Please describe your proposed solution.

Problem:

The Plutus platform on Cardano, while robust and innovative, does face certain challenges and limitations. Understanding these issues is key to developing solutions like HaskLedger that aims to enhance the Cardano ecosystem. Some of the notable challenges include:

• Scalability: One of the primary challenges with the Plutus platform is scalability, which is a common issue across many blockchain platforms. Scalability refers to the ability of the system to handle a growing amount of work or its potential to accommodate growth. In the context of Plutus, this means the ability to handle an increasing number of smart contracts and transactions efficiently. As the adoption of Cardano grows, the demand for higher transaction throughput becomes more pressing.

• Hardware Compatibility: Plutus smart contracts may face compatibility issues with certain Instruction Set Architectures (ISAs). This limitation can hinder the execution and deployment of these contracts on various hardware platforms, potentially restricting the use and adoption of Plutus-based applications across different devices and systems.

• Complexity in Smart Contract Development: Developing smart contracts on Plutus requires a good understanding of both Haskell (the language Plutus is based on) and blockchain technology. This complexity can be a barrier for developers who are new to the ecosystem or those who are not familiar with Haskell, potentially slowing down the development process and innovation within the Cardano ecosystem.

• Resource Efficiency: Plutus smart contracts need to be repurposed for improved resource efficiency and security-wise hardened system, micro/services , with unikernels and hypervisors ,native to nix with hard user separation and isolation of programs and services. Particularly in terms of on-chain storage and computational requirements. Inefficient contracts can lead to higher execution costs and slower transaction processing, impacting the overall dev and user experience.

• State Management and Data Handling: Managing state and data within Plutus smart contracts can be challenging, particularly when dealing with complex applications that require significant interaction with off-chain data or need to maintain a complex on-chain state. Impermanence modules of nix and git like graphs can give immutability and integrity of records , while the records of identity and action can handled with gpg keys.

• Developer Onboarding and Tooling: There's a need for more comprehensive and dev oriented development tools and resources for Plutus. This includes better documentation, debugging tools, better correctness checking, and integrated development environments (IDEs). Enhancing the developer experience can accelerate the development of applications on Cardano.

• Interoperability and Integration: Ensuring that Plutus can seamlessly interact with other systems, both within and outside the Cardano ecosystem, is important for wider adoption. This includes compatibility with other blockchains, traditional financial systems, and various data sources.

Solution:

With HaskLedger we propose a solution that specifically addresses the challenges faced by the current Plutus platform on the Cardano blockchain. Here's a concise but comprehensive explanation of how our project tackles these issues:

• Enhancing Scalability: HaskLedger aims to improve the scalability of smart contracts on Cardano by leveraging Haskell's capabilities for efficient parallel processing and optimized computation. This approach is designed to handle a higher volume of transactions and smart contracts, addressing the scalability challenge head-on.

• Resolving Hardware Compatibility Issues: By optimizing the EDSL for open-source hardware platforms like RISC-V and Pine64, Our project addresses open hardware compatibility issues of Plutus smart contracts. This ensures that the developed smart contracts can be executed and deployed on a wider range of open hardware platforms, enhancing the adaptability and reach of Cardano's blockchain applications.

• Simplifying Smart Contract Development: HaskLedger lowers the barrier to entry for developers by providing a more intuitive and user-friendly environment for writing smart contracts. This is achieved by embedding the EDSL within Haskell, allowing for a seamless integration with existing tools and frameworks, and making the development process more accessible to a broader range of developers.

• Optimizing Resource Efficiency: The project focuses on creating smart contracts that are more resource-efficient, reducing the on-chain storage, which allows structuring and processing the data in more ways and computational requirements. This optimization leads to lower execution costs and faster micro-transaction processing, improving the overall efficiency of the Cardano blockchain.

• Enhancing Security: By utilizing Haskell's strongly typed for guarantees of language and functional programming paradigm, HaskLedger enables the development of smart contracts with reduced risk of security vulnerabilities. This approach enhances the reliability and safety of the isolated applications built on Cardano's blockchain.

