Big Spender Track Proposal: Project Gweihir, a Chainlink external adapter for Kusama chain data.
Hello everyone,
We are excited to announce our proposal to build the ecosystem a Chainlink external adapter that will provide Kusama chain data to Ethereum smart contracts! We call it "Project Gweihir" (pronounced gway-here).
One of the biggest challenges in web3 is interoperability across blockchains and ensuring that messages from one blockchain can make it to another in a trustless and decentralized manner. There are a number of projects already tackling this problem for the Kusama ecosystem: Snowbridge, Composable, and Darwinia for example. Having a robust ecosystem of cross chain messaging solutions is vital to the mission of decentralization, and we are not aware of a solution that leverages Chainlink technology to deliver Kusama data to Ethereum smart contracts.
This proposal aims to lay the ground work necessary to:
- Build a Chainlink external adapter that can query data from a local Kusama node
- Maintain a Chainlink Oracle that can provide Kusama data to Ethereum smart contracts
- Create open source documentation on deploying all aspects of the project
- Create a proof-of-concept smart contract that utilizes the oracle and adapter
- Build a dApp that can demo the proof-of-concept
- Create protocols for potential use-cases of Kusama data in smart contracts
We believe by leveraging Chainlink technology, we will be providing the ecosystem a unique solution to cross chain messaging while paving the way towards a decentralized network of competing Chainlink node operators that can reliably provide Kusama chain data to smart contracts. While initially this bridge will only work one-way (Kusama -> Ethereum), we hope to expand this project after we've proven the concept to facilitate a two-way bridge.
We discussed this project idea with Chainlink Labs and they believe it to be a viable start that could eventually be adapted to what they call their "Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol" (CCIP). Hopefully, this project can start the process of developing this protocol so that Kusama can benefit from a fully fledged two-way bridge between itself and Ethereum via the Chainlink network. We believe the experimental nature of this Chainlink integration makes it perfect for the Kusama ecosystem and could potentially prove a cross chain messaging standard worthy of Polkadot. In any case, this project will allow Ethereum smart contract developers to easily use Kusama chain data in a way that is reliable and decentralized, opening the door to new dApp possibilities on Ethereum.
Additionally, this project will unite two very lively ecosystems under a common goal. The Chainlink community (a.k.a. "LINK Marines") are known for their strong dedication toward Chainlink and toward projects that implement Chainlink technology. This project is a great opportunity for the Kusama community to spread awareness about Kusama and to show confidence in a technology already supported by passionate individuals. We hope that this will bring in new users for Kusama from the Chainlink community while simultaneously facilitating the creation of Ethereum dApps that are specially useful for Kusama users.
You can view the full proposal here - the scope of this funding request covers the first two phases of the project (~6 months) and it will be led by Steeber Solutions. We look forward to receiving feedback and answering any questions the community has on this proposal.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Adam Steeber
CTO - Steeber Solutions LLC
Comments (3)
Hello Adam!
This is an interesting proposal and we are looking forward to eventually supporting it through governance..
One question regarding funding: Have you applied for Chainlink's grants program as well? In case positive, could you please disclose the details? In case negative, could you please indicate the reasons?
Many thanks!!.. have a good one!
Milos
Thanks for the response! We have not sought funding from Chainlink Labs. We'd likely seek funding from Chainlink Labs only if/ when this project becomes an official CCIP innovation. While the first phases of this project will certainly utilize Chainlink tech, it doesn't necessarily innovate on top of Chainlink. Most of the functional innovation of this project applies to, and would benefit, users of Kusama. Ultimately, this project is the Kusama ecosystem's effort to deliver its chain data to Ethereum smart contracts which is why we are focusing our funding request toward the Kusama treasury. Also, when I spoke with Chainlink Labs, they made it sound like this would have to be initially bootstrapped by the Kusama ecosystem. Regardless, I really like the idea of eventually subsidizing this project from Chainlink's grant program - something that I will definitely look into!
Thank you for this very unique proposal that aims to build some solid piece of multichain infrastructure. How many nodes for each network are you looking to deploy during phase 1? The numbers aren't mentioned in the proposal.
Hi Anaelle, thanks for the question!
This project will maintain 3 nodes to achieve its proof-of-concept: one fully archived Kusama node, one fully archived Ethereum node, and one Chainlink node. I understand how intensive of an infrastructure that is but the main goal is to ensure self-reliant access to the Ethereum network and to Kusama chaindata. By building our documentation around this complete infrastructure, we'll be enabling implementers in following the core values of web3. It is also the ideal according to Go Ethereum:
In the future we hope that we can approach developers that are already running some/ all of these nodes already to have them implement the other components of this project so they can participate in the Chainlink oracle network that provides Kusama chaindata to smart contracts. The more oracles, the more security! For example, I know p2p.org runs all three of these nodes, so implementing this would be a breeze for them. That's why open source documentation is one of the cornerstones of this project.