Title: Myaza
Applicant name: Myaza
Team member name:
Richard Ingwe
Team member name:
Cyril Uket
Pitch: A one-liner elevator pitch version of your proposal
Myaza offers a revolutionary digital banking platform for seamless multi-currency wallets and virtual debit cards in Africa
Total Request (USD):
$35244.00 USD
Have you previously received a grant from Zcash Community Grants (formerly called ZOMG) or ZF?
No
Are you seeking or have you received funding from other sources for this proposed project?
No
Applicant background:
Our team at Myaza combines extensive experience in fintech, product management, software development, and legal compliance to deliver innovative financial solutions for Africa. With a strong track record of successful collaborations with global firms, we are well-equipped to execute and scale the project we are proposing.
• Charles Archibong: With a background in fintech, blockchain development, and a history of collaboration with leading companies in Germany, Charles has the vision and leadership skills needed to guide Myaza towards success.
• Cyril Uket: Cyril’s expertise in product management, mobile app development, and blockchain development ensures that our solutions are user-friendly and effective in meeting the needs of our customers.
• Richard Ingwe: Richard’s proficiency in software development and blockchain development allows us to build robust and efficient systems that underpin our services.
• Ibi Mboto: Ibi’s comprehensive knowledge of tech, law, and business guarantees that Myaza remains compliant and legally sound as we expand our operations.
Description of Problem or Opportunity:
In many parts of Africa, traditional banking systems are often inaccessible, costly, and inefficient, creating significant barriers to financial inclusion for millions of people. This lack of access to reliable financial services hinders economic growth and perpetuates poverty, as individuals and businesses struggle to manage their finances effectively.
Furthermore, the existing banking infrastructure is not well-equipped to handle the increasing demand for cross-border transactions and multi-currency capabilities. This creates a substantial opportunity to leverage digital banking solutions to bridge these gaps and provide more inclusive, efficient, and cost-effective financial services.
Proposed Solution: Describe the solution at a high level.
Myaza is designed to revolutionize financial access in Africa through an innovative digital banking platform. Our solution provides multi-currency digital wallets and virtual debit cards, enabling users to manage their finances efficiently and securely. Key features of Myaza include:
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Multi-Currency Digital Wallets: Users can hold and manage multiple currencies in a single wallet, facilitating easy currency exchange and reducing the complexity and cost of international transactions.
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Virtual Debit Cards: Users can generate virtual debit cards linked to their wallets, allowing for seamless online and offline transactions without the need for a physical card.
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Accessible Financial Services: Our platform is designed to be user-friendly and accessible, ensuring that even those in underserved regions can take advantage of our services with minimal barriers.
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Affordable and Efficient Transactions: By leveraging advanced digital technologies, we reduce transaction costs and improve the efficiency of financial operations, making our services more affordable and reliable for all users.
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Secure and Compliant: We prioritise the security and compliance of our platform, ensuring that users’ financial data and transactions are protected according to the highest industry standards.
By addressing the key challenges of financial accessibility, cost, and efficiency, Myaza aims to empower individuals and businesses across Africa to achieve greater financial independence and stability.
Solution Format: What is the exact form of the final deliverable you’re creating?
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Mobile Application: A fully developed and user-friendly mobile application available on both iOS and Android platforms, allowing users to access all features of Myaza, including multi-currency digital wallets and virtual debit cards.
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Web Portal: An online platform providing users with an alternative access point to manage their accounts, perform transactions, and access customer support.
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API Integration: Robust APIs for integration with various financial services and partners, enabling seamless currency exchange, transaction processing, and financial management.
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User Documentation: Comprehensive user manuals and documentation to guide users through the features and functionalities of the Myaza platform, ensuring a smooth user experience.
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Compliance and Security Framework: Detailed documentation and implementation of security protocols and compliance measures to ensure the platform meets industry standards and regulatory requirements.
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Backend Infrastructure: Scalable and secure backend infrastructure to support the platform’s operations, including database management, server architecture, and integration with third-party services.
These deliverables collectively ensure that Myaza provides a robust, secure, and user-friendly financial solution for individuals and businesses in Africa.
Technical Approach: Dive into the how of your project. Describe your approaches, components, workflows, methodology, etc. Bullet points and diagrams are appreciated!
Myaza
Technical Architecture Document (ZCash Network Integration)
- Introduction
This document outlines the technical architecture for integrating the ZCash network into Myaza’s existing financial services platform. Built using the following technologies:
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Mobile App Development: Flutter (front-end)
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Backend Services: Go lang (API development)
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User Interface: React (web interface)
The integration aims to enhance functionalities related to:
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USD Wallet Management: Enabling users to hold and manage USD within the Myaza app.
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Crypto Funding: Allowing users to fund their USD wallets with tokens like ZEC.
