The CKB Eco Fund Spark Program is dedicated to supporting community developers and innovative projects. Following multiple rounds of rigorous review and communication, we are pleased to formally announce that the grant application for the Blackbox project has been approved.
Project and Developer Information
- Project Name: Blackbox
- Core Goal: To execute a v0 prototype seed testing programme.
- Developer Team:
- Neon | Nervos Nation (
@neon5336_on Discord) - toastman | phillip.bit (
@toastmanphillip.bit_on Discord)
- Neon | Nervos Nation (
- Project Description: Blackbox is a point-of-sale (POS) physical terminal device for merchants, designed to support both fiat and cryptocurrency payments, with a special focus on assets from CKB L2/Fiber. This project aims to unlock the full potential of Fiber’s diverse asset settlement capabilities by creating dedicated hardware, thereby bringing real on-chain economic activity and broader merchant adoption to the CKB ecosystem.
Spark Program Grant Decision and Rationale
The Spark Program committee has evaluated the project proposal and approved a grant equivalent to $750 USD (which amounts to 177,264 CKB at 1CKB = 0.004231 USD). The project is expected to complete its key deliverables within 6-8 weeks.
The main reasons for this decision are as follows:
- High Ecosystem Alignment and Forward-Thinking Vision: The Blackbox project is strategically focused on driving the real-world adoption of Fiber, demonstrating a deep understanding of how to serve the CKB ecosystem’s long-term goals.
- Strong and Proven Team: Both applicants are OG members of the community with long and verifiable track records of contribution, particularly in hardware development and community operations.
- Phillip: A long-time contributor, admin, and builder in the CKB community. He is notable for building interesting hardware for hackathons and successfully delivering a Raspberry Pi-based CKB full-node project funded by the Community Fund DAO.
- Neon: A CKB community member since early 2021. He is a prominent organizer and contributor, having founded Nervos Nation, created a YouTube explainer series on CKB, and managed the imagiNation NFT/DOB marketplace.
- Community-Driven Development Model: The project’s core is to test and iterate the product in collaboration with community experts. This model aligns perfectly with the “human-oriented” principle of the Spark Program, ensuring high-quality feedback and building community engagement from day one.
Fund Management and Project Transparency
To ensure the openness and transparency of the Spark Program, all grant funds will be managed and disbursed through a dedicated multi-signature wallet.
- Project Multi-sig Wallet Address:
ckb1qrg6n7rh4mfltcruh8zjkcdtjmgx7fg2u6yre3ls5fprmvyhdlyzzqfd5utjnwhjn2ecvsaj58emyd6tzkqc5ssrwppep - Multi-sig Mechanism and Stewards: This wallet operates under a 2-of-3 multi-signature scheme and will be jointly managed by the following Spark committee members to ensure fund security and appropriate use: Devrel Lead Hanssen, Research Lead 舟舟, and Devrel member Yixiu.
- Transparency of Disbursements: The initial disbursement of 35,453 CKB (20% of the total grant) and all subsequent payments will be publicly announced with transaction hashes on the Spark Dashboard, the Nervos Talk forum, and relevant Discord community channels.
- Communication Channel: The project’s application thread within the Spark Program channel on the Nervos Network Discord will serve as one of the primary public channels for communication and progress updates.
Project Support and Outlook
The Spark Program provides more than just funding; we will also maintain close collaboration with the Blackbox team, including regular weekly syncs to track progress and coordinate resources.
We have high expectations for the Blackbox project. Its value lies not only in the hardware itself but also in its pioneering effort to bridge CKB’s cutting-edge technology, like Fiber, with real-world business scenarios. This seed testing phase is a critical first step, and we look forward to it laying a solid foundation for future iterations, which may be showcased at events like CKCon. The Blackbox initiative sets an excellent benchmark for hardware-software integration projects within the Nervos ecosystem, and we hope it inspires more builders to create imaginative solutions on CKB.