Introduction.

Minswap has established a Catalyst Selection Committee that reviews thousands of catalyst proposals each funding cycle, narrowing them down to the top 50 based on specific criteria. To further decentralize this process and enhance community involvement, we introduced a new proposal starting with Fund 12. This proposal allows any individual within the ecosystem, regardless of their activity, to be listed on the final voting list, provided their proposals meet the required standards or receive community support.

Recently, Minswap organized an engagement contest to identify the top 15 proposals, granting them entry to the final voting round by MIN holders. This contest aimed to encourage the Cardano community to engage with and support innovative projects that did not make the list through volunteer selections. Participants had the opportunity to have their proposals showcased and voted on by the broader community. For more details about the contest, please refer to the official Minswap contest tweet.

The proposal was a significant success, attracting over 170 projects and individuals from across the ecosystem. The community engagement was substantial, with over 15,527 likes, 8,866 retweets, and 2973+ comments. The formula for determining the winners also considered the cumulative volume and total value locked (TVL) of a project’s token (if applicable) on Minswap. We are pleased to present the winners of Fund 13, the top proposals that have made it to the final list further in this article.

Numbers don’t lie — % increase from F12 to F13

Total Likes: +207.95%
Total Quotes/ Reposts: +319.39%
Total Comments: +550.55%
Total TVL: +161.35%
Total Cumulative Volume: +64.12%
Our Appreciation For The Community: +Infinity%

Winners

Snek.fun v2 : Onboarding Cross-Chain Users to Cardano

• Proposer: @snek
• Score: 21.1974
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Cardano’s memecoin ecosystem is underexposed and underdeveloped, failing to attract enough new users from other chains, which limits growth and engagement within the community.
• Solution: Enhance Snekdotfun with new features and implement marketing strategies to attract users from outside Cardano, tapping into an untapped market and driving user acquisition and community engagement.

FluiDeFi — EVM/BTC wallets with any Cardano DApp

• Proposer: @FluidTokens
• Score: 6.1442
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Cardano ecosystem is offering opportunities for users, however the user base is small due to the lack of compatibility with popular wallets of EVM/BTC chains. We fix this by using plutus V3 and CIP69
• Solution: You can control a Cardano-based smart account using Bitcoin or EVM wallets, allowing any Web3 user to access Cardano without needing a new wallet, starting with FluidTokens Dapp

Freyr — Proof of Concept Pilot With Iagon Private Distributed Cloud Service and a Fortune 500 company

• Proposer: @IagonOfficial
• Score: 4.2742
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Scalability and Adoption for Iagon. Profit margins and competitive pricing for the Fortune 500 company that has zettabytes of idle, underutilized storage capacity with their enterprise users.
• Solution: Iagon Private Distributed Cloud Service (PDCS) will demonstrate a proof of concept with the Fortune 500 company for a pilot app that will be installed on the infrastructure of the company.

Iagon & Würth: Platform for Secure 3D Printing and Intellectual Property Management

• Proposer: @IagonOfficial
• Score: 4.2630
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Providing a 3D file enables unlimited prints, risking IP protection. Limited encryption and no standard formats complicate monetization and royalty tracking, with no central control for distribution.
• Solution: Iagon and Würth’s NFT-Smart Contract platform on ORSY Connect secures 3D IP with decentralized storage, automates royalties, and establishes a global marketplace for 3D printing IP and services

Book.io — Bringing Top Book Publisher to Cardano

• Proposer: @book_io
• Score: 4.0437
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: The Cardano blockchain is still awaiting a major intellectual property (IP) partner to use it as a platform for digital media. Securing this publisher would open access to over 60,000 digital assets.
• Solution: Partner with a top IP publisher, accessing 60,000 eBooks/audiobooks exclusively on Cardano, expanding global users, boosting transactions, and establishing Cardano as a leader in decentralized media.

Wider accessibility of automated P2P borrowing — Lenfi Software Development Kit (SDK)

• Proposer: @LenfiOfficial
• Score: 3.4763
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: The lack of an accessible SDK for automated P2P borrowing on Cardano hinders developers from easily creating transactions, limiting accessibility and the growth of DeFi lending platforms.
• Solution: Our solution is to develop the Lenfi SDK — a user-friendly tool that enables developers to easily create automated P2P borrowing transactions, enhancing accessibility and driving DeFi lending growth.

Lenfi Voltaire: Enable ADA Liquidity for Drep delegation

• Proposer: @LenfiOfficial
• Score: 3.3167
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: ADA locked in smart contracts can’t be delegated to a DRep without permission, meaning it can’t take part in Cardano governance.
• Solution: We will upgrade Lenfi to support permissionless ADA delegation to DRep via smart contracts. This will include integration from smart contracts to off-chain and UI.

Fanos Crypto Hub: Empowering Ethiopian Youth with Cardano

• Proposer: Fanos Crypto
• Score: 3.1047
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Ethiopian youth face limited access to blockchain education, high unemployment, and a lack of resources to develop tech skills. This gap prevents them from leveraging Web3 opportunities,
• Solution: Cardano-focused educational and innovation hub in Ethiopia, offering workshops, online courses, & community support. This will equip youth with blockchain skills, & entrepreneurship.

DexHunter One-Click Swaps

• Proposer: DexHunter
• Score: 2.8477
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: While DexHunter provides excellent UX, users still rely on external wallets for trading, which can be cumbersome and slow. We must improve the UX by allowing faster, more seamless in-platform trading.
• Solution: Adding an in-platform balance functionality to DexHunter using non-custodial SC balances will allow faster trades, reduce transaction delays, and improve the overall UX.

