Brief Description of the Product

With this grant, Ferrum will look to integrate InfinitySwap with Stellar. InfinitySwap is a revolutionary piece of multi-chain technology that is driving Ferrum’s mission of paving the way toward Interoperability 2.0. InfinitySwap is a smart routing multi-chain aggregator that solves the problem of fragmented liquidity by routing fractionalized transactions toward optimal arbitrage opportunities across multiple networks and DEXs.

By reinventing the way that assets are bridged & swapped across networks, InfinitySwap is positioned to port an immense amount of liquidity to Stellar. By tapping into DEX LPs to support the volume that is being transacted across the protocol, InfinitySwap will encourage TVL on DeFi protocols across the Stellar ecosystem such as Stellar DEX and others.

Ferrum will look to integrate its entire product suite with the Stellar network but the first step toward doing so is making sure that Stellar is securely & effectively connected to both EVM & non EVM compatible networks alike. There’s a reason that networks such as Algorand, Pocket, Casper, Harmony, Polygon, Moonriver and others have entrusted us to build solutions that satisfy their interoperability needs & we look forward to having Stellar on board as well.

Motivation behind the project (objective / anticipated impact)

The motivation for creating InfinitySwap was to resolve the current pitfalls that plague many of the interoperability protocols on the market today. By rearchitecting the way that assets are bridged and swapped across networks, our objective is to improve the security, efficiency, effectiveness, compliance and experience for end users.

At Ferrum we believe that the future is multi-chain and our main focus at the company is to pioneer what we’re calling Interoperability 2.0. Due to the architectural advantages that result from removing the 'burn and mint' functionality inherent in most interoperability protocols, we are able to keep track of the native state of assets across networks. This solves a multitude of problems including unauthorized wrapped versions of assets being deployed on a network and fragmented liquidity.

Ferrum believes in developing strong UX/UIs for all of our products. In the case of InfinitySwap, we want the experience of porting liquidity to Stellar to be an enjoyable one for those in the Stellar ecosystem!

Why did we choose to build on Stellar?

We’re choosing to build our product on Stellar for a few reasons:

1. We firmly believe that Stellar will be one of the most utilized smart contract platforms in the space.

2. Being a non EVM compatible L1, we feel like Stellar will need as many avenues as possible to help port liquidity between EVM and non EVM compatible networks and Stellar.

3. Ferrum wants to familiarize itself with Stellar in order to bring other Ferrum products, present and future, to the Stellar network. A bi-product of this will allow Ferrum to introduce early stage projects that we are incubating through Ferrum Advisory Services, to Stellar.

Market fit

InfinitySwap does not utilize a “lock/burn and mint” protocol. These are the most commonly used mechanisms in the space currently to bridge assets across networks. These types of interoperability protocols are also the same ones that have been the targets for many of the cross-chain exploits that have plagued the industry in recent months. By removing the ‘lock/burn and mint’ mechanism involved in standard bridges and reinventing the architecture behind the way assets are bridged and swapped across networks, our objective is to improve the security, efficiency, efficacy, and experience for end users. These architectural advantages that our product provides are extremely important to understand when determining the problem that we are addressing and how it is different from existing solutions.

1. Given the fact that Ferrum uses a 2 way bridge LP system as opposed to the aforementioned “lock/burn and mint”, our product lends itself very well to interoperability with non EVM compatible networks. Hence why projects like Algorand, Pocket Network and Casper have given grants to Ferrum to bridge their non EVM compatible networks with the world of solidity.

2. As a result of the aforementioned architectural advantages, projects building on Stellar would not need to worry about losing nuances embedded in their token contracts such as reflection (RFI), dividend, or burn mechanisms. Due to the nature of “lock and mint” protocols, standard generic open zeppelin contracts are being minted on the destination chain. This strips the asset of its inherent functionalities.