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Virtual Card Transactions: Facilitating seamless funding of Myaza’s virtual USD card from the user’s USD wallet.
- System Components
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Myaza Mobile App: User interface for interacting with financial services. Interfaces with the Integration Layer for ZCash network operations.
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ZCash Network Integration Layer: Handles communication with the ZCash network for ZEC wallet management, funding, and virtual card transactions (on-chain for funding).
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Utilizes the ZCash Developer Kit (SDK) for programmatic interaction.
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Manages ZCash account credentials (if using individual USD accounts) or the multi-signature scheme for the USD pool (if applicable).
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Multicurrency Accounts Database: Stores user information, account details for all supported currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, NGN, GHS, KES, UGX), transaction history, and USD wallet balances (in crypto equivalent).
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Payment Processors: Existing processors will remain integrated for funding accounts with traditional methods for currencies other than USD (separate channel from ZCash network).
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USD Card Provider (External): Myaza will maintain an account with a USD card provider for virtual card operations.
- Key Considerations
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USD Wallet Management Approach:
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We will decide between two approaches:
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Individual ZCash Accounts: Each user has a dedicated ZCash account for holding USD (funded with ZEC). Provides user control and transparency but requires more complex management.
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Multi-Signature Pool: Myaza manages a pool of USD on the ZCash network using a multi-signature scheme. Simplifies operations but requires careful security measures for private keys.
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Stablecoin Selection: We will determine which tokens (ZEC, USDT, USDC, or potentially others) will be supported for funding USD wallets on the ZCash network.
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ZCash Network Fees: ZCash transactions require a small fee in ZEC. We will define how these fees will be handled for various transactions.
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Compliance: We will integrate KYC/AML checks for all transactions, especially those involving tokens and traditional funding methods.
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Security: We will implement robust security measures for:
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User information
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ZCash account credentials (if using individual accounts)
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Transaction data
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USD pool private keys (if using a multi-signature scheme)
- Data Flow Examples
- Funding USD Wallet with USDC:
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User initiates a USD wallet top-up with ZEC through the mobile app.
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The app transmits the request to the Integration Layer.
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The Integration Layer uses the ZCash SDK to initiate a transaction on the ZCash network, sending ZEC from the user’s external ZCash wallet to Myaza’s designated account.
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Upon successful transaction confirmation, the Integration Layer updates the user’s USD wallet balance in the database (in USDC equivalent if using a multi-signature pool).
- Funding Virtual Card with USD (On-chain):
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User requests to fund their virtual card with USD from their USD wallet.
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The app transmits the request to the Integration Layer.
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The Integration Layer debits the user’s USD wallet balance in stablecoin (USDC/USDT) on the ZCash network.
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Myaza internally converts the token to USD and credits the corresponding amount to their USD card provider float account (off-chain).
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Scalability and Performance
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The architecture will be designed to handle the projected initial user base of 5,000 with a transaction volume range of 45,000 to 150,000 per month (data from launch in September 2023).
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We will consider cloud-based solutions for database storage and backend services to ensure scalability.
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We will implement load-balancing mechanisms to distribute traffic across multiple servers if needed.
Dependencies: What external entities is your project dependent on? What involvement is required from ZF, ECC, and/or other external organizations? Who would have to incorporate your work in order for it to be usable?
Since we’re applying for the ZCash Grant Program, Myaza’s project dependencies and external involvement are as follows:
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ZF (ZCash Foundation): Integration and compatibility with ZCash blockchain protocols and updates. Myaza will depend on ZF for guidance, support, and potentially direct collaboration to ensure adherence to ZCash’s standards and best practices.
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ECC (Electric Coin Company): Similar to ZF, Myaza’s project may require interaction with ECC for technical advice, codebase integration (if applicable), and alignment with ZCash’s development roadmap.
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External Organizations: Integration with financial institutions or payment processors for fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat transactions. This may involve partnerships with banks, regulatory bodies for compliance, and technology providers for secure transaction processing.
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Users and Integrators: Myaza’s deliverables, including codebase enhancements and API documentation, will need to be incorporated by internal development teams for deployment in the Myaza mobile apps, web portal, and backend infrastructure. External integrators may also utilize Myaza’s APIs for extending financial services.
Successful collaboration with ZF and ECC ensures that Myaza’s developments align with ZCash’s ecosystem, enhancing usability, security, and scalability for users leveraging blockchain technology in financial transactions.
Execution risks: What obstacles do you expect? What is most likely to go wrong? Which unknown factors could jeopardize success? Who would have to incorporate your work in order for it to be usable?