Anvil x Nuvola: ‘C-Hub’ — Bringing Collateralization to the Global Stage

• Proposer: Nuvola Digital
• Score: 2.6759
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Consumers that earn digital rewards are not able to realize the cash value of these rewards due to the proprietary nature of rewards programs, leaving billions in liquidity locked in an unusable state
• Solution: We propose to create a platform that would take rewards points such as airline miles, credit card points, hospitality points, etc. and turn them into an on chain reference that is saleable/tradeable

Cardano Ekub: A mobile Platform for Community Savings and Investment Pools

• Proposer: @FanosCrypto
• Score: 2.3794
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: By modernizing Ethiopia’s cherished Ekub system, we blend cultural tradition with blockchain innovation, addressing the lack of transparent, decentralized financial tools for underserved communities.
• Solution: We will create a decentralized system using Cardano to modernize Ethiopia’s Ekub system, offering secure, transparent, trustless, and global community savings with ADA and tokenized collateral.

Yepple — React/Next.js Wallet Connector for Mainstream Adoption

• Proposer: @YeppleInc
• Score: 2.2778
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: For mainstream developer adoption of Cardano, developers need a purpose-built wallet connect library available for React/Next.js, the most popular web development framework in the world.
• Solution: We will open-source a React/Next.js wallet connection library with a direct focus on developer and user experience (DX & UX) to make Cardano adoption trivial for web developers around the world.

Yepple — Token Staking API, SDK & Dashboard

• Proposer: @YeppleInc
• Score: 2.0939
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Projects with a token (CNT) have no access to a cost-effective solution for monitoring and rewarding their holders and investors, preventing economic growth with unique and diverse financial models.
• Solution: We will open source a full-stack API, SDK & Web Dashboard for generating, monitoring, and acting on token holder data, enabling secure integrations of incentives for investors throughout applications.

Farmroll Bounties: A Decentralized Social Media Rewards System

• Proposer: @farmroll_io
• Score: 1.7918
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Small projects struggle to gain affordable, authentic social media engagement. Current methods are costly and inefficient, limiting their ability to grow and reach wider audiences.
• Solution: We will create a decentralized bounty system on Farmroll, where users can offer rewards for social media engagement (for example likes, retweets etc) to boost visibility and growth for small projects.

Farmroll Accelerator: Complete Suite For Easy Token Launches On Cardano

• Proposer: @farmroll_io
• Score: 1.7521
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Token launches on the Cardano network are currently overly complex. We aim to address this challenge by creating a comprehensive launchpad suite, streamlining the process for users and projects.
• Solution: The Farmroll Launchpad will provide an all-in-one, user-friendly solution for token launches, covering social media, questing, claims/airdrops, token sales, and minting functionalities.

Conclusion

We extend our congratulations to all participants of the Minswap Catalyst Fund 13 Engagement Contest and express our gratitude for their invaluable contributions. Each proposal exemplifies the innovative spirit and potential within the Cardano community. As we progress into the final voting round, we encourage everyone to explore these projects and support those that resonate with you. Best of luck to all the finalists in the upcoming voting process! For those interested in viewing the detailed scores and understanding how the winners were calculated, you can access the contest results here.

In the dynamic landscape of DeFi, Minswap Labs continues to innovate and lead. Today, we’re thrilled to announce yet another major addition to our ecosystem: the launch of our Initial DEX Offering (IDO) platform and the launch of our LBE platform last month — that gives everyone a fair shot — to this development, and it marks a significant milestone, not just for Minswap, but for the entire Cardano community.

Reimagining Fundraising on Cardano

Our IDO platform is designed with a clear vision: to provide a transparent, efficient, and equitable fundraising mechanism for promising projects within the Cardano ecosystem.

Key Features:

1. Fixed Price Model:

• Ensures clarity and fairness for both projects and participants.
• Eliminates complex bidding processes, giving everyone an equal opportunity.

2. Smart Contract Security:

• Prioritizes the safety of funds for both projects and participants.

3. Flexible Participation:

• Participants can adjust their position at any time before an IDO concludes.
• Supports commitments in both ADA and stablecoins, enhancing accessibility.

4. Pro-rata Distribution:

• In cases of oversubscription, tokens are distributed proportionally.
• Ensures fair allocation regardless of individual investment size.

5. Seamless Integration with Minswap DEX (if the projects want):

• Leverages Minswap’s liquidity and trading features post-IDO if the project wishes to go this direction.
• Ensures a smooth transition from token IDO to active trading.

Pondora: Inaugurating Our IDO Platform

We’re excited to announce that Pondora will be the first project to launch on our IDO platform. This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to supporting innovative projects that push the boundaries of what’s possible in the blockchain space.

What is Pondora?

Pondora is a Smart Account on Cardano allowing you to interact with Cardano’s entire ecosystem in a more dynamic and fluid manner from one interface. Being marketed as an all-in-one dApp, Pondora’s key value proposition is making Cardano’s ecosystem more capital-efficient by separating one’s assets and intents.

To learn more about Pondora, check out this 𝕏 thread or their website at pondora.org.

IDO Details for Pondora:

• Start Date: 8 November 2024 12:00 PM UTC
• End Date: 10 November 12:00 PM UTC

What’s Next?

Not to mention, Pondora is the first project to launch with Minswap, certainly not the last. We have a series of several projects already lined up for just this coming month and will be announced soon.

