The Chainlink Community Grant Program provides financial resources to the many development teams and researchers building a more functional, accessible, and socially impactful Chainlink Network. In order to fuel the growth of the Chainlink community and accelerate the adoption of hybrid smart contracts, the Chainlink Grant Program continues to support work that makes it easier, faster, and more efficient to build and test new smart contracts and applications.

Demand for raw materials like tantalum, nickel, and other critical minerals is rising rapidly due to the accelerating adoption of renewable energy and battery technology needed to power a more sustainable future. To support responsible trade practices, the industry largely relies upon paper-based certificate systems to validate exports. These systems are vulnerable to corruption, and many workers who help extract these resources do not benefit from the value of these essential commodities. By improving paper-based systems, Adaptive seeks to improve labor conditions, worker pay, environmental standards, and due diligence practices. 

To help address this issue, we’re excited to announce that the Chainlink Community Grant Program is awarding Adaptive Resources with a Social Impact Grant. With the support of this grant, Adaptive Resources will develop a blockchain-based marketplace for Sustainable Commodity Claims that will enable brands downstream in the supply chain to contribute directly to the costs of upstream sustainability programs based on how much of a specific commodity they use. By improving the current paper-based certification system with a blockchain-based solution, global supply chains will have access to a more transparent, decentralized, and fair method for supporting sustainable mining practices. 

Specifically, Adaptive Resources is building a decentralized application that generates non-fungible “claim tokens” along with an accompanying marketplace. These non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represent a claim on the funding required to support sustainable practices and can be purchased in proportion to how much of a commodity that a company consumes. To prove their support for responsible trade practices, companies along the supply chain will be able to either mint new NFTs or purchase them in the marketplace. With the support of Chainlink Price Feeds, new tokens minted will be able to reflect commodity prices at the time of purchase, enabling companies to demonstrate that they have contributed to supporting sustainability practices in proportion to their financial exposure. Proceeds from token sales will go toward financing environmentally-friendly site improvements, increasing worker pay, and helping drive the adoption of “due diligence” practices that make improvements across the value chain.

Given that mining and materials is one of the largest sectors in the global economy, this work will provide a premier example to other industries looking to move their own sustainability programs to blockchain-based solutions. Ultimately this project serves as a proof-of-concept that highlights how smart contracts can automate various processes for global supply chains.

Through this grant initiative, Adaptive Resources aims to complete the following deliverables: 

• Develop an off-ramp proof-of-concept that enables beneficiaries to convert stablecoins received as part of the program into their local currency in a compliant manner. For example, Ugandan beneficiaries could complete KYC processes, receive USDC, and then withdraw Ugandan Shillings. 
• Identify the most relevant risk indicators across Uganda and Rwanda, including social and economic vulnerability, and use a visual mapping feature to integrate those datasets into the Adaptive Dashboard. 
• Build a database of civil society actors in Rwanda and Uganda eligible to receive a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of claim tokens. These beneficiaries will be selected based on their capacity to improve labor conditions, address environmental concerns, spearhead gender initiatives, or on other similar initiatives.
• Update and publish user guides and user agreements on the application. 

Adaptive Resources is a new venture created by a small team of crypto, fintech, and responsible sourcing experts. This work will be led by blockchain engineer Evan Powlowsky, who is developing the smart contract architecture and frontend for the project. The project will be supported by Dave Snow, a fintech and solar professional, and Jon Ellermann, a responsible trade and sustainability consultant.

“We are proud to have received a Chainlink Community Grant. Adaptive has set out to transform raw material supply chains by bringing more value to upstream producers. We believe that NFTs minted with the support of decentralized oracle networks combined with blockchain immutability and transparency can advance trade practices upstream.” stated Evan Powlowsky, Director of Crypto at Adaptive. “This project will show that brands can easily contribute to the due diligence costs upstream.”

Through the Community Grants Program, Chainlink continues to empower innovative teams, academics, and social impact projects that research and develop key tools and infrastructure to accelerate the adoption of hybrid smart contracts, secure oracle networks, and cutting-edge technology capable of creating a more economically fair world.

About the Chainlink Grant Program

If you want to learn more about the Chainlink Community Grant Program, check out our recent blog post that further expands upon its goals and the criteria for submission. We encourage talented individual developers and development teams to apply to the grant program here, or if you’re a researcher and want to collaborate, contact us.