Given the context of applying for the ZCash Grant Program, here are potential execution risks and factors that could affect the project:
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Technical Challenges: Developing integrations with ZCash’s blockchain may encounter technical complexities, such as protocol updates, security vulnerabilities, or unforeseen compatibility issues with existing infrastructure.
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Regulatory and Compliance: Adhering to regulatory requirements in various jurisdictions where Myaza operates can pose challenges. Changes in crypto regulations, compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws, and data protection regulations could impact project timelines and implementation.
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Market Acceptance: User adoption and acceptance of new financial products and services leveraging ZCash technology may be slower than anticipated. Educating users about the benefits of blockchain-based financial solutions and overcoming trust barriers are critical.
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Dependency on External Entities: Successful integration and usability of Myaza’s solutions depend on cooperation and support from ZCash Foundation (ZF), Electric Coin Company (ECC), and potentially other external organizations. Delays or changes in their development priorities could affect project timelines and outcomes.
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Operational and Scaling Challenges: Scaling the infrastructure to handle increased transaction volumes and ensuring uptime and reliability of services are operational risks. Myaza will need robust systems for monitoring, security, and customer support to mitigate these risks effectively.
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Financial Viability: Securing sustainable funding beyond the grant period and managing costs effectively are essential for the project’s long-term success. Fluctuations in cryptocurrency markets and economic conditions could impact financial projections.
To mitigate these risks, Myaza will maintain close communication with ZF, ECC, and other stakeholders, prioritize regulatory compliance, conduct thorough testing and validation of technical solutions, and implement agile project management practices to adapt to unforeseen challenges. Ongoing market research and user feedback will guide adjustments to the project roadmap, ensuring alignment with market demands and regulatory developments.
Unintended Consequences: What are the negative ramifications if your project is successful? Consider usability, stability, privacy, integrity, availability, decentralization, interoperability, maintainability, technical debt, requisite education, etc.
If Myaza’s project integrating with ZCash is successful, potential unintended consequences could include:
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Usability and Accessibility: If not properly designed, blockchain-based solutions can be complex for mainstream users, leading to adoption barriers due to usability issues. Ensuring intuitive user interfaces and clear instructions is crucial to mitigate this.
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Privacy and Security: While blockchain offers inherent security benefits, improper implementation or vulnerabilities in smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps) could lead to privacy breaches or security exploits. Robust security measures and regular audits are essential to safeguard user data and funds.
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Technical Debt and Maintenance: Rapid development to meet deadlines might result in technical debt, leading to future challenges in maintaining and upgrading the platform. Proper architectural planning and ongoing maintenance are necessary to avoid accumulating technical debt.
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Interoperability and Integration: Blockchain interoperability challenges could arise if Myaza’s solution doesn’t seamlessly integrate with existing financial systems or other blockchain networks. Ensuring compatibility and interoperability standards can enhance ecosystem integration.
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Regulatory Compliance: Successful adoption may attract regulatory scrutiny, requiring ongoing compliance with evolving cryptocurrency regulations and legal frameworks. Proactively engaging with regulators and legal advisors is crucial to navigate compliance complexities.
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Centralization Risks: Depending on how the solution is structured, there could be unintended centralization risks if certain entities gain disproportionate influence or control over the network. Designing for decentralization and community governance can mitigate these risks.
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Economic and Market Risks: Market fluctuations in cryptocurrency prices and economic conditions could impact the viability and sustainability of Myaza’s business model. Diversifying revenue streams and strategic financial planning can help mitigate these risks.
Addressing these unintended consequences requires a holistic approach that balances innovation with risk management, prioritizes user education and security, ensures regulatory compliance, and fosters ecosystem collaboration for long-term sustainability and impact.
Evaluation plan: What metrics for success will you share with the community once you’re done? In addition to quantitative metrics, what qualitative metrics will you commit to report?
For the Myaza project integrating with ZCash, the evaluation plan will include both quantitative and qualitative metrics to share with the community:
Quantitative Metrics:
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Transaction Volume: Measure the total number and value of transactions processed through the Myaza-ZCash integration over time.
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User Adoption: Track the growth in the number of users utilizing ZCash through Myaza’s platform.
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Transaction Fees: Monitor the average transaction fees paid by users, comparing them to industry standards.
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System Performance: Assess uptime and response times to ensure reliability and scalability of the integration.
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Market Penetration: Analyze the percentage of the target market that adopts ZCash transactions through Myaza.
Qualitative Metrics:
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User Feedback: Collect feedback through surveys, interviews, and user reviews to gauge satisfaction and usability.
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Developer Engagement: Measure the level of engagement from developers integrating with ZCash via Myaza’s APIs or SDKs.
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Compliance and Security: Report on adherence to security best practices and regulatory compliance standards.
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Community Impact: Document any positive impacts on financial inclusion, accessibility, or empowerment.
