AIP-243: The Ape Inn - EthGlobal Project

[0xWebMoss]

Proposal: The Ape Inn - EthGlobal Project

App : https://www.apeinn.xyz/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/ApeInn_
Showcase : https://ethglobal.com/showcase/the-ape-inn-1ntf4
Pitch Deck: The_Ape_Inn_Grant_Proposal_v1.pdf (16.4 MB)

Proposal Category

Ecosystem Fund Allocation

ABSTRACT

The Ape Inn began at the EthGlobal Scaling Ethereum Hackathon in March 2023.
After a fun and successful event, I was very grateful to receive 2 separate Apecoin awards from our wonderful Apecoin judges, Maaria and Lost.

The Ape Inn Grant Proposal serves to bring the concept to life and grow within the Apecoin DAO and community.

AUTHOR

Craig Moss - 0xWebMoss
I am a Software Engineer who is passionate about web3 and thrives on creating pixel-perfect software applications. I have a keen eye for detail and enjoy working in a frontend role, building and refining user interfaces and solving UI & UX problems with my development team at IO Digital.

My experience extends past the frontend to full-stack development and have worked on my fair share of financial applications in the past. I have experience in managing small and large teams, worked in business and data analytics, have built a few e-commerce stores from scratch, and handled all the SEO. I’ve even dabbled in a bit of design and have a well rounded set of skills for the task at hand.

Currently, I work in a web2 world doing web2 work, I code daily with a team of fellow seniors, building a range of different applications for IO Digital, please visit www.io.co.za for more info.

TEAM

Currently I am submitting my proposal alone as I created the project at EthGlobal han solo. The grant proposal amount allows for 2 Senior Developers, with a smaller budget for a junior web3 developer.

Craig Moss - Frontend/UI/UX/Web3
LinkedIn - https://za.linkedin.com/in/craig-moss-21822628

Gideon van der Merwe - Fullstack Developer
LinkedIn - https://za.linkedin.com/in/gideonvdm

I hope to keep a spot open for a junior web3 developer so no info yet.

Teams Support

In addition I can reach out to fellow web3 developers, whom I’ve had the pleasure of hacking with, see their profiles below. I worked with them on Mint Tea, another EthGlobal Project that won a 1st place prize from deBridge at EthOnline 2022. See more info here https://mint-tea.netlify.app/

Nobuhito Kurose - Smart Contract Developer
LinkedIn https://jp.linkedin.com/in/nobuhito-kurose-452b0139

Mourad Bouabdallah - Smart Contract / IOT / Video Production Wiz
LinkedIn https://fr.linkedin.com/in/mourad-bouabdallah/en

Should I achieve the full funding goal, then I will also get support from the company I currently work for, this would include a full agile team of 6 in total, with various skillsets in the IT industry, and a vast amount of experience. This would be the final tech and development goal for The Ape Inn project as I aim to build a safe and secure web3 application.

MOTIVATION

I believe The Ape Inn can add value to the Apecoin ecosystem with a well crafted, web3 solution that caters specifically to the Yuga Labs family of NFT’s. The Ape Inn will build a platform that unites various Yuga and Apecoin utilities with it’s community members, all under one roof… built by Ape, for all Ape.

RATIONALE

The core objective will be to add value, not only to the Apecoin DAO, but to all of the great Ape community. We will focus on establishing a reliable, trust worthy and easy to use web3 application that will service all Ape community members.

SPECIFICATIONS

The Ape Inn web3 application is built using vue.js, pinia and css. The responsive app is built as a PWA so I have the option to create a mobile app on IOS or Android in future. Testing using Cypress and Sentry. Currently github, but will move to gitlab.

To begin I will run the web application on a simple web server and once the project has gained some traction, I will port the application to a managed and dedicated server which will cost approx $250 per month and give us a 25x speed and performance increase.

STEPS/GOALS

The Ape Inn will focus on 4 primary goals in the first year, these will be vital in establishing a reliable and sustainable income to continue future developments.

Each goal or focus area will provide its own unique challenges and hurdles, so we will follow an agile approach to the development of the application. It often happens that startups need to pivot and steer a new course, or rebuild a stronger foundation in order to grow sustainably.

