Dream with Us

Inspiration

Everyone has dreams and aspirations. Whether it’s saving up for education, breaking into the music industry as a small artist, or travelling the world. Yet, too often, we don’t have the financial capacity for them to be a reality. We wanted to create an app that helps bridge this gap. Introducing Dream with Us, a network reshaping how people achieve their dreams through decentralized, peer-to-peer transaction funding.

What it does

Dream with Us is a platform that enables individuals to support the aspirations of creators, entrepreneurs, and everyday dreamers. Through our app, users can browse dreams and aspirations of others. Users can show their support and donate money in the form of cryptocurrency. At the same time, it’s a space for individuals to share their own aspirations and gain support. Our app helps connect and accelerate a community of diverse dreamers.

How we built it

Our frontend is built using Svelte, JavaScript, and TailwindCSS. The backend is built using Motoko and Coinbase API. Collectively, these allow our app to run smart contracts and manage decentralized transactions. Lastly, the entire app is hosted and deployed on the ICP blockchain. We used two canisters (which act like smart containers similar to Docker) to separate the frontend and backend.

Challenges we ran into

Blockchain Transaction APIs: There were limitations with the transaction APIs for blockchain payments and we had to develop custom solutions.
Integration of ICP with UI Libraries: Since ICP project folder requires a lot of specific version dependencies, this led to compatibility issues with most popular UI libraries. We had to forgo using these libraries entirely during our development.
Deployment and Testing: Deploying and testing decentralized applications (dApps) on the ICP, especially containerizing both frontend and backend canisters, was tricky. It required in-depth knowledge of the ICP’s architecture and its nuances with smart contract deployment.
Initial Development Environment Setup: Setting up the development environment and coordinating between Docker and dfx CLI took time and troubleshooting.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud to have fully deployed both the frontend and backend canisters on the ICP blockchain, making our app completely decentralized. Additionally, we successfully integrated the Coinbase API to handle secure, real-time ICP token transactions between users and dreamers, allowing seamless donations.

What we learned

We learned about Web3, the decentralized nature of blockchain technology, and how it compares to traditional systems. This gave us a deeper understanding of its potential for peer-to-peer interactions. Furthermore, we gained hands-on experience with the ICP's communication mechanisms between devices and smart contracts, allowing us to build scalable, secure decentralized apps. We also got to meet awesome teams, and people along the way :)

What's next for Dream with Us

Implement direct peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions on the blockchain with added security layers like checksums and multi-signature verification
Introduce tiered subscriptions and investment caps to allow different levels of engagement, from small perks to larger equity-like arrangements for backers.
Provide analytics for dreamers to track their funding and backer engagement and tools to update supporters on their progress.