Please describe your proposed solution.

By creating a Tor hidden service endpoint for Blockfrost, we'll be making a significant contribution to the Cardano community. This solution will provide an additional layer of privacy and security for users who wish to interact with the Cardano blockchain via the Blockfrost API.

The Tor network allows users to access online services anonymously. With this proposed setup, users can connect to the Blockfrost API without revealing their real IP address, thereby avoiding potential surveillance or censorship. This would be especially beneficial in regions where blockchain services are restricted or where users wish to keep their interactions private.

Moreover, by using Tor, we'll also be adding an extra layer of security. Tor's design ensures that the traffic to and from the user is encrypted in multiple layers, making it significantly harder for any potential eavesdroppers to access user data.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The impact on the Cardano ecosystem is substantial. By offering a more secure and private way to interact with the Cardano blockchain, we can expect a wider adoption of the Blockfrost API. This, in turn, can lead to more robust applications and services being developed on the Cardano platform, fostering a more private, secure, and inclusive ecosystem. This will likely inspire confidence among users and developers alike, thus further promoting the use and development of the Cardano blockchain.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

Measuring the success of a privacy-focused project such as ours can indeed be challenging due to the very nature of the privacy we aim to promote. However, there are some methods we can utilize that don't compromise our users' anonymity.

One way we can gauge success is by monitoring the usage of our Tor gateway. We can track the number of connections or requests made to the Blockfrost API through our Tor hidden service. An increase in these numbers over time could indicate growing usage and, by extension, success.

Finally, the adoption rate of new applications and services developed on the Cardano platform that make use of our Tor hidden service can serve as an indirect indicator of our project's success. Increased adoption could suggest developers and users alike find value in the added privacy and security our service provides.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

We are going to share it using the usual Catalyst reporting, but also our own Catalyst portal at catalyst.fivebinaries.com where we provide regular updates about all our Catalyst projects.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

We are one of the most trusted entities in the Cardano ecosystem. We are best known for developing Blockfrost.io, a service that provides developers with an API to interact with Cardano blockchain.

In addition to more than 30 successful Catalyst proposals over the past two years, we’ve also integrated Cardano into a digital wallet application developed by one of the industry's top hardware wallet manufacturers.

Further adding to our portfolio, we have developed a unique solution for safeguarding and preserving the digital representation of Cardano NFTs by providing secure, global and long-lasting cold storage backups - Continuity Token.

We have also set up Tor hidden services in the past and we have a good understanding of the service.

With a skilled team of blockchain enthusiasts and experts, Five Binaries is committed to making the Cardano blockchain more accessible and secure for developers and users alike.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Our main goal is to establish a Tor hidden service endpoint for Blockfrost to enhance privacy and security for users interacting with the Cardano blockchain.

To validate the feasibility of our approach, we will conduct extensive technical testing after implementation. This ensures the Tor service is functioning as expected, routing requests properly to the Blockfrost API, and providing the intended layer of encryption and security.

Further validation will come from monitoring the usage data of our Tor gateway. Despite the challenge of promoting privacy, an increase in connections or requests made to the Blockfrost API through our Tor hidden service would signify user adoption and the successful implementation of our approach.

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

We have all the necessary components ready, as we were thinking about providing this for some time, the deployment of it will take less than two weeks.

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

There are two milestones:

1. Deploy the Tor gateway solution
2. Monitor its performance monthly

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

3000 EUR initial deployment that will be the cost of DevOps and then 1500 EUR a month for the service, which includes the servers, maintenance and monitoring.

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

All development work outlined in this proposal will be covered by our existing Blockfrost team. Our team has extensive experience with Cardano blockchain and deep understanding of the platform. We don't foresee the need for any additional recruitment as we are confident in our team's capabilities to execute the tasks efficiently and effectively.

<https://github.com/blockfrost>

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

Despite the groundbreaking potential of Cardano, it is currently lagging behind some other blockchains in terms of privacy features. This project addresses this shortfall by providing an enhanced level of privacy for users accessing the data on the Cardano blockchain.

The value of increased privacy and security is significant. Not only does it give users peace of mind, but it also paves the way for developers to create more secure applications and services on the Cardano platform. This will contribute to Cardano's overall growth and popularity, providing excellent value for money over the long term.