethereum, Milkomeda and Cardano dApps with a single wallet for true multi-chain connectivity; if this can be provided in the way described in this proposal, a migrator is much more likely to remain in the Cardano ecosystem.
“Many efforts are currently underway such as … Milkomeda. These projects are reaching the point where they are mature enough for people to deploy using them or build tooling for them.”
> NuFi’s proposal not only utilizes Milkomeda’s services as part of asset migration, but integrates Milkomeda sidechain into the NuFi wallet; with this, a user will be able to manage Milkomeda accounts and connect to dApps in Milkomeda’s ecosystem via NuFi.
What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
<u>Internal risks</u>:
Our team won’t be able to deliver the projects within the allocated budget.
> NuFi has its own revenue streams; if we realize that we underestimated the cost of the project, we will be able to finish the project with our own resources. This may prolong the project as our resources are thin but we can guarantee the delivery.
NuFi’s dApp connector will not be integrated with Ethereum and other EVM chains’ dApps and therefore users won’t be able to embrace the full cross-chain experience.
> We will allow users to turn on ‘MetaMask override mode’ in which NuFi’s Chrome extension will emulate MetaMask behavior, meaning users can connect to any dApp that has MetaMask integration.
The UX/UI for the multi-blockchain multi-account dApp connector will be too complicated to be used by average retail users.
> With an iterative approach to development and product design, we will be incrementally improving the UX to achieve the desired experience.
<u>External risks</u>:
Another multi-chain dApp connector wallet will integrate Cardano and make this project redundant.
> Though very unlikely due to the complexity of Cardano, competitors like Math wallet or Coin98 wallet may come to Cardano. Our mitigation strategy is to support a wide range of functionality for Cardano which will be very complicated for the competition to support (already implemented: Cardano NFT support, staking, multi-asset sending in a single transaction, Ledger and Trezor hardware wallet support).