The Future of Fundraising on Cardano

The launch of our IDO platform is a gateway to a more inclusive and efficient funding model for the Cardano ecosystem. For projects, this offers a direct line to an engaged and savvy community. For participants, it’s an opportunity to be part of the next wave of innovation at the ground floor.

We envision a future where:

1. Innovative projects thrive: By providing a direct line to an engaged and savvy community, we’re lowering the barriers for groundbreaking ideas to come to fruition.
2. Growth is community-driven : Our platform empowers the Minswap and broader Cardano community to play an active role in shaping the future of DeFi.
3. Liquidity is top-notch: Post-IDO, projects can benefit from Minswap’s advanced trading features and deep liquidity pools, ensuring a healthy trading environment from day one.
4. There is ecosystem synergy: As we continue to evolve, IDO projects will be able to leverage Minswap’s growing suite of DeFi tools and services.

As we embark on this exciting new chapter, we invite you to be part of the journey. Whether you’re a project looking to make your mark, an investor eager to support the next wave of innovation, or a community member passionate about the future of DeFi, we’re here to support you in every way.

Stay tuned for more details on IDO platform and future offerings. The future of decentralized fundraising on Cardano is here, and it’s happening on Minswap.

Together, let’s build the future of DeFi on Cardano, one block at a time.

For more information on Minswap’s IDO platform and our ongoing developments, visit our website or join our community channels. Let’s continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in DeFi, powered by Cardano and driven by our passionate community.

The Partnership

At Minswap, we’ve always prided ourselves on being at the forefront of Cardano’s DeFi revolution. With our impressive TVL of 149 million ADA and a DAO treasury of 21.4 million ADA, we’ve shown what’s possible when a community comes together around a shared vision.

Now, imagine combining our DeFi expertise with Atrium’s innovative approach to user experience and blockchain interaction. Exciting, right? Here’s what we’re working on:

1. Social DeFi: We’re integrating Atrium’s Business Profiles to create a more engaging, community-driven DeFi experience. Think challenges, unlocks, and social interactions tied directly to your DeFi activities. It’s not just about trading anymore — it’s about being part of an interactive ecosystem.
2. Staking Reinvented: Atrium’s Staking Baskets technology is ahead of the game. The ability to delegate to up to 100 stake pools simultaneously could shift how we think about staking on Cardano. We’re exploring how to leverage this to bring more value to our users and contribute to the network’s decentralization.
3. Education for All: Both Minswap and Atrium share a passion for education. Together, we’re creating resources that will make Cardano and DeFi more accessible than ever.
4. Seamless User Experience: By integrating with Atrium’s user-friendly interface, we’re making it easier than ever to access Minswap’s full suite of services. From trading to yield farming, from liquidity provision to launching your own token — everything will be just a few clicks away.

What This Means for You

This partnership is not just about tech synergies — it’s about you, our community. We’re combining Minswap’s robust, time-tested DeFi protocols with Atrium’s innovative UI/UX and social mechanics to create an experience that’s not only powerful but also enjoyable and accessible.

“This partnership represents a fusion of DeFi expertise and user-centric innovation,” said Long, co-founder of Minswap Labs. “We’re not just excited — we’re inspired by the possibilities this opens up for our users and the entire Cardano ecosystem.”

“Over the past couple of years, Minswap Labs has pushed Cardano forward by offering an accessible DEX with low slippage and high liquidity. Atrium is preparing to launch an education portal, two smart contracts, and an accessible dashboard. Shortly after mainnet launches, Atrium users will be able to trade on Minswap in their Atrium dashboard, and potentially use a Minswap Staking Basket, and follow Minswap’s Profile NFT for their latest updates,” says bigpey, Atrium Labs. “This partnership between Minswap and Âtrium was inevitable, as we are both bringing education, accessibility, and great products to Cardano”

About Atrium

Atrium is an all-in-one, user-friendly front-end interface for the Cardano blockchain. We are the entrance hallway that guides entrants with animated educational materials, connecting them to the community and industry through an interconnected profile system that weaves its way through the platform. Our groundbreaking new feature ‘Staking Baskets’ is a smart contract ecosystem that allows users to create baskets of up to 100 stake pools whilst rewarding delegates with an additional token on top. It boosts the decentralization of the Cardano network whilst offering additional staking rewards. Âtrium is bringing socials to Cardano. Anyone will be able to mint a Profile NFT that stores their user data on-chain in datums. Each of these NFTs will have a customizable web page that lives in Atrium that other Profile holders can follow. Profile owners will be able to send notifications to their followers. The Profile NFT smart contract will allow projects to better connect with their users.

Key achievements

• Our smart contracts underwent a rigorous review process during Audit by CertiK and we’re glad to say NO bugs were found.
• We also open-sourced the code for 15+ days before launch and launched a 107k ADA$ bug bounty, encouraging developers and users to inspect it thoroughly. Still no bugs were reported.
• We then decided to keep the Bug Bounty program running infinitely.
• We launched the LBE V2 on mainnet.
• We coordinated with Cardano content creators to get more visibility (see here, here and more)

KPIs

In the original Catalyst Proposal, we described two types of measures to be used to measure the success:

Quantitative Measures:

• Number of projects/tokens launched through LBE V2 in 2 weeks: As of the launch of LBE V2, in two weeks, 6 tokens have completed their LBE while 7 others are in progress (i.e., live right now).
• Total Value Locked: how much of Cardano assets liquidity is the Minswap V2 capturing across Cardano? → More than 36% of Cardano DEX TVL is on Minswap according to DeFi Llama.
• Volume: how much volume is the Minswap capturing across Cardano → Volume is similarly dominant with over 50% market dominance just by Minswap V2 and a total of 65% (DEX V1 + DEX V2) as shown here on TapTools.