• Effective State Management and Data Handling: The project aims to offer sophisticated mechanisms for state management and data handling within smart contracts, overcoming some of the complexities associated with these aspects in Plutus.

• Improving Developer Onboarding and Tooling: The project aims to enrich the developer UX with better tools, documentation, and resources specifically tailored for HaskLedger. This initiative is expected to streamline the development process, making it easier for new developers to onboard and for existing developers to enhance their productivity.

• Facilitating Interoperability and Integration: Through its design, HaskLedger can potentially facilitate easier integration and interoperability with other systems and blockchains. This would broaden the scope of applications and use cases that can be developed on Cardano.

Technical Overview of HaskLedger:

• Embedded Domain-Specific Language (EDSL) Design:

• HaskLedger is designed as an embedded domain-specific language within Haskell. This approach allows us to leverage Haskell's robust functional programming features, such as strong static typing and higher-order functions, ensuring the development of secure and efficient smart contracts.

• The EDSL is tailored to align closely with the operational semantics of Cardano's blockchain, facilitating a seamless integration that enhances both the development and execution of smart contracts.

• Integration with Cardano Blockchain:

• HaskLedger smart contracts are designed to compile down to Plutus Core, the native smart contract language of Cardano. This ensures full compatibility with the existing Cardano infrastructure.

• The integration strategy focuses on interoperability and scalability, enabling HaskLedger to handle the demands of complex decentralized applications (DApps) and high transaction throughput.

• Optimization for Open-Source Hardware:

• Our EDSL is optimized for open-source hardware platforms like RISC-V and Pine64. This strategic choice broadens the hardware ecosystem for running Cardano smart contracts, moving towards a more decentralized and accessible infrastructure.

• We employ cross-compilation techniques and hardware-specific optimizations to ensure that our smart contracts can run efficiently on these platforms.

• Innovative Features and Techniques:

• Parallel Processing: Utilizing Haskell's concurrency and parallelism capabilities, we aim to improve the execution efficiency of smart contracts. This feature is crucial for DApps requiring high throughput.

• Resource-Efficient Execution: By focusing on lazy evaluation strategies and efficient memory management, HaskLedger smart contracts are designed to minimize resource consumption, leading to reduced transaction costs on the blockchain.

• Formal Verification: HaskLedger supports formal verification techniques, allowing developers to mathematically prove the correctness of their smart contracts. This is critical for ensuring the security and reliability of high-stakes financial applications.

• Development Approach:

• The approach includes various evaluation strategies, process isolation, and formal communication protocols to ensure secure and efficient smart contract development.

• The use of Qubes OS and spectrum OS for compartmentalizing different components of the EDSL system is highlighted, emphasizing security through isolation.

• Technical Choices and Trade-offs:

• The choice of Haskell and Qubes OS reflects a commitment to security by isolation and the avoidance of traditional OS vulnerabilities.

• However, these choices also impose limits on hardware compatibility and general-purpose tasks, requiring users to be familiar with Qubes OS.

• Qubes OS for P2P VM Environment

• Isolation: Uses Xen virtualization to create independent VMs, ideal for secure P2P node isolation.

• Compartmentalization: Allows separate VMs for different trust levels within the P2P network to prevent cross-compromise.

• Template VMs: Offers Template VMs for consistent and rapid deployment of P2P nodes with shared base configurations.

• Networking: Advanced network and firewall settings to fine-tune P2P communication and access controls.

• Disposable VMs: Ensures temporary tasks don't leave data residue, using one-time VMs for enhanced security.

• Privacy Integration: Supports VPNs/Tor for private and secure P2P traffic routing.

• Secure File Transfer: Facilitates safe data exchange between VMs within the P2P network.

• Hardware Controls: Provides meticulous hardware device access management, vital for sensitive P2P activities.

• NixOS and Unikernels

• Reproducibility: NixOS will ensure our builds are identical across all stages, eliminating discrepancies that often arise in traditional environments.

• Security: Unikernels will minimize the attack surface by isolating Haskell-EDSL instances, providing robust safety for each smart contract execution on Cardano.