3. These architectural advantages also play a major role in the security of the product. This article references the security measures taken along with a copy of the audit that passed with flying colors and high praises from the founder of Zokyo. In short, the fact that our product never has control over the token contract of any asset using the protocol, means that exploits involving upgradeable mint functions or large amounts of liquidity being held on the protocol cannot be carried out.

4. Our 2 way bridge LP system also allows for not only cross chain bridging of Token A on Network A for Token A on Network B but also allows for the cross chain swapping of Token A on Network A for Token B on Network B. InfinitySwap a multi-chain swapping protocol that uses the APIs from DEXs and taps into DEX liquidity to support the volume being transacted across the protocol. This will not only make assets on Stellar more composable but it will also encourage an immense amount of TVL and liquidity on protocols such as Stellar DEX and others.

5. Wrapped tokens are subject to the same tax regulations as other cryptocurrencies. One of the main advantages of multi-chain infrastructure as opposed to cross-chain is the tax compliant nature of maintaining record of an asset's native state across networks. By removing the wrapper function inherent in most “burn/lock and mint” protocols, InfinitySwap creates a less stressful experience for end users by reducing friction from a taxation and compliance perspective.

6. Finally, no other interoperability protocol on the market adds utility to the token that is being bridged or swapped. With our unique "bridge swap fee" mechanism, projects who list on our aggregator can set customizable fees that are charged in their native token. Some projects choose to burn those fees thus making their asset deflationary, others choose to use it for rewards to incentivize staking or adding liquidity, others simply use it as a revenue source. These fees can be distributed via bulk multisender to as many wallets as desired.

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In 6 months time we anticipate InfinitySwap will be the most interoperable protocol on the market. For the first time, non-EVM compatible networks will have the means to make assets on their network more composable by breaking down barriers to the worlds of Solidity (EVM), Substrate (Dotsama ecosystem), Tendermint (Cosmos IBC), Rust (Algorand, Solana and others), and others.

We expect to be doing well into the billions in transacted volume and we anticipate TVL on the Stellar ecosystem will increase dramatically.

High Level Technical Approach

We use an iterative and lean approach toward integration and development in general. We focus heavily on quicker deployments internally to incorporate feedback, then start detailed usability, security, functionality and reliability testing to capture any gaps in our initial approach. We quickly implement this feedback and then get the product in the hands of our customers when it passes our standards for performance and security.

Once the product is in the customer’s hands, we utilize an effective feedback loop to continuously improve our product by prioritizing the feature enhancements and bug fixes based on the priority of the feedback we are receiving.

In order to integrate with Stellar we’ll be utilizing the same principles. We will first scope out the integration, then start with a shell app version of the deployment that will explore the possibilities of the functional integration. Based on the results of this initial effort, we’ll identify high traction and demand areas to prioritize and build further into a production ready product. We will then proceed to develop and deploy the integration through our deployment cycle. Dev -> QA -> UAT -> Staging -> Launch.

We will repeat this process to integrate the rest of our product suite and future products as well.

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Milestones

Milestone #1: Scoping and Defining Resources for Stellar Aggregator Integration. Deadline will be 3 weeks post execution of the proposal*

• Scope out the integration of Stellar with the aggregator, including details about Bridge Pool setup on Stellar.
• Determine if Stellar integration can also support multi-chain DEX based liquidity option for bridge liquidity or if a 2 way liquidity pool bridge with on-bridge liquidity is the only feasible option.
• Define resources and work required to integrate and start integration.

At the completion of this milestone, we will be requesting payment for upcoming milestones to cover resource allocation and development cost.

Deliverables: Scope document for aggregator. Both documents need to enlist the risks and potential mitigatory and contingency measures against those defined risks. This will help us with early identification of blockers and possible solutions.

