Please describe your proposed solution.
“We don’t have great NFT related interfaces yet - and this is an area where Catalyst can step in” Charles Hoskinson, Town Hall, 1st June 2022.
- Provide further use cases & utility to NFTs on Cardano
- Create an NFT Farming Platform that allows Tangent / Kwrtz & more NFTs to be staked alongside other traditional DeFi assets such as liquidity pool tokens (Stage 1)
- Create permissionless staking contracts that support NFTs and tokens from other Cardano projects (Stage 2)
- Provide a platform for project owners and developers to create configurable farms where users can stake LP tokens & NFTs to receive rewards (Stage 2)
- Provide an aesthetically pleasing interface / gallery where users can view their staked NFTs in 3-D (Stage 1)
- Harness the power of Cardano and its low fees to scale on-chain NFT Farming
Tangent’s mission is to merge art with finance on the Cardano Network by focusing on the development of NFTs and their applications within finance and gaming. Tangent will be the radical art project built on the Cardano blockchain that provides permissionless DeFi-as-a-Service (DaaS) staking and farming functionality to NFTs.
Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
We have developed in collaboration with a leading Japanese bohemian digital artist, NFTs that on one level are collectible digital art pieces but on another level form parts of smart contracts that can be utilized within decentralized finance. This is why we coined the phrase, operative artwork, to describe our novel approach to NFTs which can also perform functions within smart contracts used in decentralized finance applications.
The first operative artwork pieces to be released, the Tangent x Kwrtz Genesis Edition NFTs, will not only be aesthetically pleasing & in honor of the Cardano network but also packed full of programmable financial utility and other benefits to reward early adopters. Operative artworks can be staked alongside other assets within Liquidity Mining and Yield Farming Pools to generate passive income for investors. Operative artworks can also be locked into NFT Farming Pools to earn more rewards or lent out to other users in return for a fixed fee.
Finally we will open source the smart contracts behind our platform and make them permissionless so that anyone from the Cardano community can use the platform to create configurable NFT farms for their own communities to stake LP tokens & NFTs to receive rewards. In this regard we will have a large impact on the NFT & DeFi Cardano scene because we will create a platform that explores a new innovative concept (NFT farming) and also provides permissionless DeFi-as-a-Service that anyone can use.
What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
Below we have created a ‘’risk register’’ incorporating both product & project management components; areas which could delay or affect project completion and on time delivery:
Scope / Budget
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Risk: Our ambitions as a team are too challenging
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Solution: Breaking down our plan / roadmap into 2 x 3 month phases will allow for suitable completion & execution of tasks with evidence of progress shown to the community
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Risk: Our budget does not suffice
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Solution: Our budget has been split into phases with successful F9 funding to allow for the first 3-4months of project development.
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Risk: Scope change affecting competition
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Solution: Clear roles and responsibilities for each staff member (see team information section) plus the addition of 1-2 more developers will mitigate time creep within the organization and should allow for proposed time frames to be achieved.
Product/ Market Fit
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Risk: Other organisations having done this before
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Solution: Our NFT farming project is niche to Cardano as far as we are aware and believe it aligns with the Cardano communities plan / direction - to bring utility to the CNFT space. There have been a number of NFT Farming projects building on Ethereum (Axie Infinity, Superfarm etc.) and Binance Smart Chain (MOBOX, Bunicorn etc.).
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Risk: Decline in industry NFT sales
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Solution: A change in market sentiment towards NFTs sales and utility would not affect the completion and implementation of our project as we believe in giving alternative utility to NFTs other than just the art / collectable value
Technical Complexity
- Risk: At the time of proposal, a possible lack of pre-existing libraries and audited open source, farming smart contracts means a lot of the code will have to be created from scratch.
- Solution: With our current experience team plus another 1-2 coders, this shall be achieved internally. Furthermore liaising, collaborating, sharing ideas with the Catalyst community including experienced Cardano developers, can only contribute to the successful creation of our Farming platform in a timely manner. Ninh Tran from the Snapbrillia team has offered to connect and assist us in the coming weeks in regards to recommending experienced coders to help us build our NFT Farm. We will certainly interview a number of candidates from a variety of backgrounds
Team Resources/ Replacements/ Incentives
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Risk: The team falls out and the project isn't funded
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Solution: Our current core team have worked together for over 3 years across a variety of smaller projects. Tangent has enough funds (raised from a private friends and family seed sale) to cover the salaries of our current team up until the beginning of phase 2 of farming development. The co-founders do not take a salary.
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Risk: Developers loose drive to complete whilst the project is underway
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Solution: We incentivise our developers with a sizeable native token % allocation which is agreed to be released in a timeline shared with each individual developer.
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Risk: Developer does not pull their weight
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Solution: If a developer does not fulfil their role as agreed in their contract, such person shall be replaced with a suitably competent alternative in a swift and timely manner.
Competitors/ Go-to-Market Strategy
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Risk: Competitor gets to market first
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Solution: As mentioned we see very little competition in regards to other projects who plan to create an NFT staking platform on Cardano, other than an organization which has recently added it to their proposal and who are applying for funding in F9 also. Furthermore with our prior experience coding NFT farms on other chains, we feel we have a headstart
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Risk: Engagement from the community is lacking
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Solution: Our GTM strategy is in its infancy but as the project progresses we have a suitable budget set aside for promotion across a variety of channels. Furthermore we are, and will continue to be very active within IOHK’s Catalyst programme and have applied to host a breakdown room before the end of June. We will be committed to raising the profile of Tangent organically, with gaining the trust of the Cardano community at the forefront.
Regulatory/ Legal Factors Preventing Go-To-Market
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Risk: Regulatory issues within certain jurisdictions
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Solution: We are fortunate to have Alexis Golding on our team. She is our legal and compliance advisor who has done and will continue to guide us whilst our farm is in creation. Different jurisdictions will require different regulatory considerations.
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Risk: Regulatory guidelines change whilst the project is being built
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Solution: As phase 2 of development commences we will take an up-to-date assessment of key jurisdictions for which our staking platform could be legally promoted in and launched. Currently there are no clear-cut regulatory concerns that would in effect limit us from implementing our project in the team's planned target markets. However, as required Alexis will support us with the drafting of regulatory documents thereafter.
Audits
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Risk: The code is not properly tested before launch
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Solution: When creating new code to be used in decentralized finance, it is important to ensure it is audited thoroughly before being deployed on mainnet. Our audit will be conducted by CertiK during the first month of phase 2 development, allowing for any recommendation to be implemented in a timely manner. The audit will consist of a full security package to include: an overall security score, team verification and most importantly full audit of the Cardano NFT farming contract.
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Risk: Audits can be very expensive and run over budget
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Solution: Quotes have been generated and costs will be spread across the 2 x stages of application. Any shortfalls shall be covered by Tangent funds