TezTrace - Project

Name - Ate8a

**Email or Contact Method - lolhermon@gmail.com

Geographic Location -** Ukraine

Applying As - Individual

If company, provide company name and website:

**Name of project or idea - TezTrace

Detailed Description:

  1. A Hybrid Economy.**

By merging freelance marketplaces with donation crowdfunding, we create a self-sustaining ecosystem where value flows in a circle.**

2.Community First.**

Designed for decentralization. Your contributions—whether code or capital—create your legacy on the Tezos blockchain.

3.Unfakeable History
**
Every task and donation is a constant proof of usefulness. A meritocracy that can’t be hacked.

What type of background or experience do you have and your team have in building out a project like this -
**
At this stage, I am creating it myself, but funding is needed for the launch and to pay developers. A test version has already been created to showcase all the functionality that will be in the final version. - https://tez-trace-test-pfbp.vercel.app/

Social Handles

Funding Amount Requested = 10000XTZ(5000$) (1XTZ =0.5$ - Current price)
2000-3000$ - to pay developers
500 ± - for expenses for launching the site
1000± - for various tasks within the site — compensation will be provided in the form of tasks for the first users, as well as contests.
the remaining funds will be a reserve for possible expenses.

Tez Address to Be Funded - tz1XsoiQzSdqo1hAcwKdLhPYKTv5wng96uTJ

**Proposed goals/GPIs
**
Prototype Demo - https://tez-trace-test-pfbp.vercel.app/

Dual-Reputation System: The rating is built on two pillars — Hard Skills (task completion) and Social Capital (supporting other users’ projects.
Economic Flywheel: Users earn on the platform in order to invest on the platform. This keeps liquidity circulating within the system.
Trustless Verification: The history of transactions and completed work creates an “unfakeable resume” that cannot be manipulated.

Detailed description of the project

1 Like

Thank you for your proposal!

The wallet features don’t seem to work in the demo, and pages are statically set, it appears to be a typical UX template app at the moment.

That is ok since you only just started, but do you have any accounts you could share to confirm reputation/skills? Or do you have a dev team in place if not yourself?

Thank you!

2 Likes

My X - https://x.com/ate8a_nft
My tezos wallet - tz1QLV64P6ZUMmyrmJqNM9K87vYcpDNbj46K
(I created a new one for funding)
My discord - ate8a (I am Trailblazer)
I created this Test version using AI -

Regarding the team, I am looking for developers and have several options - Initially, there will be a basic version of the site with basic functions.

1 Like

This is an interesting proposal but unfortunately it leaves several unanswered questions for me. Pardon my many questions:

  • How will decision-making be handled in this ecosystem? Is there a defined governance model or DAO structure beyond the concept of decentralization?
  • What mechanisms will ensure transparency and prevent centralization of power as the platform grows?
  • Can you share a detailed technical roadmap? For example, what specific technologies, smart contracts, and integrations will be used to implement the dual-reputation system and trustless verification?
  • How will wallet functionality and dynamic pages be implemented? The demo currently appears static—what is the timeline for making it fully functional?
  • What measures will be in place to prevent fraud or gaming of the reputation system? How will you verify task completion and donations without introducing vulnerabilities?
  • How will user data and transaction history be secured on-chain and off-chain?
  • Can you provide a clear breakdown of how the “economic flywheel” will work in practice? What incentives will ensure liquidity and prevent stagnation?
  • How will you handle volatility in XTZ pricing and ensure sustainability for both freelancers and donors?
  • You mentioned you’re currently working alone and seeking developers—what is your plan for recruiting and retaining talent? Are there any confirmed contributors or partnerships?
  • What milestones will you achieve with the requested 10,000 XTZ, and how will you measure success beyond launching a basic version?

To be bluntly honest, while this seems like a fun new idea, it doesn’t seem ready for funding yet. For instance I see you have allocated over half of the proposal budget to unforeseen future costs. I think this reflects a poor vision for taking this to completion. Not to say that cannot be developed, but I would prefer to see it laid out before voting begins.

2 Likes

Thanks for the cool questions !!!**
1.**
Phase 1 — Before the full launch of the basic version (MVP): All decisions are made by the Core Team. This ensures fast development, quick iteration, and the ability to fix issues without bureaucratic delays. At this stage, stability and speed are the priority. Phase 2 — Post-launch (Governance by the Community): Once the base version is fully launched, all future changes — including adding new features, adjusting parameters, or updating smart contracts — will go through on-chain voting. The key principle: voting power is determined by LVLand Rank, not by token holdings. Users with higher LVL and higher rank have greater influence. XP is non-transferable and earned only through meaningful contributions (tasks, moderation, support).

2.
All smart contract code is open — anyone can inspect it.

The platform holds users’ funds only during the … period (the duration decreases as LVL grows — the more trust a user has, the fewer restrictions).
To prevent fraud, rewards are temporarily frozen based on the user’s rating level:

Level 0–10: funds frozen for 12 hours

Level 11–20: funds frozen for 6 hours

Level 21+: no freezing

**3.**There is no technical roadmap yet, only a description of the functionality, because I am not a programmer and cannot know the exact completion dates for each stage.

Regarding reputation:
The main reputation currency will be LVL — to earn 1 LVL, a user needs 100 XP, which are earned by completing tasks or making donations.

  • LVL cannot be transferred to other users.

  • Attempts to farm XP can be tracked and will be penalized.

Additionally, there will be Trust (reviews), which clients can leave for task completion (for example, a 5-star rating).