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Milestone #2: Build, Deploy, and Internally QA Bridging Shell App. Deadline will be 67 days post execution of milestone 1*

• Build and deploy a shell app that will allow swaps among:

1. Stellar <> Ethereum
2. Stellar <> BSC
3. Stellar <> Polygon
4. Stellar <> Avalanche
5. Stellar <> Moonriver
6. Stellar <> Harmony
7. Stellar <> Shiden
8. Stellar <> Other networks if integrated prior to milestone commencement

• Integrate aggregator with one of the Stellar’s compatible wallets
• Share Bridging shell app with internal QA and incorporate QA feedback

Deliverables:

• ‍‍UI deployment for aggregator interaction
• Smart Contract Deployment of aggregator
• Stellar compatible wallet integration
• Ability to run swaps among above pairs
• Internal QA feedback incorporation

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Milestone #3: Testing by Stellar and Audit Submission. *Deadline will be 45 days post execution of milestone 2*

• Share tech with Stellar for testing and incorporate their feedback.
• Share smart contract with auditing firm in parallel to above step

Stellar team will test the aggregator and provide their feedback / report bugs (if any). The feedback provided by Stellar will be reviewed by Ferrum team. Ferrum team will implement the mutually agreed upon feedback and share the product with Stellar to approve and sign off the milestone.

Deliverables:

• Stellar provides feedback
• Ferrum incorporates the mutually agreed upon feedback provided by Stellar
• Stellar signs off on shell app post their feedback incorporation
• Submission of smart contracts to a third party auditing firm

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Milestone #4: Multi-Chain Aggregator Mainnet deployment, testing and incorporation of final feedback. *Deadline will be 30 days post execution of milestone 3*

• Deploy on mainnet
• Incorporate audit feedback if audit is completed
• Conduct internal testing
• Share the product with Stellar and incorporate the final feedback

Deliverables:

• Ability to conduct swaps across below networks with Stellar:

1. Stellar <> Ethereum
2. Stellar <> BSC
3. Stellar <> Polygon
4. Stellar <> Avalanche
5. Stellar <> Moonriver
6. Stellar <> Harmony
7. Stellar <> Shiden
8. Stellar <> Other networks if integrated prior to milestone commencement

• Able to add/remove liquidity on all networks
• Stellar signs off on mainnet testing

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Milestone #5: Incorporate audit feedback and launch - InfinitySwap. *Deadline will be 15 days post execution of milestone 4*

• Incorporate final audit feedback provided by a third party
• Launching the product on production mainnet

Deliverables:

• Sign-off on audit completion by the third party auditor
• Launch on production mainnet
• Product is live and available to users to swap tokens

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Use of Proceeds

The funds from the grant will be used to fund the allocation of engineering, project management, support and executive resources to integrate InfinitySwap with Stellar over the next quarter and to support the adoption and acceleration of the evolution of this product on Stellar in the following quarters.

We feel that this is the best path forward for Ferrum to be able to justify prioritizing this integration. With a small but quickly growing team, we need to be cognizant of our backlog of items and how this affects our overall roadmap. However, a relationship that entails the aforementioned items, we believe, is crucial to the execution of our overall mission to break down barriers to mass adoption and to the overall success of Ferrum Network. On the same token, through this relationship we intend to add an immense amount of value to and aid in the expansion of Stellar!

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Build in the Open

Ferrum adheres to a “build in the open” philosophy. We will be creating regular content, demos, and explainer videos across all of our social media channels such as YouTube, Twitter, Telegram, Medium, and Discord. We will also be putting the full force of our PR agency behind the initiative.

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Reporting Commitments

Ferrum Network vows to provide Progress Updates to Stellar every month to any of the information provided above:

• Progress reports: detailing how our project is advancing, including any deviation from the initial plan or if you expect such deviations in the future.

• Financial reports: expenses and other items related to the use of our budget, including any deviation from the initial plan or any expected deviations.

