Grant Proposal: IqraCrypto (old one)

Community Grant Applications
#1

Grant ID: 8684rttj6

Summary:

IqraCrypto is the first educational platform focused on providing blockchain and cryptocurrency knowledge to the underserved MENA region. Our primary aim is to create a series of educational resources, delivered through online courses in Arabic, to make blockchain technology more accessible and comprehensible for the Arabic-speaking community.

We are committed to:

Demystifying the complexities associated with blockchain technology and its applications.
Breaking down language barriers that limit the engagement of the MENA region with global technological advancements.
Empowering our users by providing them with the knowledge needed to participate actively and confidently in the blockchain ecosystem.
Fostering a knowledgeable community that can contribute to the growth of blockchain applications in the region.

Our content ranges from basic blockchain and cryptocurrency principles to more advanced topics, including smart contracts, DeFi, NFTs, and different blockchain protocols.

  • Targeting MENA region, with a population of 500 million.
  • Potential to reach 110 million students in need of blockchain education resources.
  • Anticipating at least 0.0125% engagement, which could reach 50,000 learners.
  • Existing collaborations with EthSwarm, Stacks, Celo, Dfinity, and UD.

I have read and agree to the privacy policy:
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Describe what your project does or is aiming to do in 50 characters or less:
IqraCrypto: Educating MENA region on Blockchain Technology.

If available, please enter a link to your project below:

How far along are you?:
IqraCrypto has successfully beta-launched and is actively running, providing educational courses on blockchain technology. We have developed and published a series of blockchain and cryptocurrency courses in Arabic, reaching hundreds of users to date.

We have an established online platform, active social media channels, and a dedicated team that continuously works on producing high-quality educational content. However, there’s a lot more we aim to achieve, particularly expanding our course offerings to include more blockchain protocols and advanced topics, while growing our user base across the MENA region. This grant will expedite our progress towards these goals.

Why did you pick this idea to work on? Do you have domain expertise in this area? How do you know people need what you’re making?:

The inspiration behind IqraCrypto stems from recognizing the gap in quality blockchain education in Arabic. With over 480 million Arabic speakers worldwide, and a growing interest in blockchain and cryptocurrencies, we identified an untapped market that desperately needed our service.

Our team has strong domain expertise in both blockchain and education, with years of experience in developing and delivering high-quality educational content. We’ve been observing the crypto ecosystem for years and noticed the scarcity of resources in Arabic. The strong reception and positive feedback to our current courses have further validated the need for what we’re offering.

Furthermore, with rising internet penetration and smartphone usage in the MENA region, coupled with a younger demographic interested in new technologies, we’re confident in the demand for our platform and the critical role it can play in accelerating blockchain adoption in the region.

What’s new about what you’re making? What substitutes do people resort to because it doesn’t exist yet (or they don’t know about it)?:
What sets IqraCrypto apart is the unique combination of offering comprehensive, high-quality blockchain education exclusively in Arabic. Our platform provides a tailored learning experience that caters to the specific cultural and linguistic nuances of the Arabic-speaking community.

Until now, Arabic speakers have had to rely on English resources for learning about blockchain, leading to potential misunderstandings due to language barriers, or resort to fragmented, often unreliable sources in Arabic. Additionally, the lack of structured educational paths in the field has made it difficult for beginners to navigate their learning journey.

By bridging this language gap, we’re offering a one-stop solution where Arabic speakers can gain blockchain knowledge from zero to advanced levels, all in their native language. This convenience and focus on quality education in Arabic differentiate us from other learning platforms. Moreover, our continuous efforts to expand and update our content ensure we stay relevant in this rapidly evolving space.

What’s your vision for how your project will impact The Graph and/or web3?:
Our vision for IqraCrypto aligns directly with the inclusive ethos of Web3 and The Graph’s commitment to decentralization and accessibility. By creating high-quality educational content about blockchain and The Graph specifically in Arabic, we aim to empower a significant yet underserved demographic of nearly half a billion Arabic speakers globally.

