Our proposed solution is a decentralized lattice storage system built on Convex Lattice Technology, designed to provide a comprehensive and scalable alternative. The Data Lattice offers a universal data model that supports all data formats—such as graphs, vectors, binaries, JSON, and more—enabling flexibility in building advanced distributed applications. Unlike IPFS, which is block-level and focuses on breaking files into immutable content-addressable blocks, Data Lattice can manage complex data types and entire data structures as cohesive units, ensuring eventual consistency across nodes through CRDTs. This allows for seamless updates, replication, and efficient handling of high-performance, large-scale applications requiring real-time consistency. We chose the Data Lattice approach because it inherently supports diverse data models, scalability, and self-sovereignty, ensuring that data ownership remains with users while addressing the performance needs of modern decentralized applications. In contrast to Dropbox, which is centralized, Data Lattice provides a self-sovereign, decentralized file system (DLFS), combining the accessibility of Dropbox with the decentralization of BitTorrent and IPFS. Its support for P2P content delivery allows for efficient data distribution without a central authority, enhancing privacy and autonomy for users. Unlike BitTorrent, which lacks built-in consistency or authorization, Data Lattice provides cryptographic integrity, strong encryption, and identity-based access control. Cardano Stakepool Operators (SPOs) are a critical part of this project as they provide the decentralized infrastructure necessary for redundancy while benefiting from a new revenue stream. In addition to SPOs, our project will engage NFT holders, Web3 developers, IoT data managers, and the decentralized AI community, providing each group with a distinct value proposition—such as improved data management capabilities and self-sovereign data control.

Existing centralized and outdated decentralized storage solutions like IPFS, Dropbox, and BitTorrent are inadequate for the growing demands of Web3, NFTs, and IoT ecosystems. We will develop a decentralized storage network using Lattice technology, operated by Cardano Stakepool Operators, offering high-performance Web3 data solutions and new SPO revenue streams. We perceive the current problem as a lack of truly decentralized, scalable, and integrated storage solutions that can effectively handle complex data for modern Web3, IoT, and AI applications. Existing solutions, such as Dropbox, IPFS, and BitTorrent, fall short in different ways—whether it’s centralized control, block-level limitations, or lack of data consistency mechanisms. Additionally, there are over 2000 stake pools in Cardano at the moment. More than half do not mint a block per epoch, the minimum to be considered a sustainable operation. This means a large portion of pools in Cardano are running at a loss.

The proposed solution will have multiple positive impacts on the Cardano community. First, it will provide a new, robust infrastructure for NFT and IoT data storage, contributing to the Cardano ecosystem’s service capabilities. Second, by allowing Cardano Stakepool Operators to act as storage nodes, it introduces an additional revenue stream, making stake pool operations more profitable and thereby encouraging more participation. This incentivizes further decentralization, enhancing network resilience. We will measure impact through metrics such as the number of active SPOs participating in the storage network, volume of data stored, number of dApps using our storage, and increased stake pool rewards. Outputs and opportunities will be shared openly via GitHub, community reports, and regular updates through Project Catalyst channels and other community forums. Additionally, we will conduct dedicated workshops for Stakepool Operators, publish technical documentation, and organize community Q&A sessions to foster engagement, transparency, and broad adoption across the community. Unlike IPFS and similar networks, the data lattice is not made up of anonymous nodes. A storage provider can offer its services directly to users. An SPO or groups of SPOs can band together to offer more capacity or storage redundancy. SPOs can advertise their services and create an ecosystem dedicated to them, locking future revenue. This will open economic opportunities unmatched by competitors and give unique opportunities to node operators.

Milestone 1: (Month 1-2): Project Kickoff and Team Setup. Define project goals, assign roles, and finalize infrastructure requirements. Milestone 2: (Month 3-4): Lattice Network Prototype and Stakepool Engagement. Develop the initial decentralized storage prototype and onboard a selected group of Cardano Stakepool Operators. Milestone 3: (Month 5-6): Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Release. Release MVP with the first set of data storage capabilities (IoT and NFT data), followed by stress testing in real-world conditions. Milestone 4: (Month 7-9): Testing and Scaling Phase. Conduct performance tests, expand to additional SPOs, and optimize the network for scalability. Organize community workshops to educate SPOs on system operations and to gather feedback on usability and network performance. Final Milestone: (Month 10-12): Full Deployment and Community Reporting. Final version release, deployment across broader SPO network, community presentation, and Project Close-out Report & Video. Host community Q&A sessions to share project outcomes, gather insights and identify opportunities for improvement.

