Please describe your proposed solution.
For the Cardano Network to reach it's potential as a functional payment rail system it needs to leverage layer 2 solutions. Without this the blockchain will be over-loaded with only a small population that wishes to use it as a financial settlement layer. One such solution is Hydra, and more development for specific use cases is necessary.
First we propose that we contract Sundae and Yepple Labs to create a point of sale application that allows holders of ADA to engage in transactions using Hydra nodes. While in development MAV100 will develop additional relationships with event venues and businesses that the growing community of ADA users in our pilot region have access to. The community will be educated on how to implement these Point of Sale tools from both the buyer and seller side. All transactions through the hydra nodes can be tracked showing-casing different metrics.
How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?
Hydra is one of the major tools that will bring scalability to the Cardano blockchain.
We will be taking this theoretical blockchain tool and show-case its implementation in the real world. By empowering multiple businesses to utilize Hydra backed Point of Sale software during high volume events we can test this technology in stages, gathering critical data for the entire Cardano community.
The testing of this open-sourced tooling will give other developers shoulders to stand on in creating and refining these products. It will also give a verifiable demonstration of ADA acting as a currency within a community.
We have multiple businesses interested in testing this technology first-hand already in our pilot region. We have several individual events already planned where it can be tested after development is completed in 3-5 months post funding. There are also several on-going use-cases that will be tested. Examples of both scenarios are local blue-grass festivals, county fairs, local grocery stores, and state park concessions. All of these provide potential for continuous use as well as instances where load should spike on holidays, giving us a variety of testing scenarios.
How do you intend to measure the success of your project?
Describe, and where possible measure, the project’s benefits for the Cardano ecosystem, and why the measures are realistic in your opinion.
Measuring the success of the project will involve tracking different metrics. Performance on-chain (does it help reduce transaction fees and increase through-put), security, and user satisfaction. All of these can be monitored and improved within the scope of this project by the proposers using on-chain data and will be presented on our website to the community.
How will the innovation affect Cardano’s productivity and growth, in both the short and the long term?
Development of fast payment rails on the Cardano Blockchain will have dramatic implications for adoption, and should improve productivity and growth for the entire ecosystem. Developing open source tools that people in any region can build upon will be an incredible way to help spur that adoption. In MAV100's pilot region of Chelan County, WA, we have a solid testing ground where we have both a broad community earning Cardano Native tokens, as well as business venues that are interested in Point of Sale applications that can service these holders.
Currently there are 17,500+ students earning ADA through Associated Student Body Clubs in 5 school districts throughout Chelan County. By early next year ASB Clubs will have built up enough ADA rewards to use for a variety of applications. One will be testing events where students going on field trips to different venues can spend that ADA using this Point of Sale system. Students in different districts all attend similar events throughout the year, including the Waterville Fair, the Wenatchee Wild farm league hockey games, local museums, ect… Any of these venues could run this Point of Sale Dapp and give students the opportunity to use their ADA to improve the Cardano ecosystem.
Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?
After the 12 month period is complete and we have several successful tests of the application we will be making the project open source over the following 12 months. MAV100 plans to have additional chapters growing in Alabama, Oregon, Mississippi, Idaho, New York, Florida, California and anywhere else (international interest is welcome!) there is interest during this period, so there will be new regions to start bringing this Point of Sale application.
After testing we expect to continue working with Sundae Labs to refine the system, adding other Cardano Native Tokens to ADA as potential currencies. Our communities will be generating WMT, COPI, and potentially BOOK as well so these are all potential tokens that can be accepted at different venues.