GOAL 1 : Apecoin Staking

The Apecoin staking dashboard utilises the Horizon Labs Apecoin staking contract. This feature was mocked for our EthGlobal showcase and requires further refinement and testing before we do a full release. We aim to include an auto-compounding and stake matching feature in the future.

GOAL 2 : NFT Marketplace

Our NFT marketplace will feature the Yuga Labs stable, including current and exciting future releases from Yuga. The marketplace will integrate with the Opensea API to allow the free trade of all NFT’s, providing an income of 0.1% to 0.2% on all sales made through our platform over and above Opensea fees. As we are focusing on a premium product this is still very sustainable.

GOAL 3 : ApeSwap

We have big plans for ApeSwap and hope to create a better experience than competitors like PancakeSwap and BakerySwap. We want fresh sushi please!
The ApeSwap will focus on creating new liquidity pairs for the Apecoin $APE token.

GOAL 4 : Ape Shop

To start we will build an e-commerce store where the community can create individual storefronts to list, manage and sell their amazing Ape wares.

TIMELINE

I have outlined a projected timeline, with an estimate per goal that I would like to achieve in a 12 month timeframe. During discovery phases, code may need to be re-worked or refactored, tested and refined to improve the overall safety, speed and performance of the system.

In addition to the 4 primary goals, I would like to build additional features into The Ape Inn including an analytics dashboard using Covalents new API, DAO tooling, news feeds and so much more in the future as we grow together.

OVERALL COST

The total Grant Proposal ask is for $135 000.00 which will cover the project development costs for a 12 month period, and expenses for a 24 month period.

Costs based on a small development team of 2 Senior devs per month and a junior. Kindly note we have included the Ape Angel program in an effort to raise additional funds, this is an open offer to the Apecoin community who would like to become involved and help scale and complete the project sooner with a larger development team.

Thank you kindly for taking the time to read my proposal for The Ape Inn.

Regards
Craig Moss

[Halina.eth]

Gm WebMoss

Thanks for submitting this proposal, I loved seeing your entry in the Scaling Ethereum hackathon & am so glad to see you take the next step & come forward with a proposal! Excited to see the continued crossover between AIPs such as @maariab’s AIP-230 funding public goods and the AIPs which come as a result of that funding.

Including some notes/questions below on each of the 4 goals for you to consider as you move forward in the ApeCoin DAO ecosystem:

Goal 1: ApeCoin Staking

• What experience do you & your team have with Solidity & staking contracts?
• Given how critical security is for work of this nature, have you budgeted for an auditor for your contract work? What other steps will you take to ensure the integrity of these contracts?
• There are other popular ApeCoin staking solutions such as BendDAO or ParaSpace, how do you envision your staking dashboard to be different from the existing solutions?

Goal 2: NFT Marketplace

• To confirm, this proposed marketplace would take a 1-2% marketplace fee on top of OS’s existing fees?
• For context, ApeCoin DAO currently has a marketplace voted in per AIP-98 which features $APE listings for a .25% marketplace fee.
• For additional context, the DAO has recently voted down a marketplace proposal with zero cost & a 0.3% marketplace fee.

Goal 3: ApeSwap

• Would love to better understand your team & their experience with DeFi & NFTfi platforms, as well as their respective backgrounds.

Goal 4: Ape Shop

• This sounds exciting- you may want to connect with @12GAUGE and @Brazy who have recently passed an AIP to integrate $APE as a displayed currency in Shopify & other eComm platforms, and see what synergy can be found there.

Other Notes:

• In terms of DAO tooling, would love to highlight some existing DAO tools from passed AIPs, such as ApeTalent, Catapult, Karma, and Thank Ape. Excited for you to seek more synergy with existing tools!
• Some existing news feeds that may be of interest: Bored Ape Gazette, @RedVulkan’s newsletter, and @0xSword’s newsletter.
• Does your team have plans to service other DAOs or ecosystems as well? Would love to better understand your vision for a governance token for the Ape Inn.

Overall, I’m very glad to see your proposal come in & am excited to see you keep developing this idea & building in our ecosystem!

-Halina.eth

[0xWebMoss]

Good morning Halina

Thank you for your kind words and support.

These are great questions and I believe our main concern is security.
This is very important, especially with all the hacks taking place in the defi space.

