Polkadart Follow-up

[leonardocustodio]

Project Abstract

Polkadart Grant

We would like to propose support for smart contracts within the Polkadart library. The following features would be included:
Abi encode & decode
Support for contract metadata v0, v1, v2, v3, v4.
Deployment of WASM contracts
Send contract transactions

Additionally, we are proposing to make a centralized documentation dedicated to all levels of developers, from beginners to experts. We want to create a website like https://polkadot.js.org/docs where the person would find many tutorials, use cases, scenarios, explain concepts of Polkadot and how to use Polkadart with all best practices and security in mind.
Only for context, every package has its documentation as delivered in the previous grant, but they are focused on experienced Flutter/Dart developers and people who already understand how Polkadot works.
We believe that this new documentation would be a great addition to the community as it increases the number of people who will understand the lib and the whole concept of Polkadot, allowing more Flutter/Dart developers to get on board the Polkadot ecosystem.

Grant level

• Level 1: Up to $10,000, 2 approvals
• Level 2: Up to $30,000, 3 approvals
• Level 3: Unlimited, 5 approvals (for >$100k: Web3 Foundation Council approval)

Application Checklist

• The application template has been copied and aptly renamed (project_name.md).
• I have read the application guidelines.
• Payment details have been provided (Polkadot AssetHub (DOT, USDC & USDT) address in the application and bank details via email, if applicable).
• I am aware that, in order to receive a grant, I (and the entity I represent) have to successfully complete a KYC/KYB check.
• The software delivered for this grant will be released under an open-source license specified in the application.
• The initial PR contains only one commit (squash and force-push if needed).
• The grant will only be announced once the first milestone has been accepted (see the announcement guidelines).
• I prefer the discussion of this application to take place in a private Element/Matrix channel. My username is: @_______:matrix.org (change the homeserver if you use a different one)

[semuelle]

Hey @leonardocustodio, thanks for the follow-up application. I think it'd be great to have this functionality added to the library. Do you have any plans for further funding after this grant? Otherwise, perhaps it would make sense to either convert this into a maintenance grant or to add a maintenance period and submit it to the Decentralized Futures program.

[leonardocustodio]

Hello @semuelle, thank you for the reply.

I believe the team never considered other possibilities. I will talk with them and find out. Are there any other resources you could point us to for reading to help with the decision, mainly the "Decentralized Futures Programs"?

Please let me know if I understood correctly. There are three possible paths:

1. If we don't expect to need more funding after this one, possibly considering "the work is done," at least from our part/team, submit this project as is.
2. If we consider that this library could be continuously improved, like polkadot-js, we could submit the new features and keep doing the work as a maintenance grant, which means we would keep working on it until we or you guys decide that the maintenance grant is no longer needed.
3. Get this application and submit the new features + a maintenance period, similar to number two but still divided with milestones (features + docs + maintenance) and a more limited maintenance time in mind.

The first would be a typical Grant, the second a Maintenance Grant, and the third a project at the Decentralized Futures Program.

[leonardocustodio]

Hello @semuelle, I've read a bit about each program, and at least from what I've read:

Please feel free to correct me. However, it seems this application doesn't qualify for a maintenance grant. The smart contract's new feature is a whole new package, and I consider it a large feature to implement. At the repository, we have the following paragraph:

Maintenance grants, as the name suggests, are meant to allow teams/individuals to maintain a particular project, and not to continue its development or implement larger features. Please use the traditional application process for this purpose.

We would be between a typical grant and a Decentralized Future Program, am I correct? However, I've talked with the team, and they do have an interest in continuing (if possible) working on the library after what is currently in the application is done. As seen in the repository, from the PRs/Issues/Discussions of developers using the library. Some great ideas would be very beneficial to implement and thus increase the adoption of Flutter developers to the Polkadot ecosystem even more.

Considering that, perhaps, would you recommend the best path forward?

[semuelle]

I've talked with the team, and they do have an interest in continuing (if possible) working on the library after what is currently in the application is done.

Hey @leonardocustodio, sorry for the late reply. In that case, I would recommend to apply with a list of new features plus some maintenance period at the Decentralized Futures Program. The goal of the program is to establish new entities, so you will have to think about how to fund the maintenance and development beyond 2024 for the application. Applications up to 50k USD can be fast-tracked, maybe keep that in mind. :) If it fails, we can still come back to this application, but DF is limited to 2024, so it makes sense to go that route first.