• Resource Efficiency: Minimum process per container nature of unikernels, combined with NixOS's clean dependency management, promises a lean and cost-effective runtime environment.

• Deployment: NixOS's automation capabilities will facilitate a smooth transition from development to deployment, simplifying the delivery process.

• Immutable Infrastructure: The immutability with NixOS, alongside the secure isolation of unikernels, will collectively fortify our project's security infrastructure.

• Portability: This combination will enable the Haskell-EDSL to be hardware portable, running seamlessly across diverse environments without a full-fledged OS.

• CI/CD Integration: Integrate Nix into our CI/CD pipelines for consistent builds and testing, and to generate container images for deployment.

• Deterministic Builds: Employ Nix for Haskell package management to avoid dependency conflicts and ensure deterministic builds.

• Cross-Platform Deployment: Leverage Nix’s cross-compilation features for deploying on various architectures.

• Efficient Caching of Package Dependencies: Take advantage of Nix's build caching to speed up the development cycle, especially in CI/CD scenarios.

Here is a more simpler explanation for non-technical audience to understand our project:

• Faster Transactions: Think of Cardano as a multistory building where transactions are like people needing to move between floors. Currently, there's only one slow elevator, causing delays. Our project adds several high-speed elevators, greatly speeding up movement between floors. This means transactions on Cardano will be much faster, just like people in a building reaching their floors quicker with more efficient elevators.

• Lower Costs: If sending a package via mail suddenly required less postage because of more efficient sorting and delivery methods. Similarly, HaskLedger makes processing transactions on Cardano more efficient, which can lower the cost of executing smart contracts. This efficiency means doing things on Cardano could become cheaper for everyone.

• Enhanced Security: Consider as a highly skilled security guard who is excellent at spotting and preventing potential issues. By using advanced techniques to write and verify smart contracts, HaskLedger is like adding an extra layer of security to your transactions, ensuring that they are safe and secure.

• Ease of Use and Accessibility: Our project makes it easier for developers to create applications on Cardano. This is similar to writing in plain English instead of a complex technical language. Easier development means more and better applications on Cardano, enhancing your experience as a user.

• Wider Hardware Support: Just like some software can run on both Mac and Windows, HaskLedger is designed to work efficiently across different types of computer hardware. This broad compatibility means more flexibility and stability for the Cardano network.

• Sustainable and Future-Proof Development: Building with HaskLedger is like constructing a building with high-quality and a design that allows for easy upgrades. This approach ensures that the Cardano ecosystem remains robust and can easily adapt to future needs and technologies.

• Community and Ecosystem Growth: By making it more rewarding to develop on Cardano and enhancing its capabilities, we attract more developers and users. This growth enriches the Cardano community, leading to a diverse range of services and applications available for you.

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

Positive Impact on the Wider Cardano Community

HaskLedger project is designed to bring substantial value to the Cardano community in several key ways:

• Enhanced Scalability and Efficiency: By improving the scalability and efficiency of smart contract execution, HaskLedger will enable the Cardano blockchain to support a higher volume of transactions and more complex DApps, catering to a broader range of use cases.
• Lower Entry Barriers for Developers: The user-friendly nature of HaskLedger will lower the entry barriers for developers, encouraging more talent to build on the Cardano platform. This diversification will lead to increased innovation within the ecosystem.
• Improved Security: With a focus on robust security features, HaskLedger will contribute to a more productive and rewarding environment for developers and users alike, fostering trust in the Cardano ecosystem.
• Community Empowerment and Engagement: By involving the community in the development process, HaskLedger will foster a sense of ownership and collaboration within the Cardano ecosystem.