Project Kickoff and Team Setup: $5,000 Start development of the project Lattice Network Prototype and Stakepool Engagement: $100,000 Create a prototype between a few nodes Set up a Cardano node with Lattice Conduct tests on data synchronization across replicas Prepare material about its uses Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Release: $100,000: Launch the initial client of the project Set up a live Lattice network on Cardano’s mainnet Monitor its performance Onboard users on a trial basis Adjust economic models of costs and reward distribution Testing and Scaling Phase: $50,000.00: Identify bugs and other issues Optimize the performance of the network Full Deployment and Community Reporting: $50,000 Launch version 1.0 Create materials on how to launch a Lattice network Launch the final economics model Contingency: $15,000 Emergency fund

The duration of the project is 12 months: Project Kickoff and Team Setup: $5,000 Lattice Network Prototype and Stakepool Engagement: $100,000 Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Release: $100,000 Testing and Scaling Phase: $25,000.00 Full Deployment and Community Reporting: $50,000 Contingency: $15,000

We have a strong foundation in Prince2 project management, ensuring disciplined project execution with clear phases and deliverables. NFTDAO, in collaboration with the Convex Foundation, brings deep expertise in blockchain, decentralized storage, and secure data management. Our consortium has over 5 years of experience working with lattice technologies, giving us a significant edge in developing decentralized solutions. To validate feasibility, we will begin with a pilot phase, deploying MVP nodes with select SPOs, followed by extensive testing under different network conditions to validate robustness, speed, and scalability. To ensure transparency and build community trust, we will conduct open progress reviews and feedback sessions with SPOs and community members throughout the MVP pilot phase, ensuring technical feasibility and early identification of community needs.

After the initial launch, we’ll continue to update the DLFS architecture and support updates to the lattice network. Any improvements released to the DLFS network will be brought to Cardano to make sure its implementation is up to date.

Convex Lattice technology. https://docs.convex.world/docs/overview/lattice The project is dependent on Convex Lattice technology, specifically leveraging the Data Lattice for decentralized storage. The Data Lattice offers several key advantages crucial for the success of this solution: Scalability and Self-Sovereignty: The Data Lattice enables infinitely scalable storage of content-addressable data, making it suitable for decentralized applications such as NFTs and IoT data. Users have self-sovereign control over their data, ensuring privacy and autonomy in managing their content. Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types (CRDT): The algebraic structure of the Lattice allows it to function as a CRDT, ensuring eventual consistency across nodes. This means that data replication across the storage network happens seamlessly, avoiding conflicts and ensuring all nodes converge to the same state. Cryptographic Security and Immutable Structures: The Data Lattice uses Merkle trees to provide strong integrity guarantees, ensuring that data remains immutable and can be verified cryptographically. This is essential for Web3 applications where trust and transparency are crucial. Efficient Data Management through Structural Sharing and Delta Transmission: Data Lattice nodes communicate using structural sharing principles, which means that only changes (deltas) are transmitted between nodes. This drastically reduces network traffic and enhances efficiency. Unlike traditional systems, this architecture ensures that even large datasets can be synchronized with minimal overhead. Pinning and Data Availability: Nodes in the Data Lattice can "pin" important data, ensuring its continued availability throughout the network. This feature is particularly advantageous for NFT and IoT use cases where data persistence is critical. By allowing Cardano Stakepool Operators to pin data, we provide guaranteed availability while adding a new layer of reliability and decentralization. These features are integral to our solution, as they provide the security, scalability, and resilience needed for the decentralized storage of Web3, IoT, and NFT data. Without these capabilities, it would be impossible to meet the performance and trust requirements expected by our target users.