[SEP 31] [OBRA]: Next generation frontend for decentralized Safe Registry

[isolo]

Abstract

Daoism Systems has successfully developed the dSAFE SDK, providing a decentralized alternative to the Safe Transaction Service. As a follow-up project, we now propose to develop the next-generation frontend, which includes a UI/UX optimized web interface and an innovative Telegram bot called NinDAO. This integration will leverage account abstraction to enhance user-friendliness, enabling voting and transaction management directly through Telegram.

Aligned Strategy

Wildcard Strategy: Our initiative supports the SafeDAO strategy of driving decentralization, improving user experience, and expanding the Safe ecosystem through innovative solutions.

Funding Request

We are requesting $96,000 USDC in total.

Budget Breakdown:

• UX/UI design with a web3 specialized design studio: $10,000
• Senior Frontend Developer: $8,000 per month for 4.5 months = $36,000
• Project Manager: $5,000 per month for 5 months = $25,000
• Senior Tech Lead / Backend (50% time): $5,000 per month for 5 months = $25,000

Relation to Strategy budget: The requested funding is 96% of the total initiative budget.

Upfront Funding

No upfront payment is requested. Funding will be streamed according to SafeDAO’s terms for mid to large projects over a duration of 20 weeks.

Payment Terms

Initial Cliff: No payments for the first 4 weeks as per Mid to large projects (≥ 10k USDC).

Payment Distribution: After the 4-week cliff, payments will be streamed over the remaining 16 weeks, with 4,800 USD per week.

Initiative Description

The Safe protocol's reliance on a centralized transaction service poses several risks, More information on this topic can be found here. To address these risks, we developed the Decentralized Safe Registry (dSAFE) SDK using Ceramic Protocol and ComposeDB. This provides a secure, resilient, and transparent alternative by decentralizing storage and management of Safe transactions. Users benefit from reduced risks, improved resilience, and greater autonomy with an IPFS-hosted front-end. Building on this, our next step is developing a UI/UX optimized web interface and the NinDAO Telegram bot, enabling seamless governance directly through Telegram, further enhancing the Safe ecosystem.

UI/UX Optimized Web Interface

To enable and simplify the use of the new decentralized dSAFE SDK, a user-friendly frontend is essential. A UI/UX-optimized web interface will not only make interactions with the platform easier but also help attract more users. By providing an intuitive and accessible user interface, we can make the benefits of decentralized technology more widely available and increase adoption within the Safe community and beyond.

NinDAO Telegram Bot

DAO tooling facilitates the creation, management, and governance of decentralized autonomous organizations, encompassing voting, proposals, and collective treasury management. These tools are fundamentally about enabling conversation and coordination for groups, projects, or collectives practicing self-custody over shared assets. However, most current tools are neither intuitive for seasoned DAO members nor accessible for newcomers.

NinDAO represents the next generation of DAO management by leveraging Telegram, a familiar chat interface, to transform group chats into DAOs using Safe multisig. This intuitive solution bridges Telegram, Wallet Connect, and Safe Multisig, allowing users to manage DAOs directly within the chat. Users can handle on-chain governance operations, manage the treasury, and execute multisig transactions without leaving Telegram.

As the next step NinDAO could incorporate Telegram native account abstraction based access to Ethereum ecosystem. By incorporating account abstraction, NinDAO significantly simplifies web3 usage, making DAO management more accessible and user-friendly. This innovative approach enhances usability for both web3 natives and newcomers, promoting ownership in a secure and intuitive manner.

Furthermore, by integrating familiar Telegram identities with Account Abstraction technology, we can greatly improve Safe usability and boost its adoption.

In a nutshell:

• Next-Generation DAO Management: Transforms group chats into DAOs using Safe multisig, allowing users to manage governance operations seamlessly within Telegram.
• Enhanced Accessibility through Account Abstraction: Simplifies web3 usage by leveraging a familiar chat interface, making Safe management accessible to both experienced users and newcomers.
• Broadening Safe Technology Adoption: By integrating with Telegram, NinDAO makes Safe technology more accessible to the general public, attracting more users and expanding the Safe ecosystem.

Current Status

NinDAO won a Gnosis Safe bounty at the ETHLisbon hackathon. NinDAO also became SafeDAO Guardians. We have also successfully completed the backend development of the dSAFE SDK, which is currently functional and integrated with the Safe Transaction Service. Additionally, a feasibility study for NinDAO has been conducted and successfully tested, proving its viability. You can find a short introduction Video of NinDAO here. We have also developed a self-funded foundation for the Telegram bot. NinDAO is now ready for finalization and launch, ensuring a seamless and innovative DAO management experience through Telegram.

Risks

Building composable and integrated projects can be challenging, as our product's successful functioning often relies on other teams and projects. The current implementation of NinDAO depends on Telegram, WalletConnect, MetaMask, the Safe API, Safe smart contracts, and more, leading to high complexity.