By sharing these metrics with the community, Myaza aims to demonstrate transparency, effectiveness, and the overall impact of its ZCash integration. This approach not only quantifies the project’s success in terms of usage and performance but also qualitatively assesses user experience, security measures, and broader community benefits.
Hardware/Software total budget:
$30244.00 USD
Please provide justification for the total hardware/software budget:
- Initial Design and System Architecture
Objective: Product Designs.
Activities:
• Create initial designs for system architecture.
• Define requirements for ZCash integration.
Budget: $3,200
- Backend Integration and API Development
Objective: Integrate backend systems, ZCash SDK, and develop APIs for application integration.
Activities:
• Integrate backend services with the ZCash network.
• Implement ZCash SDK for transaction processing.
• Develop RESTful APIs for application clients.
Budget: $14,022
- Backend Testing and Security
Objective: Conduct comprehensive backend testing and security audits.
Activities:
• Perform unit testing, integration testing, and system testing.
• Conduct security audits to identify vulnerabilities.
Budget: $5,012
- Mobile and Web Integration
Objective: Integrate backend APIs with mobile (Flutter) and web (React) applications.
Activities:
• Implement API endpoints in mobile and web applications.
• Develop user interfaces using Flutter for mobile and React for web.
Budget: $8,010
- Final Testing and Deployment
Objective: Perform final testing of integrated applications and prepare for deployment.
Activities:
• Conduct end-to-end testing of applications.
• Address any issues or bugs identified during testing.
• Prepare applications for deployment.
Budget: Included in previous stages
Services total budget (cloud, hosting, etc.):
$5000.00 USD
Please provide justification for the total services budget:
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KYC and AML Compliance: Implementing robust KYC and AML processes is crucial for regulatory compliance and risk management. This involves setting up verification systems, maintaining databases, and ensuring ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements, which necessitates dedicated resources and possibly external services.
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AWS Infrastructure: Utilizing AWS provides scalable and reliable cloud infrastructure, essential for hosting applications, databases, and managing data securely. Costs include compute resources, storage, networking, and data transfer, ensuring optimal performance and availability.
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DevOps Services: DevOps encompasses continuous integration, deployment, monitoring, and management of infrastructure and applications. It involves tools, automation, and expertise to streamline development processes, enhance collaboration, and maintain high standards of operational efficiency.
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Budget Justification: The allocated budget ensures the implementation of robust KYC/AML procedures, reliable AWS infrastructure for scalability, and efficient DevOps practices. These services are critical for maintaining operational integrity, regulatory compliance, and providing a secure and scalable platform for our project’s success.
Compensation total budget:
$0.00 USD
Please provide justification for the total compensation budget:
N/A
Do you require startup funding?
Yes
Start up funding - detailed explanation:
Start-up Funding Justification:
Our request for start-up funding is essential to ensure the successful launch and completion of our project. Here are the key reasons why this funding is crucial:
Initial Development Costs: The start-up funding will primarily cover initial development costs such as software development, system architecture design, and API integration. This includes hiring experienced developers and engineers to kickstart the project and ensure timely completion of Milestone 1.
Start up funding - USD value of payout upon approval of grant:
$17222.00
Milestone 1 - estimated completion date:
07/30/2024
Milestone 1 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables:
$3200.00
Deliverable 1.1
Product Design
Milestone 2 - estimated completion date:
08/07/2024
Milestone 2 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables:
$14022.00
Deliverable 2.1
14,022
Milestone 3 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables:
$5012.00
Milestone 3 - estimated completion date:
08/28/2024
Deliverable 3.1
Backend Testing and Security
Milestone 4 - USD value of payout upon completion of deliverables:
$8010.00
Milestone 4 - estimated completion date:
09/03/2024
Deliverable 4.1
Mobile and Web Integration
Total proposed USD value of grant:
$30244.00 USD
How was the project timeline determined?
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Scope Definition: We defined the scope of the project, including specific deliverables and milestones such as software development, API integration, testing phases, and deployment.
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Task Breakdown: Each major task and activity was broken down into smaller, manageable tasks with clear objectives and timelines. This breakdown helped in estimating the time required for each phase of the project.
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Resource Availability: We considered the availability of resources, including team members, external consultants, and third-party services (such as cloud providers), to allocate tasks and set realistic timelines.
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Dependency Analysis: Dependencies between different tasks and milestones were identified to ensure that sequential tasks could proceed smoothly without delays.
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Risk Assessment: Potential risks and challenges that could impact the timeline were evaluated. Contingency plans were developed to mitigate these risks and minimize their impact on project timelines.
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Feedback and Review: The timeline was reviewed and validated by key stakeholders, including project managers, technical leads, and advisors, to ensure feasibility and alignment with project goals.