In the long term, we envision IqraCrypto as a catalyst in the adoption and development of Web3 technologies in the MENA region. By familiarizing the Arabic-speaking community with The Graph, we intend to increase its usage and thereby strengthen its ecosystem. This will also attract more developers and users to the platform.

Our impact will extend beyond just The Graph, contributing to a more diverse, vibrant, and equitable web3 ecosystem. By providing resources in Arabic, we help ensure that the shift to a decentralized web doesn’t leave behind non-English speaking communities, fostering true global inclusion.

How will you measure success?:
Success for our project with The Graph would be measured by:

  • User Adoption: The number of unique users interacting with our course on The Graph, as well as completion rates of the course.

  • Increased Awareness: A noticeable increase in the understanding and awareness of The Graph in the MENA region, measured through surveys and community interactions.

  • Community Contributions: Success would also involve an increase in the number of subgraphs developed by users who’ve completed our course.

  • Active Application: Real-world usage of The Graph by our users, measured by tracking their activities on The Graph after completing our course.

  • Feedback: Positive community feedback and improvement suggestions would also be an important success metric, helping us refine the course for future learners.

Through these metrics, we aim to contribute to the growth and development of The Graph in the MENA region and beyond.

What milestones will you achieve in the coming weeks/months, with or without the grant?:
Milestone 1: Introduction to The Graph and Its Unique Technology - Estimated Cost: $6,000

-Script for course content (Arabic)
-Slides and visual aids for the course (Arabic and English)
-Recorded video of the course (Arabic and English)
-Publishing the course on IqraCrypto and sharing on social media platforms
-One blog post summarizing the course content
-Three infographic or similar pieces of shareable social media content

Milestone 2: Deep Dive into The Graph Ecosystem - Estimated Cost: $6,000

-Script for course content (Arabic)
-Slides and visual aids for the course (Arabic and English)
-Recorded video of the course (Arabic and English)
-Publishing the course on IqraCrypto and sharing on social media platforms
-One blog post summarizing the course content
-Four infographic or similar pieces of shareable social media content

Milestone 3: Building on The Graph - Estimated Cost: $7,000

-Script for course content (Arabic)
-Slides and visual aids for the course (Arabic and English)
-Recorded video of the course (Arabic and English)
-Publishing the course on IqraCrypto and sharing on social media platforms
-One blog post summarizing the course content
-Three infographic or similar pieces of shareable social media content

Milestone 4: Learn and Earn in Arabic - Estimated Cost: $6,000

-A dedicated page on iqracrypto.com to learn all the videos and answer a quiz, if the quiz is successful they will get rewards or benefits.
-Four infographic or similar pieces of shareable social media content

The grant would significantly expedite these processes and help us reach our objectives in a more timely and impactful manner.

Each milestone will take around 4-6 weeks

Please select who you think will benefit from your project?:
Other, Curators, Delegators, Subgraph Developers

How much funding are you looking for? (USD):
25000

Provide a breakdown of your requested funding:
Milestone 1: Introduction to The Graph and Its Unique Technology - $6,000

Course content creation (script, slides, video recording): $4,000
Course publishing and social media sharing: $500
Blog post creation: $500
Infographics creation: $1,000

Milestone 2: Deep Dive into The Graph Ecosystem - $6,000

Course content creation (script, slides, video recording): $4,000
Course publishing and social media sharing: $500
Blog post creation: $500
Infographics creation: $1,000

Milestone 3: Building on The Graph - $7,000

Course content creation (script, slides, video recording): $5,000
Course publishing and social media sharing: $500
Blog post creation: $500
Infographics creation: $1,000

Milestone 4: Learn and Earn in Arabic - $6,000

Development of dedicated page for course videos and quiz: $3,000
Rewards for successful quiz completions: $2,000
Infographics creation: $1,000

Have you applied for (or already received) funding from somewhere else?:
Yes

If yes, please describe where you’ve received funding from and how much you have, or will, receive:
All through grants
Dfinity - $25 000
Celo - Private
EthSwarm - $10 000
Stacks - Private
UD - Private
Ideaology - $5 000
Tezos - In progress
Chromaway - In progress

Can you share any information about current/past web3 experience?:
Zied Chaabane:
A bitcoin advocate since 2017, Zied has over 5+ years in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Holder of EMBA in project management and a bachelor’s degree in finance, Zied built a career in Web3 and was the COO of a project listed on KuCoin, Gate and MXC. He is also the founder of the first arabic crypto elearning platform in the MENA Region.