• Milestone 1 - $50,000
• Milestone 2 - $67,000
• Milestone 3 - $16,000
• Milestone 4 - $16,000
• Milestone 5 - $61,000

The architectural & OpSec advantages behind InfinitySwap make it the most secure and compliant solution for bridging & swapping assets on the market. Additionally, Ferrum smart contracts are audited via multiple highly reputable security firms & battle tested via 3rd party white hat hackers. This approach boasts a lifetime TVL of over half billion dollars with the first iteration of InfinitySwap, Ferrum’s Cross-Chain Token Bridge, being responsible for over $140 million in transacted volume.

So far, the product is compatible with Ethereum, Polygon, BSC, Moonriver and Avalanche. At the time of writing, testing is being done on Harmony. We have received grants from EVM compatible networks such as Harmony, Moonbeam, and Shiden, as well as non EVM compatible chains like Algorand, Casper, and Pocket to integrate their networks with the product. Currently, we are in talks with many other EVM and non EVM compatible networks as we aim to be the most interoperable protocol on the market.

PROBLEM & SOLUTION

Ferrum Network is a cross-chain Blockchain as a Service company that specializes in adding token utility and advisory services to projects across the crypto space. Since our inception in 2018, the project’s goal has been to facilitate mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies on a global scale by building white-label blockchain solutions that power startups and established organizations, enabling them to get their product to market faster.

As we continue to see the evolution of blockchain infrastructure and L1 solutions, it becomes increasingly evident that the tools that exist on Ethereum are few and far between on other solutions. This is where Ferrum Network comes in. Having already built the technologies mentioned in the previous section for Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, Avalanche, and Moonriver, we are looking to expand our reach toward other L1 solutions. We believe that Stellar is the next infrastructure project to see massive adoption which is why we’re choosing to start here.

However, with mass adoption comes great responsibility. The amount of dApps that have added value to the Ethereum ecosystem is staggering. But this has led to more scalable solutions to be left on an island with few early adopters choosing scalability over comfortability. We believe that we can help solve this problem in a few ways.

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Creating Space and Freeing Capacity

Ferrum is a product oriented company. We believe that the best way to achieve success is by identifying problems and providing solutions. Therefore, we recognize that it's important for other projects in the space to have the capacity to work on their products.

Solutions usually arise out of necessity. As with InfinitySwap, we noticed a substantial number of projects trying to build out their own in-house swapping and bridging tech. We started to notice a pattern of projects attempting to build out their own solutions. This ultimately led to delays in their core products as these projects needed to deploy resources and audits in order to go to market with them. When the value proposition of a project is lost so is the value of the asset.

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Security

When talking about software, exploits are inevitable. They’re especially common in emerging markets such as crypto as we’ve seen lately with the ever increasing number of hacks that seem to be occurring almost daily! At Ferrum, we’re committed to building secure protocols. We consider ourselves “paranoid security freaks”. We emphasize business and operational security best practices in addition to technical architecture security. This approach boasts over 150 clients with a lifetime TVL of nearly half a billion dollars, which translates to hundreds of smart contracts that have been created. We’re proud to say that throughout our tenure providing technical solutions we have not fallen victim to a single exploit!

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Adoption

At Ferrum our mission is literally to break down barriers to mass adoption. We believe that other scalable L1 solutions face massive challenges when it comes to generating adoption themselves. In turn, this impedes the adoption of crypto as a whole since scalability is in fact the biggest blocker.

If projects building on Stellar are confined to Stellar alone because interoperable mechanisms do not exist, this will deter them from building on Stellar in the first place. Knowing those solutions are in place will attract many more developers and dApps to the network.

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How do you use Stellar in your solution?

Stellar will be integrated with our smart routing multi-chain aggregator, InfinitySwap. InfinitySwap will be the first UI in which liquidity from Stellar DEX and other DeFi protocols in the ecosystem can be accessed that allows for multi-chain swaps serving as a conduit for more value to be ported to the Stellar network.

