TL;DR

• This proposal is from eguegu.eth (Nouns605) and jiji.eth (Nouns606).
• We have been offering a free Web3 education service in Japan through Crypto Learning Club (a.k.a CLC).
• We plan to rebrand CLC and launch kiriko.wtf globally, an onchain examination protocol targeting Web3 users.
• We request NounsDAO to contribute $139,000(= 40ETH) as the initial sponsor for our new service, kiriko.wtf.
• We will create global public goods originating from Nouns DAO and significantly enhance the brand value of Nouns DAO.

Background

• Only a small portion of the Nouns DAO treasury (2.5%) is allocated to tech products for people unfamiliar with Nouns DAO.
• It is necessary to raise awareness of Nouns DAO through CC0 and public goods products by funding more for external-facing projects.
• See the detail tech proposal analytics in jiji.eth's blog post

Who We Are

eguegu.eth and jiji.eth have been involved in the blockchain industry since 2017, primarily focusing on software development.

We have been interested in NounsDAO, considered one of the most advanced DAOs globally, and have been active participants since February 2023.

We share technical aspects and intriguing elements of NounsDAO primarily with a Japanese audience through YouTube and X.

In May 2023, we launched Crypto Learning Club, a Web3 educational service aimed at promoting mass adoption of Web3 in Japan.

What is Crypto Learning Club ?

Crypto Learning Club was launched with the concept of helping non-crypto users become Web3 users by learning about Web3 through videos and articles, and improving their understanding by taking tests.

Currently, one year after its release:

Web App users: 2.5k+ YouTube subscribers: 1.3k+

Additionally, CLC is also active as a validator for the global decentralized finance project dYdX, and has received a total of $4M in delegation from over 250 delegators.

Why do we shift into onchain ?

Through our activities with NounsDAO and Vitalik's paper on Decentralized Society (Decentralized Society: Finding Web3's Soul), we believe that the concept of accumulating a "soul" in onchain wallets will become the mainstream of the internet in the future.

We think that onchain activity history will become the next form of online identity and it also become assets for us.

Due to the nature of blockchain, data and logic that are public can be used by anyone. Instead of a model where a single service provider offers services, multiple service providers can offer clients in accordance with protocols built on the blockchain. Users can utilize services in a self-sovereign manner. We believe this is the direction the future internet should take.

Therefore, we decided to shift our approach from local, Web2-style services to creating a foundational system for learning that can be used globally by Web3 users.

What is kiriko.wtf

Kiriko is offered as a completely free permissionless onchain examination protocol.

Just as Farcaster supports the social network protocol with numerous clients, we aim to implement the protocol and its initial client (kiriko.wtf) that will form the foundation for onchain Examination.

As activity history onchain forms an individual's credibility and personality onchain, the scope of Web3 applications expands significantly. We have focused on examinations as one aspect of onchain activities.

With the rapid development of AI, the cost of acquiring information and knowledge has dropped to almost zero, but it is challenging to determine if an individual has truly digested and understood that information.

Existing online exams with third-party-issued certificates are possible, but they require trust in the issuing entity.

kiriko.wtf will build a community that creates an onchain examination environment and community-based certification exams aligned with Web3-native principles, executing everything from test creation to grading and certificate issuance onchain.

With the remarkable development of Layer2, we can use the blockchain as a transparent public database without worrying about gas fees or processing delays. However, the market is still dominated by speculative services and products.

Our goal is to create a new economic sphere by building an onchain certification, learning experience, and donation ecosystem, establishing a foundation of onchain credibility.

Kiriko Ecosystem

The Kiriko Ecosystem consists of three elements:

• Core Protocol
• Client Applications
• Examination SubDAOs

The Core Protocol enables the creation and taking of exams onchain. The Client Applications are user interfaces that utilize the Core Protocol. Examinees use the Client Applications to take exams and receive certificates onchain based on their results.

A crucial aspect of the long-term development of the Kiriko ecosystem is the creation of subDAOs that will develop onchain certification exams. By establishing subDAOs for exam creation in various fields, we can build new decentralized certification exams.

Our ultimate goal is to elevate onchain certification exams to the same level of international credibility as exams like GMAT, IELTS, and TOEFL.

Phases

Kiriko plans to progress the project in the following phases. In the long term, we aim to build a sustainable platform capable of securing long-term sponsorships and donations from a wide range of entities without relying on Nouns DAO. Currently, we have already secured sponsorships from four companies, each contributing $5,000 to $10,000, which gives us confidence in building a sustainable ecosystem.

Considering the history of initiatives like Wikipedia, Gitcoin, and many other charitable organizations, we believe that building a sustainable ecosystem is entirely feasible. We also feel that Web3 has the power to advance such public good activities.

Phase1 ( This proposal )

We will build an MVP and an experimental subDAO to validate the concept of onchain examinations.