Wael Ben Said:
Course Editor and Graphic Designer
Wael worked in Saudi Arabia most of his life

Ahmed Khoj:
MIS graduate with experience in education management and customer experience. University Instructor in Makkah

Noomen:
Front End developer

Why are you interested in contributing to The Graph and/or web3?:
At IqraCrypto, our fundamental belief is in the transformative power of blockchain technology and the potential of web3 to create a more open, decentralized, and equitable internet. The Graph, in particular, has been instrumental in powering this decentralization by providing a secure and efficient way for dApps to access blockchain data.

Our interest lies in spreading awareness and knowledge about these emerging technologies to the vast Arabic speaking population. We believe that by educating more people about The Graph and web3, we can empower them to be active participants in the web3 ecosystem. This aligns perfectly with our mission to democratize access to blockchain education, and we are excited about the prospect of contributing to the growth of The Graph and the wider web3 ecosystem.

Are you applying as a team or individual?:
Team

What type of grant are you pursuing?:
Project (one-off)

Please select the category your project best fits into:
Education




Primary Community Poll

Do you fundamentally support this grant application, knowing that the final scope and grant amount may differ from the requested proposal?
  • Yes
  • No

0 voters




Grant Committee Vote

Do you recommend this grant to the DAO?
  • Yes
  • No

0 voters

#2

Greetings!

Thank you for taking the time to apply! In the process of reviewing it, I had a few questions:

1/ I wasn’t quite sure what value this would bring specifically to The Graph and DAO, on the community side. After analyzing the information provided, I, alas, did not see any clear KPI, such as the number of users (50 thousand looks too strange).

2/ On budget. Alas, at this stage I think that the amount you are asking for the types of your work are very excessive.

Here, for example, you can ask for help from our advocates, as we have some pretty talented people who can help with this.

I have read some of your blogs and have come to the conclusion that paying $500 each time, I think, is grossly overpriced. Alternatively, explain to me where that price is coming from.

Next, on posting and on creating a course. Going to the site and taking your grant with Dfinity as an example, I opened this course. Unfortunately I saw there only 1 video, which is clearly not worth $4.000, the same I can say about the course. Explain then, what is the value of this course? And what you are going to provide us.

Also, I looked through your social networks and did not see a high number of people or will you use any additional resources to promote this course or is DAO just paying for future advertising?

3/ How are you going to retain those people who complete your course? Since other than $2k for prizes for the quiz I couldn’t find any information.

In general, summing up some intermediate results, I would say that the proposal has something to work on, at least start with working out a budget, setting more real and specific goals, both to attract new people and to develop the grant.

#3

Hey there! Thanks for the proposal, i have a few questions that came in my mind after reading your proposal:

  1. What strategies do you have in place to reach and engage the target audience of 50,000 students in the MENA region out of total 500 million population?

  2. How will you attract more students to enroll in your courses on the IqraCrypto platform and enhance their active participation and engagement, as only a few students are enrolled in your previous courses?

  3. Can you break down your budget and identify any potential areas for reduction or optimization to make it more efficient, as your amount is way to high?

  4. Can you provide examples of positive community feedback and improvement suggestions you have received for your existing courses?

  5. Can you share some analytics of your website here so we can know how many students from MENA visited there ?

I will be waiting for you answers
Thanks in advance!