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TARGET MARKET

The first iteration of InfinitySwap is used by a global audience who is interested in the "multi-chain future" that Vitalik speaks of. We believe that the next iteration will be used by anyone who uses decentralized protocols as it creates a seamless user experience thus effortlessly bringing value to the Stellar ecosystem.

Not only does InfinitySwap appeal to end users but it appeals to projects and companies building dApps and smart contracts across a variety of sectors within the blockchain space. Any and every project can benefit immensely from InfinitySwap.

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REVENUE MODEL

Revenue is generated on a per swap basis. The way that Ferrum benefits from this is by adding utility to the FRM token. FRM will be used as a routing token. This will encourage projects to add liquidity to any DEX that they are live on using FRM as the paired token. This will reduce fees for their users.

On top of that, a small transaction fee will be charged, in FRM, to those who utilize the protocol. This will likely be less than 1% and will be distributed through a tax distributor to Ferrum.

If projects wish to have their own bridge pool, it will drastically reduce fees for their community. They may do so but this requires technical debt from Ferrum's side and will come with a price tag of around 20k. However, projects who deploy their own bridge pools will have the ability to share in the swap fees that occur in their token.

PRICING STRATEGY

We will go to market with the pricing structure outlined above. However, these models are subject to change iteratively after collecting and analyzing data as it pertains to volume, users, maintenance, and project clients.

For example, we originally started with a 2% transaction fee with the first iteration of InfinitySwap, the Ferrum Cross Chain Token Bridge. That fee seemed to be too high for users so we reduced it to 0.5%. From that point on, usage on the bridge spiked drastically. Most of the $139 million in transacted volume occurred after this change was made. Since the launch of our first product in 2018 we have found success with the iterative approach to implementing a pricing, revenue, and feature development strategy. We closely follow the principle of the “build measure feedback” loop and realize that the first strategy may not be the right one. We are quick to adapt to change and always value data driven feedback from users.

The main goal here is to remain as the most inexpensive option for users as other multi-chain aggregators start to deploy.

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SALES FORECAST

With over 200 paying B2B clients, Ferrum has had unparalleled success with our products to date. The first iteration of InfinitySwap already has over a dozen dApps each of whom paid $30k to be featured on the protocol. Networks pay upwards of 300k USD to be integrated.

We anticipate transaction fees to reach well into 6 figures annually. This revenue goes toward Ferrum reserves and can be allocated to community members in the form of rewards thus increasing the utility of FRM.

Additionally, we anticipate that the revenue generated from dApps and networks to integrate will be well into 7 figures. This revenue is meant to increase the effectiveness and overall reach of InfinitySwap.

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INDUSTRY AND MARKET RESEARCH

As of October 2021, the Total Value Locked (TVL) in cross-chain bridging contracts exceeded 22 billion. This number was an increase of over 48% in just that month alone. Its important to note that this number is only reflective of bridges - the ability to bridge asset A on chain X for asset A on chain Y. When bridges evolve to multi-chain aggregators like InfinitySwap, and the ability to swap asset A on chain X for asset B on chain Y, we anticipate the TVL of multi-chain protocols to increase dramatically when this functionality becomes reality.

Explain the total size and trends of your industry (is it growing or shrinking?), and target market (what share is realistic for you to obtain?), either through primary market research (information you gather yourself) and/or secondary market research (information from sources such as trade organizations and journals, magazines and newspapers, Census data and demographic profiles).

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THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES

The biggest threat that Ferrum’s InfinitySwap faces is somebody replicating the idea of 2 way Bridge pools as opposed to the default mechanism most prevalent in the market currently - the “Lock and Mint” protocol.

Wrapped tokens are subject to the same tax regulations as other cryptocurrencies. While this can be one of the biggest threats to other interoperability protocols on the market one of the main opportunities for us as multi-chain infrastructure as opposed to cross-chain is the tax compliant nature of maintaining record of an asset's native state across networks. By removing the wrapper function inherent in most “burn/lock and mint” protocols, InfinitySwap creates a less stressful experience for end users by reducing friction from a taxation and compliance perspective.