Measuring the Impact

The impact of the HaskLedger will be measured through both quantitative and qualitative metrics:

• Quantitative Metrics:
• Developer Adoption Rates: Track the number of developers using HaskLedger for smart contract development.
• Smart Contract Deployment: Measure the number of smart contracts deployed using HaskLedger.
• Transaction Throughput and Efficiency: Improvement in transaction speeds and resource utilization.
• Qualitative Metrics:
• Community Feedback and Satisfaction: Gather feedback from developers and users through surveys and forums.
• Innovation and Diversity of DApps: Assess the variety and innovation of DApps developed using HaskLedger

Sharing Outputs and Opportunities

• Open-Source Repository: All code and documentation will be available in an open-source repository for transparency and collaboration.
• Community Workshops and Webinars: Host regular workshops and webinars to educate and engage with the community, showcasing project developments and gathering feedback.
• Regular Updates and Reports: Provide regular updates to the community through forums, social media, and the Cardano ecosystem’s official channels.
• Collaborations with Other Projects: Actively seek collaborations within the Cardano ecosystem to integrate HaskLedger with other projects, sharing knowledge and resources.
• Educational Content and Tutorials: Develop and share educational content to empower more developers to build on Cardano using HaskLedger.

By closely monitoring these impact metrics and maintaining open channels for sharing outputs and opportunities, the HaskLedger will not only contribute significantly to the growth of the Cardano ecosystem but also ensure its ongoing alignment with the community’s needs and aspirations.

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?

Joint Statement to the Cardano Developer Community

Dear Developers,

As we continue to evolve and enhance the capabilities of the Cardano blockchain, it is imperative to acknowledge the collective efforts and individual contributions that drive this progress. In this spirit, we wish to address the ongoing development of the Plutus platform, highlighting both its current state and the future directions we are collectively pursuing.

We are reaching out to present a collaborative initiative aimed at enhancing the Cardano blockchain's solution infrastructure and the introduction of HaskLedger, A Haskell-based Embedded Domain-Specific Language (EDSL) represents a significant stride in our collective endeavor to refine the efficiency, scalability, and security of decentralized applications.

IOHK, MLabs and other prominent technical contributors, have been instrumental in enhancing the Plutus framework. Mlabs’s work on Plutarch, Plutarch v2,Embedano and various other projects has focused on optimizing Plutus Core, enabling fine-grained control for developers, and extending the reach of Cardano to embedded devices and various other features. These contributions are invaluable in improving the performance and versatility of the Cardano ecosystem.

The inception of HaskLedger is not merely a technical enhancement but a policy-driven response to the growing need for a more robust development framework. It is an embodiment of our commitment to fostering an ecosystem that is not only technologically advanced but also aligned with the principles of openness, decentralization, and community empowerment.

Policy Objectives:

- To provide a scalable and secure environment for smart contract execution on Cardano.

- To ensure open-source hardware compatibility, reducing reliance on proprietary technologies.

- To facilitate the creation of high-quality, maintainable, and reusable smart contract code.

In line with these objectives, HaskLedger is designed to integrate seamlessly with Cardano's existing systems, leveraging the functional programming paradigm intrinsic to Haskell to minimize side effects and optimize parallel processing capabilities.

Future-Proofing Cardano Development:

Looking beyond the immediate horizon, HaskLedger is envisioned to evolve, incorporating advancements in computational paradigms.

We encourage you to engage with this initiative actively. Your input, testing, and application of the HaskLedger will be critical to its success and to the continuous improvement of the Cardano ecosystem.

With anticipation of your valued participation,

**-**Team HaskLedger

Background:

Our previous work identified critical areas for improvement in the Cardano smart contract ecosystem, particularly concerning parallelization challenges, hardware compatibility, and the need for maintainable and scalable code.

Project Catalyst Fund 10 witnessed the inception of our project. Building on the foundations laid, we aim to extend our innovation in Fund 11 by enhancing features, refining security measures, and solidifying optimization for open-source hardware.

The HaskLedger group is a collaborative community focused on revolutionizing the development of smart contracts on the Cardano blockchain. This group serves as a hub for specs, documentation, innovation, and ideas, bringing together those interested in how we construct, deploy, run, and securely update smart contracts within modern blockchain ecosystems.

As we are in the early stages of formation, our group is actively exploring the challenges and opportunities in this area. Our broad scope encompasses topics such as smart contract efficiency, integration with the Cardano blockchain, optimization for open-source hardware, secure update mechanisms, and related areas. We also emphasize interoperability and the evolution of blockchain technology. As the group evolves, we will continue to expand our range of topics to stay at the forefront of blockchain innovation.