#4

Hello,

Thank you for your feedback. It’s vital to us, and we’re always keen on improving our approach based on such insights. Here are responses to the concerns you’ve raised:

1/ Regarding the value for The Graph and DAO: Our primary KPI revolves around the number of educated and well-informed users we aim to cultivate. We agree that stating a flat figure like 50 thousand may seem arbitrary. We aim to get a significant portion of the MENA region’s budding crypto users knowledgeable about The Graph and the underlying tech. As for precise figures, we’ll work on developing a more data-driven projection and share that with you soon.

2/ On the budget: We’ve formulated the costs based on the time, effort, and resources necessary to create high-quality educational material.

  • Infographics: We believe that an effective infographic is more than just design. It’s about representing complex information quickly and clearly. The cost includes the research, design, and revisions to ensure we accurately represent the subject matter.
  • Blog posts: We base the cost on the research required, the time it takes to write and edit, and the unique insight we offer. The content isn’t merely informational but tailored to educate and engage the community.
  • Course Content: The cost of course creation is not just about recording a video. It involves planning the curriculum, scriptwriting, creating engaging visual aids, recording, editing, and post-production.
  • Social Media Sharing: We’ll be leveraging our existing network for promotion, but we also plan on using strategic social media campaigns to reach a larger audience.

3/ Retaining People: We aim to create a robust community around The Graph, where users will not just complete a single course but continue to engage with the platform and other learners. The rewards for successful quiz completions are not just a gimmick but a part of a larger strategy to encourage active participation and continuous learning.

We’ll take your advice and further refine our proposal, particularly our budget and goals, to make them more specific and realistic. Your feedback is invaluable, and we appreciate the time you’ve taken to help us improve.

Best regards,

#5

Thank you for taking the time to review our proposal and sharing your thoughts. I’d be more than happy to provide some clarity on your questions:

1/ Engaging the target audience: We’ve got multiple strategies in place, including:

  • Targeted Social Media Campaigns: Leveraging various platforms, we plan to run specific campaigns for our target demographic in the MENA region.
  • Strategic Partnerships: By collaborating with educational institutions and tech communities in the region, we aim to promote our courses directly to interested individuals.
  • Content Localization: We believe in providing content that resonates with the local audience. Hence, our courses will be in Arabic, making them more accessible to the community.

2/ Attracting more students: Our approach revolves around:

  • Offering quality content: We aim to deliver top-notch, comprehensive courses that provide real value to our users.
  • Engaging Learning Experience: We plan to incorporate interactive elements like quizzes and discussions to make learning more engaging.
  • Rewards and Incentives: To encourage active participation, we intend to offer rewards to students who complete our courses and quizzes successfully.

3/ Budget Optimization:

We understand your concerns and are open to re-evaluating our budget. We’ve initially projected costs based on a comprehensive execution plan, from content creation to promotion. However, we’ll reassess our budget, identifying areas for potential optimization.

I will be dropping a reviewed proposal down below.

4/ Community Feedback:

We have indeed received feedback for our existing courses, much of it being positive, praising the quality of our content and the effectiveness of our teaching approach. We’ve also got constructive suggestions to add more interactive elements and diversify our course offerings, which we plan to incorporate in our upcoming courses.

5/ Analytics:

As of now, we’ve had a considerable number of unique visitors from the MENA region. We anticipate a significant increase in these numbers with our targeted promotion and localization of content.
https://www.similarweb.com/website/iqracrypto.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@iqracrypto

We’re confident in our capacity to meet the objectives we’ve set out, and we appreciate your insightful questions, helping us refine our approach further.

Best regards,

#6

Thank you for taking the time to apply for the community grant. At first glance, this proposal is exhaustive but not very specific to the Graph. In fact, the Graph is mentioned there only a few times and quite vaguely, in my opinion.

The budget request is indeed high, and as I can see your e-learning platform isn’t free to use - it costs 40$ per month for each user. Are you planning to change that for the Graph specific content and community?

Leaving the final costs aside, I’m also curious about educational content and resources based on which you are planning to develop the content for the course. Can you also share these resources? I believe that there are already at least a few to choose from high-quality courses in the space which only need to be translated into Arabic. If that’s the case I think the budget request should reflect that.