Goal 1: ApeCoin Staking
What experience do you & your team have with Solidity & staking contracts?
Given how critical security is for work of this nature, have you budgeted for an auditor for your contract work? What other steps will you take to ensure the integrity of these contracts?
There are other popular ApeCoin staking solutions such as BendDAO or ParaSpace, how do you envision your staking dashboard to be different from the existing solutions?

I have been involved in the web3 space for around 4 years now, actively following the defi scene and its many protocols and issues, more recently NFTfi.

I believe the best way forward for The Ape Inn, at least at this moment, is to rather utilise a solution that is already in place and work with a protocol that is established and audited. I’ve done some research on these different options in preparation for my proposal.

I really like Paraspace, which already has 8 or 9 audits completed on their contracts and have implemented a timelock feature which is excellent. There is a third option called NF3 exchange which also has some excellent features. Any of these solutions would be a great fit as it will allow us to keep our initial development costs down and still offer these features, but in our own unique way.

As the project matures and we have more resources and time, we could explore building out a dedicated Defi team and our own smart contracts, perhaps with improved features. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with same brilliant solidity developers in the EthGlobal hackathon space and I could reach out to other resources to make this possible in the future.

Goal 2: NFT Marketplace
To confirm, this proposed marketplace would take a 1-2% marketplace fee on top of OS’s existing fees?
For context, ApeCoin DAO currently has a marketplace voted in per AIP-98 which features $APE listings for a .25% marketplace fee.
For additional context, the DAO has recently voted down a marketplace proposal with zero cost 1 & a 0.3% marketplace fee.

To stay competitive I would like to offer a lower fee than competitors like Opensea or Blur. Due to the nature and price of the items we would be trading, even a very small percentage of 0.1% would be enough to sustain the project. We could offer a much lower fee for our Apecoin family and this can be quite flexible. Using Opensea’s new API, we can customise our fees.

I find that different platforms focus on one aspect only, for example it’s a marketplace or it’s a defi/NFTfi platform, but none combine these features into an easy to use interface. My aim is to create something unique that offers users more.

As the owner of a premium NFT, you would be able to view, stake and claim all in one user interface. This has the advantages of highlighting the full earning potential of the NFT. A simplified version can be shown to non-owners, but still highlighting the NFT’s full features like matched BAKC pairs.

I’ve added some screenshots from our hackathon demo which serves as an example.

Goal 3: ApeSwap
Would love to better understand your team & their experience with DeFi & NFTfi platforms, as well as their respective backgrounds.

I’ve been active in the web3 space since I bought the top in 2018. Since then I’ve taken a keen interest in various blockchain technologies, including defi. I have around 15 years experience in various roles in the IT sector, around 10 years in a web2 development setting, and 3 to 4 years in Blockchain which includes working with Solidity and other web3 technologies including Tableland, Covalent, IPFS and Filecoin.

The idea for ApeSwap is to build an Apecoin focussed swap which offers different pairings with $APE token. Uniswap currently offers a react widget and has excellent documentation so we will start by implementing a very basic swap using their sdk. I started implementing this during the hackathon but ran into one or two issues as it’s react based, with a bit more time I could fully integrate the swap widget or build a custom version.

I would like showcase the more common pairs like BTC, ETH, BNB or BUSD for example, possibly create a $APE and ApeInn token pair, and then later offer more fun pairings. We can grow this feature with time and resources and introduce more features like LP token staking, etc.

Other Notes:
In terms of DAO tooling, would love to highlight some existing DAO tools from passed AIPs, such as ApeTalent 1, Catapult, Karma, and Thank Ape. Excited for you to seek more synergy with existing tools!
Some existing news feeds that may be of interest: Bored Ape Gazette, @Vulkan’s newsletter, and @0xSword’s newsletter.

Thank you for sharing this info, I’m still very new in the discord and finding my way around. I spent a little time since the hackathon diving into some of these resources. I look forward to working with all of them to provide support and see how we can collaborate in the future.

Does your team have plans to service other DAOs or ecosystems as well?

No. The Ape Inn will only focus on Apecoin and any Yuga Labs NFT collections. So many exciting things happening in this space alone, no wonder the rest just look like jpegs.

Would love to better understand your vision for a governance token for the Ape Inn.

The Ape Inn token will be our ERC-20 token and will support governance, staking, swap pairings, etc. The token will be used to raise funds for the project so we can expand, grow and fulfil our true potential.