Our aim is to establish comprehensive specifications for shared concepts among all stakeholders in the Cardano ecosystem. We welcome everyone with a passion for constructive collaboration to join our discussions and contribute their unique perspectives, representing the interests and directions of their projects or organizations.

Contributing Members and Engagement

Our members include experts and enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds, including those involved in blockchain development, Haskell programming, open-source hardware, and various Cardano projects.

Engage with HaskLedger Group

Our primary platform for engagement is Github. We encourage you to visit our group’s Github discussions for ongoing conversations about the project. Feel free to share your insights or start a new discussion on any relevant topic. We appreciate keeping discussions focused and on-topic to maintain productive engagement.

Feature Ideas and Innovations

We are constantly gathering ideas for innovative features and improvements to enhance the Haskell-EDSL project, particularly concerning the low-level integration with the Cardano blockchain.

We also recognize the importance of identifying potential risks and establishing strategies for their mitigation. Here are the key risks across domains, along with our plans to manage them:

Technical Risks

• Complexity in Integration with Cardano:

• Risk: Integrating HaskLedger with the existing Cardano infrastructure may be more complex than anticipated, potentially leading to delays or performance issues.

• Mitigation: We will conduct early and continuous integration testing, collaborate closely with Cardano development teams, and engage in phased rollouts to ensure smooth integration.

• Advancements in Blockchain Technology:

• Risk: Rapid advancements in blockchain technology might render some aspects of Haskell-EDSL outdated.

• Mitigation: Establish a dedicated R&D team to stay abreast of industry trends and technological advancements, ensuring Haskell-EDSL remains up-to-date and adaptable.

Financial Risks

• Budget Overruns:

• Risk: The project could potentially exceed its budget due to unforeseen development challenges or scope changes.

• Mitigation: Implement strict budget monitoring and control mechanisms. Regular financial reviews will be conducted to identify and address any overruns early.

• Dependency on Funding Sources:

• Risk: Reliance on external funding (such as grants or community funding) could be jeopardised by changes in funding availability and policy, governance structure.

• Mitigation: Diversify funding sources, including exploring partnerships and sponsorships, to reduce dependence on a single funding stream.

• Project Delays:

• Risk: Delays in development timelines due to unforeseen technical challenges or external dependencies.

• Mitigation: Develop a realistic project timeline with buffer periods. Regularly review project progress and adjust timelines and strategies as needed.

By identifying and preparing for these risks, HaskLedger demonstrates a commitment to proactive and responsible project execution, which is essential for achieving our objectives and contributing positively to the Cardano ecosystem.

We are deeply committed to open-source principles, which are fundamental to fostering innovation, collaboration, and transparency in the development of blockchain technology.

Commitment to Open-Source Principles:

• Source Code Accessibility:
• The HaskLedger source code will be available publicly on platforms like GitHub. This openness ensures transparency and allows developers worldwide to review, use, and contribute to our project.
• Collaborative Development:
• We encourage contributions from the broader community, including code enhancements, bug fixes, and feature suggestions. This collaborative approach enriches the project with diverse perspectives and expertise.
• License and Documentation:
• HaskLedger will be released under a permissive open-source license to facilitate widespread use and adaptation. Comprehensive documentation will be provided to assist developers in understanding and utilizing the EDSL.

We are presenting a detailed roadmap that outlines our plan for development, testing, community engagement, and implementation. This roadmap is structured to ensure the project progresses efficiently and effectively, with clear goals and timelines.

Phase 1: Research and Development (R&D) (Months 1-3)

Phase 2: Prototype Development (Months 4-6)

Phase 3: Feature Expansion and Refinement (Months 7-9)

Phase 4: Beta Release and Intensive Testing (Months 10-12)

Phase 5: Final Refinement and Documentation (Months 13-15)

Phase 6: Official Launch and Post-Launch Support (Months 16-18)

The projected duration for this initiative is approximately 18 months. In Fund11, our focus will be on successfully executing the initial two phases over a period of 6 months. We will raise funds in the upcoming funding rounds based on the progress and community feedback.