Qualitative Measures:

• Composability across Cardano DeFi: how are other protocols using the Minswap LBE V2 to contribute all across the ecosystem? → so far, a total of 13 tokens have used LBE v2 successfully as you can see here.
• Liquidity raised, Wallet participation, TVL, Volume and Token performance post-LBE: the LBE V2 is still in early stages. No large Cardano project has used it yet. In current market conditions, not many new projects and tokens are launching on Cardano, but this may change quickly and so will adoption of LBE V2.

Key learnings

The goal of Launchbowl Events (or LBE) has been to provide Cardano and Cardano community with a fair means of launching tokens regardless of one’s background, status, etc in the ecosystem. We wanted to provide a platform where no frontrunning or other sorts of manipulation is possible — and we successfully did. LBE is permissionless, the fees for setting one up are minimal. It’s secure as proven by the audits and bug bounty program. It is fair as everyone gets the same time, chance to participate and also launch their tokens in the Cardano’s biggest DEX. And finally, it’s decentralized as Minswap Labs has no control over who launches what. We’re happy with what we’ve built and we’re excited for the community to make use of it.

Feedback on LBE V2

Soon after the launch, we made a tweet asking for feedback on the LBE V2. There haven't been many responses, but a piece of good feedback was to have a lightweight version for quick launches via “recommended settings” and a more customizable one via “customizable settings”.

Conclusion

We would like to thank the Cardano community for trusting their Votes in Catalyst to Minswap Labs to deliver on this Proposal. We are happy with the results, but we strive to do better with every passing day.

Key achievements

• Hosted a Mega X Spaces inviting the entire ecosystem including normal users to celebrate the launch of Minswap V2 + answer any Qs or concerns they have.
• Worked with CertiK, the industry standard audit firm, to audit the Minswap V2.
• Performed another (2nd) audit on the Minswap V2 with Anastasia Labs to make sure the code is flawless.
• Wrote an in-depth article with key informations, features and audit insights and shared it with the community.
• Open sourced the V2 code and shared it with all the Cardano community along with a Bug Bounty to compensate anyone for finding bugs.
• Collaborated with the community members to write a complete two part guide on Minswap Dynamic Fees for Minswap V2 (see here and here)
• Launched the V2 on mainnet and coordinated with Cardano content creators to get more visibility (see here, here, here, here and more)
• Launched an Incentive Program to fasten the migration from V1 to V2.

KPIs

In the original Catalyst Proposal, we described two types of measures to be used to measure the success:

Quantitative Measures:

• Total Value Locked: how much of Cardano assets liquidity is the Minswap V2 DEX capturing across Cardano? → More than 36% of Cardano DEX TVL is on Minswap according to DeFi Llama.
• Volume: how much volume is the Minswap V2 capturing across Cardano → Volume is similarly dominant with over 50% market dominance just by Minswap V2 and a total of 65% (V1 + V2) as shown here on TapTools.
• Monthly Unique Active Wallets: how many monthly unique wallets are using the Minswap V2 DEX? → Minswap had 17k active wallets as of last month.
• Throughput improvements: how does an Aiken based (Plutus V2) Smart Contract improve throughput of DeFi dApps on Cardano? → thanks to Aiken, the throughput of the Minswap V2 has improved by more than 10x. Minswap V1 had a throughput of 3 whereas Minswap V2 has a throughput of 36 orders per batch.

Qualitative Measures:

• Composability across Cardano DeFi: how are other protocols using the Minswap V2 to contribute all across the ecosystem? → so far, all the top cardano projects have liquidity pairs on Minswap V2.
• Open Source usage: how are developers finding the Aiken Minswap V2 DEX useful? → the code was open sourced along with a Bug Bounty where vulnerabilities discovered were compensated.
• User Feedback: constant feedback from the community around the throughput, features and user experience will be gathered and used for improvements → a post for sharing of feedback was shared with the community.

Key learnings

Minswap V2 had two audits to make sure the contract was ready to use and scale for masses without affecting security on any levels. As we did it, we also fixed the minor and major bugs that came along the way. We then launched the bug bounty to the public which resulted in one minor and one medium bug coming up that we fixed successfully and in a timely fashion. The numbers say a lot when it comes to the success of Minswap V2: 50% dominance in ALL over the ecosystem just by Minswap V2 and if added to the V1 part, the dominance goes to 65%. Not only this, but being the #1 dApp on Cardano as listed by DeFillama with a TVL of $50m.

Feedback on Minswap V2

3 days after the launch, we made a tweet asking for feedback on Minswap V2. the response was overwhelmingly positive, with many users highlighting they liked the sound effects and the improvement on the performance. Feedback was even integrated during a Beta Tester phase prior to launch, as can be seen in this tweet.

Conclusion

We would like to thank the Cardano community for trusting their Votes in Catalyst to Minswap Labs to deliver on this Proposal. We are happy with the results, but we strive to do better with every passing day.

Introduction

At Minswap Labs, we are unwavering in our commitment to building a secure, trustworthy, and robust DeFi ecosystem on the Cardano blockchain. As we prepare to launch Minswap LBE V2, we recognize the paramount importance of identifying and addressing potential vulnerabilities before deployment. To that end, we are inviting the global community of security researchers, white hat hackers, and developers to participate in our comprehensive Bug Bounty Program.