The token will also be used as a means to give back to the Apecoin DAO and holders of Ape NFT’s. The end goal is to create a DAO like Apecoin, so we stay true to the spirit of web3.

I thank you again for your valuable feedback, please note I’ve outlined a bit more info in my proposal document below.

The_Ape_Inn_Grant_Proposal_v1.pdf (16.4 MB)

Regards
Craig Moss

[Halina.eth]

Thank you so much for the detailed response Craig! Can’t wait to see how your proposal develops

The proposal document looks excellent- perhaps you could add some key pages to Discourse, as I know having visuals is helpful to many community members looking over proposals on the forums.

Wishing you all the best as you move forward!

-Halina.eth

[0xWebMoss]

@Lost @Halina.eth
Gm and hope you well.

I would like to ask what is next step, must I ask for my AIP to go to draft or next phase, or does that happen automatically.

Regards
Craig

[vulkan.admin]

Hi @0xWebMoss,

Your topic will be moving to the AIP Draft phase in less than 24 hours. Are you content with the feedback received or do you wish to extend community discussion for another 7 days?

If we do not hear from you within 48 hours after your topic closes, your topic will be moved straight to the AIP Draft process.

We look forward to hearing from you.

-Vukan

[vulkan.admin]

Hi @0xWebMoss,

Thank you for your ideas [and the ApeCoin DAO community for the thoughtful discussions]. A moderator will get in touch with the author to draft the AIP in the appropriate template. Once the AIP is drafted and meets all the DAO-approved guidelines, the proposal will be posted on Snapshot for live official voting at: Snapshot

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments. @0xWebMoss please see your messages for the next steps.

-Vulkan

[vulkan.admin]

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

The AIP Draft submitted is currently incomplete and feedback has been provided to the author.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Thank you,

Vulkan

[vulkan.admin]

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

@0xWebMoss has completed editing their AIP Idea to be their AIP Draft.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

-Vulkan

[vulkan.admin]

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

Our team has reviewed and discussed @0xWebMoss’s AIP Draft and have sent a list of initial questions. We await answers.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

Vulkan

[vulkan.admin]

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

@0xWebMoss has responded to our questions and has provided consent to share them in this forum for the community.

Questions (click to expand)

Are there any potential legal or regulatory risks associated with the activities of this AIP?

There may be, these have not been fully identified as of yet, the project is still very new, 1 month and I will need to seek legal council to identify all associated risks. A new entity or company will be formed and will operate as per required rules and regulations for taxes, company insurance, etc.

IO Digital has the facilities to assist and guide in the process, IO has completed similar processes for new startups in the IT industry.

What are the Objectives and Key Results which have been identified for your project?

The Ape Inn will focus on four primary goals which will complete the original concept from the EthGlobal hackathon in March 2023.

The first stage of the project includes integrating with different API’s including Opensea, NFT Port and Alchemy to power functionality in the project.

In order to keep our initial costs and proposal ask low, we will not develop our own smart contracts as this will be too expensive due to development and auditing costs.

Instead we will utilise existing protocols in the beginning, which will be safer and will afford us a certain level of trust and security as we grow.

Goal 1 - Apecoin Staking

The staking dashboard currently utilises the Horizon Labs Apecoin staking contract. We aim to include an auto-compounding feature in phase one, this will involve integrating with existing, audited contracts from established protocols, for example NF3 Exchange, Paraspace, BendDAO and Pawnfi have been identified as potential options. Any of these solutions would be a great fit. For phase two, we can explore the option of developing our own smart contracts, perhaps with improved features, but I believe there is already great products in the market we can collaborate with.

Our first goal is also linked to our NFT Marketplace, where we will showcase the staking options and capabilities of the individual BAYC, MAYC and BAKC NFT’s.
This will become our main focus point and differentiate The Ape Inn from the rest of the standard NFT Marketplaces.
Please see example from our demo app below

Goal 2 - NFT Marketplace

The marketplace will feature all Yuga Labs NFTs, including current and new releases like HV-MTL.
We will use Opensea’s API for the buying and selling of NFT’s and offer a low fee to attract customers.
Due to the nature and price point of the premium NFT items we would be offering, a low fee can still be quite substantial.