• Implement the Core Protocol
• Develop an MVP of the Client Application
• Create one example of an Examination subDAO and at least 3 examinations
• Increase the number of sponsor companies and projects from the current 4 to 15
• Engage over 300 examinees

Phase2

Based on the insights and user base gained from the MVP implementation, we aim to expand our sponsor companies and examination community.

• Increase Examination subDAOs from 1 to 5
• Improve the UI/UX of the Client Application
• Increase the number of sponsor companies to 30
• Engage over 3,000 examinees

Phase3

We will further expand the community and create a market for onchain examinations.

• Increase Examination subDAOs from 5 to 20
• Continue improving the UI/UX of the Client Application
• Increase the number of sponsor companies to 50
• Engage over 10,000 examinees

Phase4

We aim to decentralize overall governance, including protocol development, and enable the continuous maintenance of the project through sponsorships and donations.

• Decentralize the Core Protocol development team
• Attract multiple implementation teams for the Client Application to further decentralize the Client
• Build a sustainable donation and sponsorship revenue base

Budget

This proposal is for the budget for Phase 1.

Since kiriko.wtf is offered as a completely free protocol so it does not generate revenue from the protocol itself and is positioned as a public good project. However, our primary goal is to build a sustainable ecosystem and we'll keep working on it.

Our team has already begun independently securing sponsorships and has seen significant traction and potential.

Benefits for Nouns DAO

We are confident that creating new public good products by Nouns DAO will play a significant role in enhancing the project's brand value.

Additionally, we will strive to increase Nouns DAO's recognition through the following methods.

• We will include Nouns DAO commercials in all videos posted on CLC's YouTube channel starting in August 2024. This will continue for at least one year.
• By prominently featuring NounsDAO in the list of sponsors on the kiriko.wtf, users visiting the site will become aware of NounsDAO.

In the future, further integration with Nouns DAO can be considered, such as:

• Integration with $NOGS and $nouns
• Creating a Nounish Exam SubDAO & conducting Nounish Exams
• Utilizing the results for DAO governance

We believe that Nouns DAO can become an icon of public good in Web3.

Development team with high standards

To develop high-quality software as a team, establishing refined coding standards and a robust system for writing tests is essential. We have created team development rules, including developing custom ESLint modules.

In 2022, we established a development team base in Hanoi, Vietnam, enabling us to provide high-quality software at a relatively low cost.

Additionally, we have published educational materials, such as creating courses for Solidity in Japanese (solidity-training-webinar, solidity-bootcamp, solidity-training).

We have also participated in multiple IRL events in Japan and abroad.

Promising core team members

jiji.eth(Nouns 606)

• X / Warpcast
• Holder of Nouns606
• Over 6 years of experience in blockchain and web development
• Dropped out from the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Science
• CEO of CLC Co., Ltd.

eguegu.eth(Nouns 605)

• X / Warpcast
• Holder of Nouns605
• Over 6 years of experience in blockchain and web development
• Conducting research on blockchain and DID at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School
• CTO of CLC Co., Ltd.

Stew Eucen (Experienced Web developer)

• X
• Over 20 years of experience in web development
• OSS Contributor to:
  • CakePHP
  • ESLint (submitted a bugfix issue)
  • Creator of OSS modules below:
    • X Ninja(JavaScript Frontend framework)
    • Fertile Forest Model
      • Idea of Fertile Forest Model
      • Ruby on Rails gem
      • CakePHP plugin
    • eslint-plugin-openreachtech
• Lead Developer at CLC Co., Ltd.

Tak ( Experienced solidity engineer )

• 10 years experience of web development
• 6 years experience of solidity development
• Many contributions to Japanese leading projects.
• Lead solidity developer at CLC Co., Ltd.

Is This Proposal Nounish? - Yes, Fund Nouns-Originated Public Goods!

Some people might think this proposal isn't directly related to NounsDAO.

However, releasing widely-used public good services from NounsDAO can enhance NounsDAO's reputation in the Ethereum-centered crypto community.

Through our activities in NounsDAO, we've realized that we aren't just a DAO promoting the Nouns character and Noggles, but we are naturally supporting technological advancements and socially good causes centered around Ethereum.

So far, tech proposals have primarily focused on products for internal use within NounsDAO (and this infrastructure building is indeed important), but expanding NounsDAO's recognition through public good services that external users can also utilize can also be considered Nounish.

Lastly

We, eguegu.eth and jiji.eth, are submitting our first proposal since joining NounsDAO.

Over the past year, we have mainly contributed to NounsDAO through information dissemination and community education. However, as developers, we are increasingly eager to contribute by creating tangible products.

Leveraging our experience in running educational platforms, we aim to develop external public good products to shape onchain personas in the educational field.

With a genuine desire to create something beneficial for everyone, we hope to launch this service with sponsorship from NounsDAO ⌐◨-◨.

Rate

Based on the exchange rate of 1 ETH = $3,475 on June 15, 2024, we are requesting 40 ETH for $139,000.