This proposal seeks funding for the ongoing annual maintenance and feature enhancement of Plutarch, a production-grade eDSL in Haskell for creating Cardano smart contracts. As a core tool widely adopted within the ecosystem, Plutarch requires consistent upkeep. Funding covers maintenance (bug fixes, compatibility updates for hardforks) and new feature implementation based on community needs (e.g., via GitHub issues). This ensures Plutarch remains resilient, powerful, and up-to-date, supporting developers and the ecosystem.

As a core production-grade tool for Cardano smart contracts, Plutarch requires consistent upkeep and enhancements to align with network growth and upcoming hardforks. This proposal addresses the need for dedicated funding to maintain Plutarch's resilience, add features, and ensure ongoing compatibility, supporting developers and strengthening the ecosystem. Without dedicated funding, this essential tool risks becoming outdated, hindering developer productivity.

This proposal ensures Plutarch remains robust, up-to-date, and supported, benefiting Cardano developers and dApp projects who rely on it. The value is a more stable, efficient development environment, fostering innovation. The ROI includes increased developer productivity, enhanced dApp quality, and overall ecosystem health through maintained core infrastructure. Plutarch's wide adoption demonstrates its value.

Quarterly maintenance releases addressing critical bugs;Confirmed compatibility with specified Cardano Node/Plutus versions upon their release;Updated user documentation. Definition of Done: Releases published on GitHub;Compatibility tests passed;Documentation updated.

Total: $168,000 USD / 243,478 ADA. Note: The budget below assumes 800 hrs Maintenance ($96k) + 600 hrs Enhancements ($72k). Example Structure: Developer Effort (Maintenance - 800 hrs): [approx. $96k] Developer Effort (Enhancements - 600 hrs): [approx. $96k] Project Management / QA Overhead: 10% of grant or $16,800 or 24347 ADA

Duration Estimate: 12 months Resourcing Estimate: Estimated 1,400 hours total effort over 12 months. This will involve 2 or more core developers from MLabs LTD with expertise in Haskell, Plutus, and Cardano tooling.

MLabs LTD is the primary developer and maintainer of Plutarch since its inception. Our team possesses deep expertise in Haskell, Plutus, compilers, and Cardano development, evidenced by the successful delivery and maintenance of numerous core ecosystem tools and successful projects funded via Project Catalyst and other avenues.

This proposal is for ongoing maintenance. If funded, MLabs LTD will provide continuous support including maintenance releases, bug fixes, and compatibility updates for Plutarch throughout the 12-month funding period. Future maintenance beyond this requires subsequent funding.

Plutarch is widely adopted within the Cardano ecosystem, demonstrating significant community reliance and endorsement through use. Known adopters include: MLabs, Genius Yield, DCSpark, AADA Finance, Liqwid Finance, Agora, MuesliSwap, TxPipe, Clarity, Midgard, Axo Trade, DJED, Kwarxs, Lenfi, Pisa Fees, Optim Finance, Zamarad, Ikigai, SingularityNET.

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