With the support of the Stellar Community Fund (SCF), Ultra Stellar plans to substantially advance our two key products, LOBSTR and StellarX, by integrating Soroban smart contracts. Soroban's innovative smart contract system offers a valuable opportunity to enrich the functionalities and user experience of both platforms.

For LOBSTR, we aim to incorporate smart contract functionality. This integration will allow our over one million users to seamlessly interact with smart contracts directly within the wallet interface. Users will be able to manage assets and engage with products built upon smart contracts by others, thereby broadening the wallet's utility and streamlining the user experience.

Similarly, we plan to introduce Soroban smart contracts into StellarX. This will enable users to interact with and manage assets and services that utilize smart contracts, expanding StellarX's functionality.

Our goal is to make interaction with smart contracts as accessible and user-friendly as possible. By doing so, we anticipate stimulating broader adoption and innovative uses of smart contracts within the Stellar ecosystem.

Moreover, we are committed to working in tandem with the wider Stellar community. We aim to integrate the advantages of smart contracts and adopt products created by other developers into LOBSTR and StellarX. We believe that combining different elements from across the community can spur innovation and enable us to deliver superior services for Stellar.

In summary, through the support of the SCF, we are eager to transform LOBSTR and StellarX into powerful platforms for managing and interacting with smart contract-based assets and services.

Since our last application for the SCF Grant (back in 2019), Ultra Stellar has made considerable progress. Our flagship product, LOBSTR, has experienced remarkable growth, now serving over 1 million users worldwide. This achievement cements its status as the most widely used wallet in the Stellar network, affirming our dedication to developing user-friendly, high-quality solutions.

We've also successfully integrated various services to enhance user experience. We've formed strategic partnerships with prominent financial entities such as MoneyGram and MoonPay, providing our users with a broad array of on/off ramp options. Notably, the integration of MoneyGram Access into LOBSTR is a standout feature, enabling users to cash in and out without the need for a bank account or credit card, thereby promoting financial inclusivity.

Additionally, we've broadened our scope by incorporating SEP-24 anchors for various currencies and cryptocurrencies. This allows our users to onboard to Stellar in their preferred currency or crypto, reinforcing our commitment to providing a user-centric wallet.

In our ongoing efforts to refine the user interface, we’ve added key functionalities since our last SCF Grant. We've introduced Swaps for better asset exchanges and WalletConnect functionality to offer users more flexibility and access to Stellar dApps across the ecosystem. These enhancements emphasize our unwavering dedication to continually improve our products and increase accessibility and usability of the Stellar network.

We worked together with SDF to bring AMM support into StellarX and LOBSTR. StellarX is the first and best interface to view, analyze and manage liquidity positions in AMM pools on the Stellar network.

Our first deliverable aims demonstrate a working demo of LOBSTR supporting certain interactions with Soroban smart contracts.

We have implemented two new functionalities for Soroban smart contacts support in the LOBSTR Futurenet demo version.

Please see the video overviewing the changes in the Proof of intent demo, and see the details below.

LOBSTR Soroban support. Proof of intent demo video

1. Ability to see the balance of Soroban tokens in the wallets.

How it works:

- Stellar Asset Contract ‘wraps’ the classic Stellar assets to create Soroban versions.

- Assets that have 'Stellar Asset Contract' deployed will automatically be marked with the Soroban icon at the 'Assets' screen in the LOBSTR app.

- Reviewers can connect their own wallets with several Soroban-wrapped assets, and these assets should be reflected at the “Assets” screen for their wallet connected to LOBSTR account.

2. Ability to sign a transaction interacting with Soroban smart contracts.

We have added the “Soroban” section in the application Settings that allows LOBSTR users to sign and submit transactions interacting with Soroban smart contacts.

How it works:

- User creates a transaction XDR outside of LOBSTR with Soroban smart contact code included. For example, this can be a transaction where a smart contact is deployed, or a transaction that invokes a smart contact method.

- They paste this transaction XDR into the input on the Soroban screen in the Settings.

- When they press the “Sign and submit” button, we simulate the transaction, sign and submit it to the Soroban RPC server.

- Once the transaction is submitted successfully, the user can copy the transaction hash to look up the transaction status on the Soroban side manually.

How can a reviewer check you completed your first deliverable?

We've created demo versions of LOBSTR app for Android and iOS platforms connected to Futurenet network.

How to install the LOBSTR Soroban demo app for review

iOS

1. Install the TestFlight app from the App Store on your mobile device. Download TestFlight

2. Follow the link to join the testing program for the LOBSTR Demo app. Download LOBSTR Demo app

3. Download the latest version of the LOBSTR Demo app to test.

Android

1. Use the following link to download the LOBSTR Demo APK file from Bitrise. Link to download the app

2. Install the APK file for LOBSTR Demo app on your mobile device.

Steps to complete the review:

1. Ability to see the balance of Soroban tokens in the wallets.

- Create a new LOBSTR account in LOBSTR Demo app running on Futurenet. Onboarding --> Create account.

- Connect your Futurenet Stellar wallet that holds assets with 'Stellar Asset Contracts' deployed to this account.

- Open the 'Assets' screen to view the assets on the wallet.

- Assets that have 'Stellar Asset Contract' deployed will be marked with the Soroban icon.

2. Ability to sign a transaction interacting with Soroban smart contracts.

- Create a XDR for a transaction interacting with Soroban smart contracts outside of LOBSTR.

     - For example, you can build an XDR for a transaction invoking the 'transfer' function for a Soroban-wrapped asset on the wallet.

- Choose 'Settings' in the app side meny. Open the 'Soroban' section.

- Paste the transaction XDR created earlier into the input on the 'Soroban' screen.

- Press the “Sign and submit” button to simulate the transaction, sign it and submit it to the Soroban RPC server.

- Once the transaction is submitted successfully, the transaction hash can be copied and used to manually look up the transaction status on the Soroban side.

- You can also look up the transaction record on your wallet using Futurenet blockchain explorer.

‍