Timeline and Milestones

What	Description	Duration
UI/UX Design (Desktop, Mobile, NinDAO)	Create a comprehensive design for both desktop and mobile interfaces, as well as the NinDAO Telegram bot. Conduct user research, develop wireframes, prototypes, and finalize designs.	Weeks 1-4
Desktop & Mobile Frontend Development	Develop the frontend for both desktop and mobile platforms based on the finalized UI/UX designs. Implement interfaces, integrate with dSAFE SDK, and perform initial testing.	Weeks 5-8
NinDAO Bot Development	Develop the NinDAO Telegram bot, enabling seamless DAO management within Telegram. Implement core functionalities, integrate Wallet Connect and Safe Multisig, and conduct testing.	Weeks 9-17
Testing and Deployment	Ensure all components are fully functional, secure, and ready for public launch. Conduct comprehensive testing, fix bugs, optimize performance, and prepare for deployment.	Weeks 18-20

Initiative Lead

The project will be led by Daoism Systems under the leadership of Arseny (Technical Director) and Ilja (Product Ownership & Project Management).

Team

• Arseny, co-founder, CEO, and Technical Director - Will lead the technical project development: Arseny is a software engineer, entrepreneur, investor building in web3 since 2017. Previously, he has worked on Ocean Protocol and API3 DAO, PrimeDAO, and was a founding member of Curve Labs. Currently, he is the co-founder and CEO at Daoism Systems.
• Ilja Solomonovs, co-founder, Product and Operations Director - Will lead the project: Ilja is a serial entrepreneur with a background in finance and business development. He has founded several tech startups at the cutting edge of innovation. In 2021, he joined web3 as the co-founder, COO-CPO at Daoism Systems.
• Daoism Systems Developer Team / Network - Experienced developers contributing to multiple projects. More information about Daoism Systems can be found here.

Additional Support/Resources

We already have strong expertise for the technical implementation of the project. However, it would be advantageous to collaborate on a promotion campaign upon completion to raise awareness of the product. This can be achieved through Twitter postings, articles on Mirror, and joint AMAs. We can also facilitate marketing support from partners such as Ceramic Network.

Implementation Dependencies

The implementation of this initiative does not require any prior changes in the current governance processes.

Link to Phase 0 proposal

[LuukDAO]

HI @isolo - congrats on the progress you’ve made with dSAFE SDK. I see value in building on top of that, but would like to see more data that suggest Telegram created and operated Safe would get significant traction.

Also curios if you are in touch with TON in any way, as your proposed solution seems highly connected to Telegram and could play an important role in the TON ecosystem.

I personally feel the current UX/UI of the Web interface of Safe is solid - could you give some examples of specific areas you feel should be improved?

For the TG interface, would love to see more data that suggest there is a high demand for this and an example of how this would improve the UX. Would also love to get a better understanding of the proposed key management structure for signers and how that will be secured, thanks!

[isolo]

Dear Luuk,

Thank you for your comment and your questions!

TON ecosystem:

In this proposal we are not planning to implement TON integrations, however we definitely see potential of bridging Ethereum, Safe and TON ecosystems together in the future, we believe that it could definitely benefit all 3 ecosystems and benefit web3 industry in general.

Regarding the Existing Safe Interface:

We agree that the current Safe web interface is solid and has set a high standard for usability. In our proposal, we aim to build an alternative interface that is specifically tailored for the dSAFE registry and offers benefits that we outlined in this article. We believe that building an alternative decentralized front-end for Safe protocol could significantly benefit the Safe ecosystem.

Regarding demand for a Telegram-Based Interface:

The demand for a Telegram-based interface stems from several key observations and user feedback:

• Widespread Use of Telegram: Telegram is widely used in Web3 communities for communication and coordination, making it a familiar platform for many users.

• Ease of Use: A Telegram bot can offer a simpler, more intuitive way to manage Safe multi signature wallets, especially for users who are less tech-savvy or new to Web3. Currently managing a Safe multisig requires switching between many interfaces, this experience could be significantly improved by moving everything into one platform, without compromising security and decentralization. Imagine being able to create a proposal, gather votes, and execute transactions all within your Telegram chat, reducing the need to navigate through multiple steps on different platforms. You can also receive real-time notifications and updates directly in your chat, keeping all members informed and engaged without additional effort.

• Feedback and Interest: We have received positive feedback and interest from several groups within the Safe ecosystem, including Onchain Den, Tally, and Lore, who see the potential for integrating this solution.

Account Abstraction:

In future iterations we want to leverage account abstraction capabilities of Safe protocol to even further improve user experience in web3 by offering a telegram native identity to our users.

---

I hope we were able to answer your questions. Please let us know if you need any further information.