This initiative is a testament to our dedication to transparency, collaboration, and the highest standards of security. By leveraging the collective expertise of the Cardano developer community, we aim to fortify the Minswap LBE V2 against potential threats, ensuring the utmost protection for our users and their assets.

The Bug Bounty is starting today with the release of this article and will apply for any bug discovered prior and after deployment of the code. During this Phase, Audit Reports and Smart Contract Code will be open sourced and shared, community review and reporting of vulnerabilities will be incentivized. The Bug Bounty will last in eternity until all funds are spent, you can see the funds in this address $min.bug-bounty (includes funds from 2 prior Bug Bounties).

Eligibility Requirements and Policies

To be eligible for a reward under this Program, you must:

• Discover a previously-unreported, non-public vulnerability that is not previously known by the team and within the scope of this Program.
• Be the first to disclose the unique vulnerability in compliance with the disclosure requirements.
• Provide sufficient information to enable our engineers to reproduce the bug.
• Not exploit the vulnerability in any way, including through making it public or by obtaining a profit (other than a reward under this Program).
• Make a good faith effort to avoid privacy violations, destruction of data, interruption or degradation of any of the assets in scope.
• Not submit a vulnerability caused by an underlying issue that is the same as an issue on which a reward has been paid under this Program.
• Not engage in any unlawful conduct when disclosing the bug including through threats, demands, or any other coercive tactics.

To be eligible for a reward, you must provide:

• Short description of the vulnerability and the reproduction steps.
• Suggestions of how to fix the vulnerability.
• How to submit: The form in which vulnerabilities are to be submitted is via email to security@minswap.org. Please attach your Discord or Telegram username for Minswap Labs to reach out in case that is needed.

Classifying Vulnerabilities

Critical: any which impact many users and pose serious reputational or financial risks.

Examples:

• Theft of user funds, LP tokens, protocol NFTs and functional tokens
• Unauthorized minting of protocol NFTs or LP tokens
• Permanent freezing of funds or smart contracts
• Protocol insolvency

Reward: 30,000 ADA

Major: any which impact individual users and pose moderate reputational or financial risks.

Examples:

• Sandwich attacks
• Front-running trades

Reward: 15,000 ADA

Medium: any which don’t pose financial risk to users.

Example:

• On-chain denial-of-service

Reward: 7,500 ADA

Minor: any which do not pose immediate risk but are relevant to security best practice.

Example:

• Contract fails to deliver promised returns, but doesn’t lose value

Reward: 2,000 ADA

Bugs submitted will be sorted by severity, then by time submitted and paid top-down until out of budget (99k ADA). Bug bounties that are beyond the budget will be decided at the team’s discretion.

Assets In Scope

The assets in the list below are considered for bug bounty program rewards:

• V2 contracts Github Repo: https://github.com/minswap/minswap-lbe-v2
• Certik Audit: https://github.com/minswap/minswap-lbe-v2/blob/main/audit-report/certik-audit-report.pdf

The Bug Bounty Program will include vulnerabilities in the LBE V2 contracts in our public GitHub repository. It will not include the issues that have already been discovered in the Audit Report.

If you find any critical vulnerabilities related to other areas that are not in the scope, Minswap Labs can also consider granting a bug bounty as well. However the budget will be different from the bug bounty for LBE V2 contracts and determined by the discretion of the Minswap Labs.

Disclosure

The vulnerabilities must not be disclosed publicly or to any other entity before Minswap Labs has been notified, fixed the issue and granted permission for public disclosure. Once the vulnerabilities have been resolved, Minswap is also open to publicly recognizing the contributor if desired.

Appendix

Out of Scope Areas

The following vulnerabilities and areas that are NOT within the scope:

• Self-exploited attacks that have led to damage.
• Bugs related to interface, API, off-chain bots, infrastructure, third-party integrations or any non contract related materials.
• Breaches related to leaked keys or credentials.
• Attacks threatening privileged addresses, e. g. governance, etc.
• Phishing or social engineering attacks against the protocol’s employees or users.
• Testing through third-party applications (e.g., browser extensions) or websites (e.g., SSO, advertising, etc.).
• DDoS attacks of Dapp interface or API.
• Automated testing that generates high amounts of traffic.

Prohibited practices

The following practices are NOT permitted:

• Any testing on mainnet or public testnet deployed code; all testing should be done on local-forks of either public testnet or mainnet.
• Any testing with pricing oracles or third-party smart contracts.
• Attempting phishing or other social engineering attacks against our employees and/or customers.
• Any testing with third-party systems and applications (e.g. browser extensions) as well as websites (e.g. SSO providers, advertising networks).
• Any denial of service attacks that are executed against project assets.
• Automated testing of services that generate significant amounts of traffic.
• Public disclosure of an unpatched vulnerability in an embargoed bounty.

Conclusion

The Minswap LBE V2 Bug Bounty Program represents our unwavering commitment to building a secure, resilient, and trustworthy DeFi ecosystem on the Cardano blockchain. By leveraging the collective expertise of the global cybersecurity community, we aim to fortify our platform against potential threats, ensuring the utmost protection for our users and their assets.

We invite security researchers, white hat hackers, and developers to join us in this endeavor, contributing their skills and expertise to the advancement of DeFi security. Together, we can build a future where DeFi thrives on a foundation of trust, transparency, and robust security measures.

We look forward to your valuable contributions and thank you for your efforts in making the Minswap LBE V2 a resounding success.