Goal 3 - ApeSwap

The ApeSwap Dashboard will include a basic Uniswap widget and we aim to showcase existing Apecoin pairs like BTC, ETH, BNB and possibly USDT or BUSD.
These liquidity pools have long been established and our phase one goal will include integrating with these main pairs.
Additional features will include Apecoin market data and metrics, charts, etc. from Coingecko or a similar API.

The ApeInn token will also be launched in phase one and a liquidity pair will be created with the $APE token and offered on this dashboard.

Goal 4 - Ape Shop

The main goal for the ApeShop will be to showcase all the amazing products on offer from the Apecoin community.
Verified Apecoin members can create individual storefronts to list, manage and sell approved Yuga Labs and Apecoin products.
Products will be strictly reviewed before going live and we will reserve the right to disable the product should it not meet standards.

Please elaborate on the teams’ expectations for the future.

The Apecoin Grant proposal will enable us to achieve our initial goals and establish the project, after a 12 month period we will perform a full review and plan ahead for the next phase of the project. At any stage, we welcome the Apecoin DAO and community to provide valuable feedback, so we can continously improve and build a safe and secure application.

Additional funding will be raised via an ERC-20 token launch, we hope to accomplish this within 6 to 8 months and are currently researching different tokenomics models.
Once we have achieved our funding goals we will continue to improve and build new features and functionality. This will be a fantastic opportunity and I persoanlly look forward to growing with the Apecoin DAO and community as we develop this product.

Is the Ape Foundation expected to engage in any of the steps of the AIP implementation? If so, please specify the step and elaborate how it is expected to work.

I hope to gather as much feedback and valuable input from the Apecoin community and Ape Foundation as possible, this will be vital for the success of the project.
Once a feature is completed we will invite members to test and give feedback, to ensure we are on the correct path and this will allow a very open and public build.
The Ape Foundation will not be expected to engage in any steps, but we welcome any guidance and assistance.

Any additional AIP ideas, that fall outside of this proposal, will be submitted as separate AIP’s for review and approval by the Apecoin DAO.

Have you or your team identified any additional financial, operational, or brand risks associated with this AIP?

We have not identified any additional financial or operational risks at this stage

In regards to Brand risks

The Ape Inn was styled in the liking of the current Apecoin Marketplace to keep with the look and feel.

Only public media kits and digital assets from Yuga Labs and Apecoin were used in the creation of the project and I tried to stay true to the brand.

See below examples of current usage.

I would like to create new digital assets for the project and hope to work with some of the amazing artists in the community to help with this part of the project.

SHOP BRANDS

In regards to the Shop and brands listed, the products offered will be owned by the individual merchants and we would only show approved Apecoin and Yuga Lab products.
The shop will serve more as a showcase of the approved Yuga and Apecoin merchandise.

Are there plans for security audits of your platforms? If so, what are these plans?

The Ape Inn is still a new project, and has great ambitions. However, the idea is to start off small and build additional features as we progress.
To start, we will use the Horizen Labs Apecoin smart contract to handle basic staking functionality offered to holders of Apecoin and Yuga Labs NFT’s.

I have researched 3 different platforms that we can potentially integrate with their smart contracts to offer additional features like auto-compounding, NFT swaps, etc.
NF3exchange is one example of such a protocol that is established, audited and focuses solely on this sector.

I believe this is the best way to offer these services, in a safe and secure manner without requesting a huge grant proposal amount which would be needed to develop and audit our own versions. This can become an option at a later stage, perhaps once the project is established.

Will there be any requirements for people to list their products in the Ape Shop? Will there be a vetting process?

The shop will be exclusive to BAYC, MAYC and Apecoin holders, we will establish a token gated portal for merchants
We will only list products approved by Apecoin and will not accept fakes or misleading items, I believe it is of utmost importance to uphold the Yuga Labs and Apecoin brands.

We aim to offer premium products, at any time, should a product be deemed unfit then we will request the owner to remove said product/s.
A super admin will be built into the platform so we can manage live products, should we need to hide or disable them in any situation.

Do you provide consent to share these questions and answers with the community in this forum?

Yes, I do consent and welcome your valued feedback.

A DAR package is being worked on and upon completion this AIP will move into Administrative Review. Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

Vulkan

[vulkan.admin]

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

We have no further questions for @0xWebMoss. This AIP is now under Administrative Review.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

-Vulkan