#7

Dear julianna,

Thank you for your valuable feedback on our proposal. We understand your concerns and would like to address them as follows:

1. Specificity to The Graph: Our intent is to create a detailed and thorough curriculum around The Graph. This will include understanding the protocol, how to use it, the role of Indexers, Curators, Delegators, and how individuals can participate. We have mentioned The Graph minimally in the initial proposal to avoid information overload, but rest assured, the actual content will be deeply centered around The Graph.

2. The cost: We would like to clarify that we do not operate on a subscription model. Our users pay per course, which ranges between $15 to $40. For the Graph-specific content, the courses will be free and accessible on both the platform and Youtube mainly to drive higher engagement and adoption of the Graph in the MENA region.

3. Educational Content and Resources: We indeed agree that there are numerous high-quality resources available. Our plan is not just to translate these resources, but to curate, customize and present them in a way that is easy to understand and culturally relevant to our target audience. The budget reflects the time, effort, and resources required to create high-quality videos, infographics, quizzes, and other interactive content to enhance the learning experience.

As we endeavour to contribute positively to the Graph ecosystem, we welcome any further suggestions or areas of focus that you might think we should incorporate. We remain flexible and are willing to consider a counter-proposal that would meet both our goals while still delivering the anticipated value to the Arabic-speaking audience.

Thanks and regards,

#8

Greetings!

The presentation of the project will be in the public-voice-chat channel on the Graph AdvocatesDAO Discord server on June 20th at 10:00 UTC. Entrance is open and everyone is welcome to come in and ask their questions during the presentation!

Thank everyone for your attention!

1 Like
#9

Hello Everyone!

Thank you very much for your questions yesterday, it was really interesting. :grin:
I hope you liked the goal of IqraCrypto.

As discussed, I am editing some parts of the grant application, kindly find below the updated information.

What milestones will you achieve in the coming weeks/months, with or without the grant?:

Milestone 1: Introduction to The Graph and Its Unique Technology - Estimated Cost: $5,000

-Script for course content (Arabic)
-Slides and visual aids for the course (Arabic and English)
-Recorded video of the course (Arabic and English)
-Publishing the course on IqraCrypto and sharing on social media platforms
-One blog post summarizing the course content
-Three infographic or similar pieces of shareable social media content

Milestone 2: Deep Dive into The Graph Ecosystem - Estimated Cost: $5,000

-Script for course content (Arabic)
-Slides and visual aids for the course (Arabic and English)
-Recorded video of the course (Arabic and English)
-Publishing the course on IqraCrypto and sharing on social media platforms
-One blog post summarizing the course content
-Four infographic or similar pieces of shareable social media content

The grant would significantly expedite these processes and help us reach our objectives in a more timely and impactful manner.

Each milestone will take around 4-6 weeks

How much funding are you looking for? (USD):
10000

Provide a breakdown of your requested funding:

Milestone 1: Introduction to The Graph and Its Unique Technology - $5,000

Course content creation (script, slides, video recording, editing): $3,800
Course publishing and social media sharing (Metadata, SEO, Testing): $400
Blog post creation (English + Arabic): $500
Infographics creation: $300

Milestone 2: Deep Dive into The Graph Ecosystem - $5,000

Course content creation (script, slides, video recording, editing): $3,800
Course publishing and social media sharing (Metadata, SEO, Testing): $400
Blog post creation (English + Arabic): $500
Infographics creation: $300

It’s important to note that this budget includes indirect costs associated with project management, platform maintenance, platform hosting, and administration overhead. We’ve taken a careful approach to budgeting to ensure maximum cost-effectiveness while maintaining the quality of our deliverables.

Thank you and looking forward to cooperating with you!

#10

Thanks so much for reviewing the budget and the deliverables.
So basically you can create two courses:

  • Milestone 1: Introduction to The Graph and Its Unique Technology - $5,000
  • Milestone 2: Deep Dive into The Graph Ecosystem - $5,000

Can you also be so kind to share the syllabus (high level)?
thanks

1 Like
#11

Hello,

Absolutely. This is the draft that we have prepared:

1. Milestone 1: Introduction to The Graph and Its Unique Technology

Introduction to The Graph:

Overview of how The Graph works and the problems it solves in the crypto and blockchain industry.
Origins of The Graph and the need it addresses in the blockchain space.