Bug Bounty Findings

• Token Dust Attack on Factory UTxO: the validate_factory just checked for the presence of Factory NFT in the outputs being returned to it. This allowed the addition of dust tokens to Factory UTxOs. Depending on costing parameters, this could either make it more expensive to insert a new pool or make transaction’s execution units greater than the script execution budget, which would prevent addition of new pools. Classified as Medium Severity.
• Use of Spend Validator as Stake Validator: The vulnerability arises when a specific type of script, called a “spend” script, is used as an authorized address. This type of script is supposed to take three parameters: a datum, a redeemer, and a script context. However, the system allows “spend” scripts to be used without specifying the expected type for the datum parameter. Classified as Minor Severity.

Bug Bounty Compensation

Bug Bounty compensation was executed according to the rules laid out in the original document.

• Medium Severity vulnerability: we would like to thank Micah founder at Butane Protocol for alerting us to this vulnerability. He was compensated with 7,500 ADA. Here is the transaction ID.
• Minor Severity vulnerability: we would like to thank Micrograx developer at TxPipe for alerting us to this vulnerability. He was compensated with 2,000 ADA. Here is the transaction ID.

Closing remarks

You can find more details about the vulnerabilities and verify their fixes in the respective commit hashes by reading the Audit Report by Anastasia Labs.

Only 9,500 ADA from the 99,000 ADA allocated was spent. Minswap Labs has decided to keep the Bug Bounty program ongoing. This means that if any vulnerabilities are discovered pertaining to Minswap V2 code and follow the rules of the Bug Bounty specifications, they will be rewarded from this allocation.

We at Minswap Labs are very proud of this best principles approach prioritizing security we followed for the launch of V2. It is a testament to our dedication to transparency, collaboration, and the highest standards of security. By leveraging the collective expertise of the Cardano developer community, we aimed to fortify Minswap V2 as much as possible against potential threats, ensuring the utmost protection for our users and their assets.

Introduction

Minswap has established a Catalyst Selection Committee that reviews thousands of catalyst proposals each funding cycle, narrowing them down to the top 50 based on specific criteria. To further decentralize this process and enhance community involvement, we introduced a new proposal starting with Fund 12. This proposal allows any individual within the ecosystem, regardless of their activity, to be listed on the final voting list, provided their proposals meet the required standards or receive community support.

Recently, Minswap organized an engagement contest to identify the top 15 proposals, granting them entry to the final voting round by MIN holders. This contest aimed to encourage the Cardano community to engage with and support innovative projects that did not make the list through volunteer selections. Participants had the opportunity to have their proposals showcased and voted on by the broader community. For more details about the contest, please refer to the official Minswap contest tweet.

The proposal was a significant success, attracting over 100 projects and individuals from across the ecosystem. The community engagement was substantial, with over 5,200 likes, 2,300 retweets, and 500+ comments. The formula for determining the winners also considered the cumulative volume and total value locked (TVL) of a project’s token (if applicable) on Minswap. We are pleased to present the winners, the top proposals that have made it to the final list.

1.SNEKbot: A Telegram Trading Bot to Onboard 900M Monthly Active Users to Cardano

• Proposer: SNEK
• Score: 16.441665
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Most Cardano tokens are only tradable on DEXes and require considerable blockchain knowledge. Onboarding retail users is a long and not trivial process which slows the ecosystem adoption and growth.
• Solution: SNEK will enhance SNEKbots capabilities to enable a seamless trading experience directly through Telegram and Discord, providing the easiest and fastest onboarding process to the Cardano ecosystem.

2. Snekx: Cardano’s Best Platform to Kickstart and Promote New Communities and Digital Assets

• Proposer: SNEK
• Score: 15.752823
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Cardano lacks efficient user-friendly tools for token creators. Creators require market and blockchain knowledge. Difficulties to launch projects and reach large audiences slow the ecosystem growth.
• Solution: SNEK will create a platform that supports token creators by centralizing tools and visibility, promoting their ideas without requiring market, blockchain or coding knowledge.

3. Iagon Network Explorer V1

• Proposer: Iagon
• Score: 12.995377
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Iagon exhibits some centralized aspects, needing to add on-chain proof of data availability. Logging transactions and proofs on Cardano would lead to high volume, significant fees and chain congestion.
• Solution: Iagon will develop a node network on Substrate-parachain technology harnessing IOG’s partnerchain framework to interface with Cardano and other chains while managing Iagon’s compute intensive operations.

4. Cardano powered i-commerce

• Proposer: Clay Nation
• Score: 5.70361
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: The challenge of making Cardano commercially viable in the growing interactive-commerce (i-commerce) market.
• Solution: Establish capabilities of interactive digital commerce through an innovative, customisable web-based framework, built for Cardano integration.

5. Onboarding via physicals: Bringing first-timers to Cardano — Danketsu

• Proposer: @DanketsuNFT
• Score: 4.20027
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: It has been challenging to onboard new people onto Cardano from outside of Web 3. Without additional marketing & onboarding mechanisms towards non-crypto users, this is unlikely to change.
• Solution: By partnering with the IRC (1 of the largest global humanitarian aid organizations), [they] will improve & simplify onboarding to Cardano via phygitals & access to IRC’s vast social & financial networks.

6. Bitcoin Runes on Cardano via Rosen Bridge

• Proposer: @RosenBridge_erg
• Score: 3.582
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Cardano is well-positioned to act as the smart layer for BTC and BTC Rune holders who are looking for opportunities to leverage leading UTXO-based DeFi protocols.
• Solution: Rosen Bridge can enable BTC and BTC Runes transfers over to Cardano, enabling increased use of DeFi protocols, increased liquidity for Cardano and interoperability for the ecosystem.

