Black Magic

As it is spoken, so it shall be: Abracadabra. The age of New Finance, NuFi, is beginning.

Comment 1

Inspiration

A mere few months ago, I entered the crypto space knowing nothing about crypto nor coding. As I explored this exciting world and all the innovation, I saw the exciting potential for liberation. I quickly realized that the growth I was observing was not liberation, but simply decentralized greed. I was witnessing the powerful DeFi technology generating wealth for those in the "know." I saw the lack of diversity and ideas. I have seen dreams of change fail to materialize when offered by those in power. I have experienced this personally as a black and queer individual. The crypto space has yet to benefit those who are marginalized. The DeFi dream was lip-service. The rich and powerful profited from the technology as the world economy was pummeled by COVID-19 and millions dropped into poverty. Meanwhile, people in the crypto space counted their coins and cheered to the abundance.

As a scientist myself, I saw the talented developers create innovative products and utilities that could help everyday people. Unfortunately, the products had a fundamental accessibility problem for people outside of the technological development space. While institutions, investors, and traditional finance flooded in for profits, the public knew nothing of the real wealth being made. Even if they had known, which a good few now do, they could not join in as investors due to the high transaction fees and technical knowledge required to avoid being swindled by frontend scammers and sensationalists. Crypto has similarly failed at helping the marginalized, the little guy, the "least of us."

I hoped that someone would revolutionize the crypto space, but I looked around and thought, "Why not me?" Thus, Black Magic was created. The homogeneity of the crypto space leads to its inability to connect with marginalized. I, a black, queer, trans, and disabled chemist, decided that I would save my people. If no one else is going to do it, I will. I will fight to build this dream, just as I have fought for my entire life.

What it does...

Black Magic (BM) addresses the marketing and frontend failure of DeFi to help marginalized individuals. While the crypto infrastructures are brilliant, they are not digestible for consumers. More accessible exchanges, specifically centralized, charge high fees and are made with only traders and novice investors in mind. BM utilizes DeFi technology and packages it to be free and accessible to the global community of marginalized people. To combat marginalization, Black Magic will create a system of decentralized wealth generation for everyone. I am calling this system New Finance or NuFi. I plan for BM to create a new sector - a humanized and legally compliant frontend interfacing with DeFi. Across the globe, we as marginalized people can finally unite and pool our resources to resist the global financial system and those profiting off our backs.

Black Magic enables wealth building through compound interest. There will be no upfront fees, no monthly fees, no minimums, and no withdrawal fees - nothing except a small percentage taken from returns for operating costs and charitable giving. Additionally, Black Magic gives everyday people the access to educational risk-mitigated crypto-investing unlike Coinbase, DEXs, or Robinhood.

How I built it...

I am still in the early stages and looking for a platform to begin building my project on. I am currently investigating the possibilities of using Solana, Hedera, and Celo. Luckily, the Hedera Hackathon 21 provided me with an opportunity to try out the Hedera Token Service! With the help of Hedera's simple token creation, I was able to develop the BM testnet token in JavaScript. HTS made Hedera my native platform of choice.

Challenges I ran into...

Since I am new to coding, I struggled figuring out what error messages meant and how to fix them. I used Stack Overflow, tutorials, and the resources provided by Hedera to overcome the bugs!

Accomplishments that I'm proud of...

This is my first hackathon and couldn't be more proud of myself to have a finished and functional token on Hedera. Additionally, I developed an entire executive pitch, presentation, and have started a whitepaper for Black Magic. With the help of an artist, I designed the first iteration of the BM logo.

What I learned...

I learned how to code!! With the support of Cooper and Hedera's uniquely intuitive HTS, I was able to learn all the coding on the fly. This hackathon has opened opportunities and possibilities for me. Now I am coding in solidity, attempting to create a functional browser extensions for the eftpos challenge, and engaging with crypto developers on discord and telegram channels.

What's next for Black Magic and Cult Leader En?

For myself,

I plan to learn to code more professionally through online resources. I am engaging in the developer community to learn more about dapp development for Black Magic. I will obtain my investor license, Series 65, to legally manage and invest people’s money. Moreover, as they say, I plan to take this idea to the moon. I am so deeply passionate about equity and inclusion and I plan to help everyone live abundantly through Black Magic.

For Black Magic,

As I mentioned, I have developed an executive pitch and started a white paper. I plan to complete Black Magic's whitepaper and circulate it. I have two roadmaps, short term and long term, to track the project's progress and inform potential investors of deliverables. I will be setting up a non-profit LLC to begin the business infrastructure, ensuring legal and regulatory compliance. Finally, I plan to apply to Hedera Boost as recommended by Cooper Kunz, my hackathon mentor.

I want to thank the judges for their time evaluating my submission, Cooper and Lina for their support, and the Hedera community for their wisdom.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates

posted an update —

Update #6

I have uploaded the finished logo and the variations on it! I will be finishing up my code for the HTS and creating final Hedera native tokens: Black Magic (BM) and Abundance Stable Coin (ABD). The BM chrome browser is currently being coded.

Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.

posted an update —

I uploaded a rough presentation of Black Magic. This is not finalized and will be branded with logo and color schemes early next week. Additionally, I am exploring creating the "Magic Slip" chrome browser extension. I am hoping to have a portion finished before the end of the hackathon.

Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.

posted an update —

I have finished the initial functions of the Black Magic token through HTS. I am going to now explore creating a wrapped version of Black Magic on the Ethereum network and start building starter website.

Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.

posted an update —

Exciting news! The artist creating Project Black Magic's logo, Naijah (Instagram - @naijahnine), has produced a range of designs. I have finally settled on a phenomenal logo. I will be deciding the color scheme this week. The finished logo will be posted on the project page later this week or earlier next week.

Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.

posted an update —

The Black Magic token (BM) code has been written and is functional. The features can be found on the GitHub link for interested parties. I am going to be working on the ability for the BM token to be swapped with HBAR in treasury and associated accounts. I am continuing to build out the larger infrastructure and roadmap for Project Black Magic. I will be recording the pitch video this week as well.

Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.

posted an update —

Update #1

I am currently working on developing the environment for the HTS in JavaScript. I will be establishing a test BM token to verify functionality. Concurrently, I am developing my executive summary and presentation.

Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.