The Graph’s Unique Technology:

A layman’s guide to The Graph’s technologies.
Understanding how The Graph makes blockchain data easily accessible and usable.

Introduction to Subgraphs:

Defining subgraphs and their role in The Graph ecosystem.
Discussing how subgraphs make blockchain data more accessible to developers and applications.

The Graph in the Broader Crypto Space:

The Graph’s relationship with other cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies.
How The Graph fits into and impacts the larger cryptocurrency ecosystem.

2. Milestone 2: Deep Dive into The Graph Ecosystem

The Graph Token (GRT):

Detailed explanation of the GRT token, its role, and utility in The Graph’s ecosystem.
Understanding the incentives and rewards related to GRT staking, including Indexers’ rewards, Delegators’ participation, and the concept of slashing.

Deep Dive into Roles within The Graph:

In-depth exploration of the roles of Indexers, Curators, and Delegators within The Graph ecosystem.
Understanding the responsibilities and rewards associated with each role.

Understanding The Graph’s Ecosystem:

Further exploration of The Graph’s ecosystem, its key components, and players.
Learning about the interactions and relationships between different roles in the ecosystem.

The Graph’s Governance:

How decisions are made within The Graph network.
Understanding the role of GRT in governance and voting.

Earning from The Graph:

Detailing ways to earn from The Graph, whether by staking, indexing, curating, or delegating.
Learning about the risks and rewards associated with each earning method.

Please note that the order of the course content could change in the future.
But these are the topics we will mainly cover within the courses and the blogs.

If you want us to cover other topics please let us know.

#12

Dear @doxe01.eth @andreea_cia @Lorena @Chidubem,

I understand that there might be concerns regarding our proposal, and I wish to address them. Your feedback is crucial, and we welcome further questions and discussion that could potentially change your voting decision.

I appreciate your consideration thus far. I’d like to clarify a few points to ensure the value we intend to bring to The Graph through our initiative is understood.

We’ve reviewed our proposal and addressed details in the prior discussion. Notably, we view our relationship as a long-term partnership, bound by a common purpose: advancing the Web3 ecosystem. We are both builders in this space, committed to the shared vision of a decentralized future.

Our aim is to bridge the knowledge gap for over 500 million Arabic speakers, a largely untapped market, through high-quality, accessible education about The Graph’s technology. This aligns with The Graph’s goal of fostering a global, inclusive community.

I assure you, the data and metrics provided in our proposal are carefully estimated, reflecting a realistic projection and our commitment to transparency not inflated. If there are areas in our proposal you feel need further clarification or improvement, we welcome your feedback. We are here to learn and grow together.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

#13

The majority decision of the Grant Committee concludes to not recommend this proposal for DAO funding. Please recognize that this is not a statement on the proposal itself, but rather an aggregated reflection by committee members taking into account a number of factors, such as alignment to The Graph and web3 ecosystem, budget available to support grants and prioritization relative to other proposed grants.

Below you find brief feedback brought up within the committee to not recommend DAO funding that may help you to submit successful grant applications in the future:

At this stage, the proposal has many pitfalls, which in the long run may not meet the expectations of the grant. Even though the company has a pretty large list of grants, it does not appear that the community is interested in the products offered, either in social media or on the site. The courses that are publicly available show that the level of support from the community is quite low and as said, may not meet the expectations for community development as well as support for The Graph and its ecosystem.

Thank you for submitting this proposal, and you are encouraged to stay engaged in the Graph community. You are also welcome to submit new grant applications in the future with proposals that may generate stronger support from the committee.

Sincerely,
Graph AdvocatesDAO

#14

Thanks for your comments, it is only motivating us to push forward and build more.
We have started new shorts series and the results are amazing, we will surely apply again in the future.

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