7. Orcfax Explorer: Improving “Trust But Verify”

• Proposer: Orcfax
• Score: 3.228
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Users that rely on external oracle data to trigger their DeFi financial transactions need assurances that it can be trusted, but this information is difficult for a human to trace and read.
• Solution: The Orcfax Explorer allows users to “trust but verify” the oracle data that their Cardano dApps use. We will enhance it with visualizations, audit log downloads, real-time stats and incident reports.

8. Orcfax architecture audit

• Proposer: Orcfax
• Score: 3.0096
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Cardano dApps use Orcfax oracle data to trigger transactions with significant financial outcomes. Their users need assurance from a qualified auditor that Orcfax delivers authentic and accurate data.
• Solution: Orcfax will procure auditing services for its on-chain and off-chain architecture, perform fixes and enhancements as per auditor recommendations and report on the audit status and outcomes.

9. Boosting Cardano’s Share in Web3 Gaming.

• Proposer: @ChainsofWarGame
• Score: 2.7124
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: In 2023, gaming dominated blockchain activity with 34% of dapp usage and 1.1M daily users. Yet, Cardano holds almost no market share.
• Solution: This initiative aims to elevate Cardano as a key player in blockchain gaming, significantly boosting its market cap and active user wallets.

10. Anvil x Nuvola: Collateralization Hub

• Proposer: Nuvola Digital
• Score: 2.5426
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: Blockchain is currently lacking a way to collateralize rewards while they accrue. Through the use of staking and other reward distribution methods, participants are constantly in search of liquidity.
• Solution: Create a Collateralization hub, that would allow users to collateralize future rewards into on-chain proof, creating an asset that is able to unlock liquidity for the participant.

11. BIG x NMKR x yellow house: Decentralized Transfer Marketplace for Esports Players

• Proposer: NMKR
• Score: 2.4034
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: The existing infrastructure for managing player transfers and contracts in esports is fragmented and lacks transparency.
• Solution: Create a Proof-of-Concept decentralized transfer marketplace for esports players, focusing on efficient and transparent player transfers in partnership with BIG — professional Esports team.

12. Tokenization of Real World Assets (RWA) — Nairobi Securities Exchange / Empowa

• Proposer: @empowa_io
• Score: 1.6173
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: The Nairobi Securities Exchange seeks to assess the viability of blockchain technology for the creation of financial instruments to address the $2.5bn annual affordable housing finance requirement.
• Solution: The creation of RWA tokens for affordable housing, enabling capital raising, tracking cashflows, ownership and returns — expanding on the existing payments application built by Empowa on Cardano.

13. OgmiosDotnet: An Open Source .NET Client for Cardano Node Communication

• Proposer: @ItsDave_ADA
• Score: 1.2845
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: The OgmiosDotnet Client enables .NET integration with Cardano blockchain data, addressing tooling shortages and unlocking innovation. It enhances blockchain adoption across .NET-reliant industries.
• Solution: The OgmiosDotnet Client provides an easy-to-use .NET integration with Cardano, addressing tool shortages, contributing to boosting Cardano blockchain adoption and innovation in .NET industries.

14. Anastasia Labs — Midgard: Cardano Layer

• Proposer: @AnastasiaLabs
• Score: 1.2179
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: L1 congestion during project launches leads to delays, slow responsiveness, and concurrency issues, hindering DeFi strategies. Fast finalization is crucial.
• Solution: Proposing a high-throughput Cardano L2 with fast finality and relaxed SC execution constraints. Enhances scalability, speed, cost-efficiency, enables high-volume transactions without congesting the L1

15. Mercury: Financials & TB Export

• Proposer: @sheephurder2
• Score: 1.2178
• Tweet: Link
• Problem Statement: We lack enterprise-grade financial solutions in the ecosystem to allow projects and their accountants to develop and publish accurate and reliable financial statements and tokenomics reports.
• Solution: Design a tool that helps collect and process data available on the blockchain ledger into an organized structure that is compatible with ERP software and make necessary financial reports (BS and P&L).

Conclusion

We extend our congratulations to all participants of the Minswap Catalyst Fund 12 Engagement Contest and express our gratitude for their invaluable contributions. Each proposal exemplifies the innovative spirit and potential within the Cardano community. As we progress into the final voting round, we encourage everyone to explore these projects and support those that resonate with you. Best of luck to all the finalists in the upcoming voting process!

For those interested in viewing the detailed scores and understanding how the winners were calculated, you can access the contest results here and the snapshots here.

LBE V2 progress

The first Milestone included two tasks: A List comparing the LBE V1 and the LBE V2 highlighting the new features and improvements in V2 and An outline of the LBE V2 Smart Contract Architecture. These were quickly submitted.

The Milestone after that, which included finalizing the LBE V2 Smart Contract, took a little longer. But we are happy to announce today that the Smart Contract has been completed! Stay tuned for the details about the mechanisms and possibilities the LBE V2 enables.

The next step, as has been the best practices approach in the previous two Proposals, is to audit the code, open source it and the audit report, and release a Big Bounty to compensate anyone who finds bugs.