[czepluch]

As a guardian I support this proposal.
I am not a big fan of Telegram in general, but I do realize that it gives the most options in regards to writing bots and it’s mainstream enough to help onboard a lot of users, which ultimately should be a goal for the Safe ecosystem.

[jthor]

Also guardian here in support of this proposal.

Having a more censorship resistant frontend that can be accessed over IPFS and that uses the dSAFE SDK seems like a great way to improve the resilience of the Safe ecosystem. (In general the ethereum ecosystem needs to be better at this overall. dappdir.eth is a siteproject of mine that is trying to objectively evaluate the resilience of such apps).

Having a telegram interface for Safe seems useful in general. I’m agnostic as for if that is part of this grant or treated separately though.

[LuukDAO]

Thanks for the detailed answers!

What I still find challenging about this proposal is that it seems to do two things: 1. Build a Decentralized web interface
2. The Telegram bot

Would it be possible to reduce this proposal to either 1. building a decentralized Web interface that aligns with the current Safe UI (instead of making your own) or 2. building a Safe-powered Telegram Bot?

I recommend analysing which of those options would be the highest ROI for Safe and suit your team and coming back in the next Sprint—also given that the Guild has an, in my opinion, very strong proposal lined up for the Wildcard budget.

[Nneoma_StableLab]

As a delegate with sufficient voting power , I consider this proposal ready to move to a vote

[amy.sg]

@czepluch @jthor

Thanks for signaling. Could you include a link to your voting power as exemplified here.

[jthor]

Sure: voting power

[isolo]

Dear Luuk,

Thank you for your comment.

Regarding the division between the frontend for mobile/desktop and the alternative Telegram interface, we have indeed considered this. However, we concluded that both components are essential to make the existing dSAFE SDK a complete and innovative product. Therefore, we would like to finish them together.

Concerning the budget, we understand the dilemma, as it seems there are enough innovative ideas that don’t fit within the current strategy framework. We have already invested a lot of work into this and are passionate about making it happen. Hence, we are keen to see what happens and are happy to let the Safe community decide.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

[adamhurwitz.eth]

Proposal

I am a Safe Guardian with sufficient voting power and I believe this proposal is ready to move to a vote.

Sharing feedback on the readiness of a proposal to be voted on does not indicate feedback on whether a proposal should be approved or denied.

• Great work in the wave 1 Safe grants program! @Arseny and team delivered their final milestone on time building the foundation of this proposal with the dSafe grant creating a more decentralized Safe backend.
• The Timeline and Milestones section is a great start at estimating the required hours for each part of the project.
• It would be useful to integrate the Budget Breakdown into the Timeline and Milestones to see an overall picture of how much funding each milestone needs.
• $96,000 USD is a large request amount for one proposal. To improve the strength of the proposal I would create separate proposals for the decentralized mobile and desktop app and the NinDAO messaging bot. This helps reduce the funding request making the likelihood of approval higher as the DAO can vote on each idea independently.

Product

• Improving the standalone decentralized mobile and desktop frontends is an important opportunity.
• This seems like a great time to focus on crypto native protocols before the next big potential market up cycle
• I understand the short-term business focus on Telegram for quick growth. There are also security and privacy concerns with Telegram as it is not fully open sourced.
• XMTP and Push Chat are promising open source messaging protocols. Whoever builds great apps with these will be well positioned for this upcoming cycle.

[amy.sg]

Proposal is live on Snapshot. Voting starts tomorrow and runs until July 8th.

[isolo]

Dear adamhurwitz.eth,

thank you for your detailed feedback and for acknowledging our work in the Wave 1 Safe grants program.

Addressing Your Feedback:

1. Timeline and Milestones: I have prepared here a detailed breakdown of the timeline and budget. Please let me know if you need any additional information.

2. Large Funding Request: Yes, it is indeed a significant budget, and we appreciate the idea of splitting the proposal. However, we decided to present the project as a whole because it only becomes a great product through the interplay of both components. Additionally, the development within the milestones correlates with each other, allowing for a more efficient completion of the product.

3. Product Focus: Improving the standalone decentralized mobile and desktop frontends is indeed a crucial opportunity, especially as we prepare for the next market cycle. Focusing on these elements will ensure Safe is well-positioned for future growth and adoption.

4. Security and Privacy Concerns with Telegram: We understand the concerns regarding Telegram not being fully open-sourced. However, our research and the associated MVP have shown that it is just as secure as any communication via Telegram. Since Telegram is widely used in the web3 space, we want to focus on it. In a later phase, we can envision developing NinDAO for XMTP, Push Chat, or Discord. This would require a technical feasibility assessment.

Thank you for your support and insights.

[lito]

Looking forward to the Telegram bot! Will make it easier for me to stay on top of proposals

budget seems reasonable too!

[amy.sg]

As of July 8, 2024, this proposal was not accepted / voted to make no changes.