[semuelle]

any comments, @leonardocustodio?

[leonardocustodio]

Hello @semuelle, sorry the late reply. Yes, totally agree with you, I posted in the polkadot forum a few days ago, per DF requirements: https://forum.polkadot.network/t/decentralized-futures-polkadart/7117
I will make the application in the next few days. Should we close here already?

[semuelle]

Let's close this one for now. We can reopen it later if necessary. Thanks, @leonardocustodio.

[leonardocustodio]

Hello @semuelle, After carefully evaluating the Decentralized Future Programs, we have given up on submitting an application. Unfortunately, we could not figure out how to fund the library's maintenance and development beyond 2024. Our maintainers have limited availability, and a project that would be able to fund the library would be too much work for us. We want to continue with the Grants Program if possible.

Thanks

[semuelle]

Hi @leonardocustodio. Understood. As I mentioned initially, I'd be happy to see these implemented, so I'll give my approval.
What I recommend is finding some way to track popularity/use of the library or other useful metrics, which could come in handy if you eventually want to ask for treasury funding.

[leonardocustodio]

Awesome, I believe that with the new docs website, we can also include analytics to gather the information.
Also, I will add one last thing to the roadmap (without changing the price). We now have the new offline metadata standard, so I would like to support that in our library.

[leonardocustodio]

Done, if you can take a second look @semuelle .
Appreciate it :)

[keeganquigley]

Thanks @leonardocustodio based on your answers and also your performance on previous milestones, some of which I personally evaluated, I'm also happy to approve.

While waiting for other committee members, we recently started doing KYB/KYC checks for grants, could you please use this KYB link to submit verification for your registered entity? Thanks!

[semuelle]

While waiting for other committee members, we recently started doing KYB/KYC checks for grants, could you please use this KYB link to submit verification for your registered entity? Thanks!

Actually, @leonardocustodio, I see that you already started KYB for the DF application. You should have just received an email from Sumsub with a link to that file, so you can continue from there. It seems that there is still some company documentation missing.

[leonardocustodio]

Hello @semuelle , I've resent the doc, but they declined it again. I'm not sure they understand how things work here, they are requesting:

a document that establishes all ultimate beneficial owners (shareholders) of the company. This can include a recent excerpt from the company register, a certificate of incumbency, a register of shareholders, or other similar document

I'm sending it, but they refuse because the date is older than 12 months. I'm not sure how it works in other countries, but here, this document has no "re-emission" unless the company wants to change something. So the date will always remain the same. I don't know what to do here.

Can I change the application to my name instead of the company's name so we can go with KYC? Or do the grants only accept KYB?

[semuelle]

I'm sending it, but they refuse because the date is older than 12 months. I'm not sure how it works in other countries, but here, this document has no "re-emission" unless the company wants to change something. So the date will always remain the same. I don't know what to do here.

Hi @leonardocustodio. Sorry, I'm afraid we rely on our KYB provider with these judgements. Is there a way to re-request the same document? I see that there are at least three different dates in that document. An indication that this document is still valid would probably suffice. Perhaps @dsm-w3f has some suggestions here.

[leonardocustodio]

Ok, after talking with the accounting department, I got another document that would serve the purpose. The KYB has been approved now. Thanks.

[github-actions]

Congratulations and welcome to the Web3 Foundation Grants Program! Please refer to our Milestone Delivery repository for instructions on how to submit milestones and invoices, our FAQ for frequently asked questions and the support section of our README for more ways to find answers to your questions.

Before you start, take a moment to read through our announcement guidelines for all communications related to the grant or make them known to the right person in your organisation. In particular, please don't announce the grant publicly before at least the first milestone of your project has been approved. At that point or shortly before, you can get in touch with us at grantsPR@web3.foundation and we'll be happy to collaborate on an announcement about the work you’re doing.

Also, if you haven't yet, consider signing up for the Polkadot Alpha Program. The program offers plenty of resources for people building on Polkadot. Lastly, please remember to let us know in case you run into any delays or deviate from the deliverables in your application. You can either leave a comment here or directly request to amend your application via PR. We wish you luck with your project! 🚀