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COMPETITION

Router Protocol - Router is one of the leading competitors when it comes to cross-chain aggregators. While their architecture isn’t as sound as Ferrum’s, they have received funding from Coinbase Ventures and other tier 1 VCs.

MultiChain - Multichain, previously AnySwap, is a pioneer in bridging technology. While they do not have swapping functionality, it seems to be on their radar. Regardless, they have a strong presence in the bridging sector that we’d like to take market share from as well.

Celr - Celr is similar to AnySwap in regards to ease of use and market share. They also have an incredible team capable of implementing multi-chain aggregation.

Rango Exchange - Rango is a project to keep an eye on. They raised just a small amount of funding but they are quite ambitious as they share the same goals of pushing beyond bridging and enabling cross-chain swapping. That being said, they do not offer non EVM compatible support as of yet.

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MARKETING AND  SALES

Articles

At Ferrum, we believe that content is king. That’s why we will prepare a set of highly informative and engaging articles outlining the problems InfinitySwap is solving. These articles will be the base of all of the next marketing and lead gen activities and they will focus on educating and inspiring our users and clients.

PR and Influencer Campaigns

We will run PR campaigns with our external agency to send out press releases and publish educational and technical content about InfinitySwap on different crypto news sites. We're currently working with Twitter and YouTube Influencers that will promote InifnitySwap to their audiences. These campaigns will build up momentum for InfintySwap within a broader crypto community.

YouTube & Podcast Series

Before and after the launch of the InifnitySwap, we will record a selection of videos explaining the product and the way it works. We then turn the videos into standalone podcast episodes for our series “Crypto at the Ferrum Roundtable” - these episodes are available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more. Our podcast series has proven to be one of the best ways to grow our community and userbase organically.

Social Media & Lead Generation

We will also be utilizing all of our social media and community platforms to generate interest and promote InfinitySwap. These include our following on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Telegram, and Discord. This will be key to building engagement and hype within our community. We will also automate the lead generation process by optimizing Linkedin Sales Navigator and tools such as MeetAlfred to reach out to the highest quality of prospects, directing them to our InfinitySwap demo calls.

Email Automation

On our Hubspot CMS, we will set up automated workflows with emails that will be regularly sent out to our vast database of email addresses and previously generated leads before and after the launch of InfinitySwap. These emails will consist of both written and video content that will educate and build interest amongst our users.

AMA Sessions

Ferrum will also dedicate an AMA session on our Discord Server to answer all InfinitySwap questions the community might have  - and we will also turn this into a YouTube video and an episode of our podcast.

Website Promo

We will develop an updated landing page for InfinitySwap on our website with the main call to action on the homepage to go and participate in the launch of our new product. On this page, users will be able to find all relevant articles, videos, and information regarding InfinitySwap.

We will turn each of these individual pieces of InfinitySwap promotional content into announcements for Telegram and Discord.

Sales Team

We have a team of around 5 sales and product representatives whose core responsibility is ensuring the usage of our products. They focus on inbound and outbound lead generation, integration consulting, and general support for projects leveraging our technology.

RESOURCES AND RELATIONSHIPS

Ferrum boasts a robust network of partners, clients and incubated projects across a wide array of sectors within the blockchain industry. These various entities make up the Ferrum Ecosystem – also known as the Iron Alliance!

Here you’ll find testimonials and a long list of high caliber projects who have been by Ferrum’s side throughout our journey.

We’ve never seen so much widespread attention being paid by all the major L1s to a single product. This alone is extremely validating that we’re on the right track to achieve Interoperability 2.0. With relationships and support from the likes of Avalanche, Polygon, Algorand, Harmony, Pocket Network, Moonriver, Casper, Shiden, Velas, Fuse and others, InfinitySwap is poised to become the most interoperable protocol on the market and will surely add value to any network who decides to integrate with it.

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