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

Ecosystem Analysis, Gap Identification, and Team Assembly (Month 1)

• Objective: Conduct a thorough analysis of the existing Cardano ecosystem to identify gaps and opportunities, and assemble a dedicated project team.
• Key Activities:
• Perform a comprehensive review of existing smart contract tools and platforms within the Cardano ecosystem.
• Identify specific areas where HaskLedger can provide improvements or new capabilities.
• Assemble a team of skilled professionals, which involves vetting candidates and finalizing team composition.
• Deliverable: A detailed ecosystem analysis report outlining potential areas of improvement and innovation for HaskLedger.
• A fully assembled and ready-to-deploy project team, including roles and responsibilities outlined for each member.

>Initial Design and Framework Development (Month 2)

• Objective: Develop the foundational design and framework for HaskLedger.
• Key Activities:
• Outline the core architecture of HaskLedger.
• Begin drafting the initial design document.
• Deliverable: Initial framework and architecture design of HaskLedger.

>Design Document Completion and Expert Collaboration (Month 3)

• Objective: Finalize the preliminary design document and collaborate with experts for insights.
• Key Activities:
• Finalize and refine the HaskLedger design document.
• Hold consultations with technical experts in blockchain and Haskell.
• Deliverable: Completed preliminary design document of HaskLedger.

>Core Functionality Development (Month 4)

• Objective: Develop the core functionalities of HaskLedger.
• Key Activities:
• Start coding the basic features of HaskLedger as per the design document.
• Conduct internal reviews and iterations.
• Deliverable: Initial version of HaskLedger with core functionalities.

>Prototype Development and Internal Testing (Month 5)

• Objective: Develop a working prototype of HaskLedger
• Key Activities:
• Continue development to create a fully functional prototype.
• Begin initial testing on small-scale applications within the team.
• Deliverable: Functional prototype of HaskLedger.

>Community Engagement and Feedback Integration (Month 6)

• Objective: Engage with the developer community and gather initial feedback.
• Key Activities:
• Release the prototype to a select group of external developers for testing.
• Collect and analyze feedback.
• Start integrating feedback into the prototype.
• Deliverable: HaskLedger prototype with initial community feedback report.

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

Sameer Gupta (OPENPGP4FPR:d4b56e4d18ed5be3e4aee1cdff331a5a1a7ab372)

Has been exploring systems built with least Big Tech, both proof irrelevant and proof relevant parts in Haskell, by been constructively engaging with helpful leaders, specialists and researchers of the specifics, for progress in everyday programming , including the main proposer, many of whom have a history of helping him out in both the learning, hiring and the execution. Either some of them or the people referred by them and up to our evaluation constitutes the team.

Vinay Deva ( Cardano Community guide for Tech team)

Nizar Malangadan ( Haskell)

Fabrizio Genovese (Solidity , Cardano , EDSL)

Tikhon Jelvis ( Liquid Haskell, OO)

Shahar "Dawn" (NixOs, Agda)

Mukesh Tiwari ( Coq)

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

• Research and Understanding
• Man-hours (Research team): 45,000 ADA
• Define the EDSL and its Architecture
• Man-hours (Design team): 45,000 ADA
• Resources (Design tools, etc.): 10,000 ADA
• Develop Core EDSL Library and Compiler
• Man-hours (Development team): 90,000 ADA
• Resources (Development tools, etc.): 10,000 ADA

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

• Research and Understanding: This foundational phase requires a substantial investment in man-hours for in-depth analysis and resource gathering to establish a solid base for the project.
• Defining EDSL and Architecture: Equal importance is given to designing the architecture, ensuring that the EDSL is well-structured and aligned with the Cardano ecosystem's needs.
• Developing Core Library and Compiler: The largest portion of the budget is allocated to development, reflecting the complexity and labor required to build the core EDSL library and compiler.

This cost breakdown demonstrates a well-planned budget allocation, emphasizing the importance of human resources and technical tools necessary for the successful completion of the HaskLedger project.