LBE V1 compared to LBE V2

We compare both models in 4 aspects:

• Decentralization: LBE V1 is not a Smart Contract and is instead managed off-chain. The Project sends Tokens to Minswap Labs, which remains in custody of them until they are distributed by participants. In the LBE V2, Minswap Labs never has custody of any tokens, instead tokens are deposited into a decentralized Smart Contract.
• Permissionless nature: LBE V1 requires active monitoring and activation of the process by Minswap Labs. LBE V2 will be able to be activated by anyone wishing to launch a token on Cardano, without the need for interaction with Minswap Labs.
• Auditability and Transparency: LBE V1 code is closed source and not auditable by the public. LBE V2 will be an open sourced Smart Contract, which the Cardano community will be able to inspect prior to launch. This leads to greater transparency.
• Adaptability: LBE V1, given its off-chain nature offers great adaptability. In order to compete with the adaptability of the LBE V1, there needs to be careful consideration and evaluation of the features of LBE V2. We expand on these further in the next section Parameters for LBE V2

CertiK Audit

CertiK was chosen for the first of the 2 audits the Minswap V2 code has undergone due to their vast experience in audits across different ecosystems, including auditing several Cardano protocols over the last 2 years.

The Minswap V2 audit by CertiK can be found here. The CertiK audit process consists of assessing and reviewing all In-Scope Source Codes, utilizing hybrid review methodology, which may include expert manual review, static analysis, and white box code review to identify syntactical, semantic, and/or logical errors in the In-Scope Source Codes. A comprehensive Audit Report delving deeper into the methodology, findings and addressing of audit findings will be shared with the community after completion.

About CertiK

CertiK is an industry pioneer in blockchain security. Securing billions of dollars in assets from the top cryptocurrencies has won them numerous prestigious grants from institutions such as the Ethereum Foundation and IBM. CertiK audit procedure goes beyond merely testing for bugs, also providing mathematical proofs that the contracts are bug-free, mitigating risks of hacks and exploits.

Key achievements

• Collaborated with Cardano media company Cardano Spot around 2 educational articles about Stableswaps (see here and here).
• Hosted a Twitter Spaces with Mehen and Indigo Labs (2 of the largest stablecoin issuers on Cardano) to discuss Stablecoins on Cardano and the Minswap Stableswap.
• Worked with TxPipe, a Cardano development company, to audit the Minswap Stableswap.
• Open sourced the Stableswap code and shared it with all the Cardano community along with a Bug Bounty to compensate anyone for finding bugs.
• Launched the Stableswap on mainnet and coordinated with Cardano content creators to get more visibility.
• Launched an ADA Incentive Program for the Stableswap to increase Liquidity and usage.

KPIs

In the initial Catalyst Proposal, we laid out a series of KPIs to measure the success of the Stableswap.

Quantitative Measures:

• Stable Assets Liquidity: how much stable assets liquidity is the Minswap Stableswap capturing across Cardano? → More than 90% of all Stable Pools Liquidity on Cardano, with the only other Stableswap Pool being on WingRiders.
• Stable Assets Volume: how much stable assets volume is the Minswap Stableswap capturing across Cardano → Volume is similarly dominant, with the only other Stableswap on Cardano WingRiders having 0$ Volume over the last 24 hours in Stableswap Pools.
• Monthly Unique Active Wallets: how many monthly unique wallets are using the Minswap Stableswap? → Minswap had 17k active wallets as of last month.
• Throughput improvements: how does an Aiken based (Plutus V2) Smart Contract improve throughput of DeFi dApps on Cardano? → thanks to Aiken, the throughput of the Minswap Stableswap is around 8 orders, even up to 12–13 orders per batch. This is a big improvement from Minswap V1 (4 orders). But it is less than the AMM V2 (28 orders) because the stableswap calculation is more complex.

Qualitative Measures:

• Composability across Cardano DeFi: how are other protocols using the Minswap Stableswap to offer new features for their users and enhance composability across the ecosystem? → so far, there has been no interoperability. We hope to change this through a Stableswap SDK for which we submitted a Catalyst Proposal for Fund 12.
• Open Source usage: how are developers finding the Aiken Minswap Stableswap useful? → the code was open sourced along with a Bug Bounty where vulnerabilities discovered were compensated.
• User Feedback: constant feedback from the community around the throughput, features and user experience will be gathered and used for improvements → a Form for sharing of feedback was shared with the community. The feedback was not much, and it mostly highlighted lack of liquidity, volumes and incentives.

Key Learnings

The Key Learning was about the importance of incentives. The Minswap Stableswap is a good product, but none will use it if the incentives aren’t there for it. We observed that after adding 30k ADA for the Incentive Program, Liquidity grew 4x the amount of before.

Community members noted in the feedback form that there is a lack of liquidity for traders and a lack of rewards for LPs (compared to other chains) to bring in stables in significant size. We need bigger incentives to attract usage of Cardano DeFi products, which is one of the reasons the Minswap community put up this Proposal for Fund 12.

Reflections about the Stableswap

The Cardano ecosystem has come a long way since we proposed the Stableswap. Back then, Mehen USDM had not launched, and now it has a 4.4mn USD market cap.

Since then, Intersect has set up a Stablecoin Working Group to grow Stablecoin adoption. It was there that Minswap Labs and Fluid Tokens had the idea for a Smart Token DEX and submitted a Catalyst Proposal. Smart Tokens bring a plethora of capabilities, some of them are necessary for big Stablecoin players like Tether and Circle if they want to deploy USDC/USDT. They also make RWA like stocks or commodities easy to bring on-chain to Cardano.

It is clear that more and more stablecoins will be deploying on Cardano, the Minswap Stableswap is the perfect tool for them to be traded with minimum slippage, and maximum convenience.