**4.**The main functionality is verification via wallet and receiving payment/donations directly to that wallet.

Regarding dynamic content, tasks will have different types and will be adapted to the user’s selected criteria.
For example, if I am an artist, tasks related to arts will be prioritized for me — and similarly for each user.

The timeline will depend on the developers. I cannot provide exact dates at the moment, as I currently **do not have developers.

5.**
Fraud prevention: Donations can only be collected from a certain level. The number of active tasks is limited depending on the user’s level.

XP Mechanic – Experience
XP is earned by completing tasks and making donations.

Task Completion: XP is awarded automatically, ranging from 20–50 XP per task. The task creator cannot set the XP; the system calculates it based on the number of submissions.

If fewer than 5 submissions are received, the task is considered difficult, and more XP is awarded (e.g., 50 XP).

If 10–20 submissions are received, the task is considered easier or popular, and less XP is awarded (e.g., 20–30 XP).

Donations: Users earn 1 XP for every XTZ they donate.

This is designed to prevent users from buying reputation too quickly and to give those who complete tasks a fair chance in competition.

Daily cap: Maximum of 10 XP can be earned from donations per day.

(but there is a vulnerability - I wrote below)

6. Users’ wallet addresses will be public, and transactions can be verified, but they will not be visible on the website.

**7.**The life of the project will directly depend on the number of users. The platform’s expenses and earnings will allocate funds for creating paid tasks to support users and for organizing various contests.

8.XTZ volatility: It should be considered by the clients or those collecting funds. In the future, payment in USDT may be added if volatility becomes a major issue.

9.At the moment, I am searching and have a few candidates. I have tried to find people willing to help in order to reduce the requested funding or to make this a joint project with other Trailblazers.

There is a major challenge here because I am not a programmer and cannot accurately estimate the required resources or the roadmap. Therefore, the requested funds include a buffer. The amount allocated for developers reflects the average price for their services as indicated by the developers themselves.

10. Success will depend on the number of tasks, active users, and their activity (completing tasks). Our first goal is to generate earnings as a percentage of completed tasks, so that it can cover the maintenance of the project (server rent and creating tasks to support users).

**Problems:
The main problem is that we cannot guarantee 100% honesty from users.
For example: I created a task that 10 users responded to, and only 1 delivered the required result. I canceled the payment to them, but I might still use their work, for example, their artwork.

Fundraising (we can verify the user before approval, but not after the funds are collected).
For example, a fundraising campaign to launch an NFT collection — we cannot provide a 100% guarantee that the user will actually launch the collection and not just steal the funds. In this case, reputation will be important to increase trust and prevent new users from creating campaigns, thus avoiding spam on the page.

Project timeline: I do not have experience in creating such complex projects, so I am ready to have someone knowledgeable supervise this project, but I would like to retain voting rights in the development of the project at least until the launch of the basic version.**

With the right supervisor, we could potentially reduce the required funds by 50% or more.

**Personally, I see the need to establish trust in blockchain and earn it, since there are many users on Twitter who actively support (often artists), and their support is currently visible only through NFTs and on Twitter.

**

2 Likes

Thanks for taking time to reply to all of my many questions haha!

I can see you have a good vision for what this could be and I am starting to see how it could work, but from my POV I see a ton of work and I worry that you will struggle to reach even an MVP on that budget, extremely exacerbated by not having someone committed to the project that can provide a vision of all of the costs. It’s highly dependent on getting capable people at under-market price I think. Just from my personal experience and looking from the outside, with my limited knowledge. For instance, I could see your hosting reaching several hundred dollars per month. Perhaps you can get a bit of free credits for Google Cloud or AWS but I wonder what the burn-rate will be on that before you are hit with monthly cloud bills.

I definitely see a project here, and I think you have the vision for that product, but I would prefer to see the right team assembled before a proposal is made, to ensure you are asking for the right amount.

2 Likes

It’s somewhat difficult to build a team without a budget, and unfortunately I understand that I may spend funds inefficiently — that’s a problem. Because of this, I’m ready to hand the project over to someone more experienced, but at the same time I want to be sure that the project will follow the vision I came up with.

The life of the project will directly depend on the number of active users, and the budget will not allow us to buy advertising. The commission will be around 2–3% per transaction; even with a large number of participants, this will barely be enough to cover server costs and other expenses. However, increasing the commission would be unfair to users.

Even with an unlimited budget today, I cannot be 100% sure that this application is actually needed right now. There is a significant risk that it will not be interesting due to the current situation in the crypto market and the overall sentiment among crypto users.

1 Like

I don’t mean to deter you. I think this could be a very cool new platform and I could definitely see myself being a user. I think you have the critical vision and I’m definitely NOT saying you shouldn’t do it. My aim was to provide some professional feedback on what I see being your likely roadblocks.

1 Like

Thank you, I understand very well what problems may arise, but I’m not completely sure that I will be able to overcome them. My main goal is to create a project where people can build their own value by helping others through blockchain. At the same time, I understand the necessity of tasks with monetary rewards, but my initial goal is to create an opportunity to earn trust for those who truly deserve it. This project is not about making money; I think we all understand perfectly well that it’s impossible to make a fortune from it (given today’s market and the interests of the crypto community).
In fact, I cannot be sure that these funds will be enough to create this project, even a basic version. However, I am confident in the usefulness of this project if it is implemented in the form I envision. In any case, I would be glad if the Tezos community decides to create its own variation of my project; in that case, we would be able to observe the importance and level of interest of the community.