The Open Simple Token project (OST) is running it’s third installment of a world-wide hack-a-thon in an attempt to encourage developers to embrace on the platform. The best part? There’s a cash (well not really cash, but $OST) reward for all participants who successfully complete the development objectives outlined in their blog post.
Alright OST guys (and gals), you got me. Well done! I’m a complete sucker for a challenge like this, and it gives me an excuse to implement an app idea that has been stewing in the back of my mind for quite some time.
Open Simple Token Alpha
The team at OST is aiming to build a one-stop shop to enable businesses and organizations to tokenize their apps and online communities. They provide a number of APIs that allow me (the developer) to mint my own token and integrate it into my app without needing to hire an army of blockchain engineers and lawyers to manage an ICO.
For this developer challenge, the OST team presented a handful of basic requirements that a proof-of-concept integration must meet in order to qualify for the OST Alpha rewards:
- Mint a branded token using the OST Kit.
- Integrate the newly minted branded token into an app, such that token transfers can be triggered by the application.
- Execute at least 1000 app events (airdrops excluded)
- Demonstrate the use of the OST Kit wallet features (balance and transaction history) for a given user.
- Record developer logs of in-app events that trigger token transfers and balance API requests.
They are also offering a social reward to teams that document their development efforts weekly on their blog.
This all seems pretty achievable, so I figured I’d give it a go. I will be doing my best to track progress and give updates on this blog, and once the competition is completed I’ll be posting a YouTube video to demo the application. So now, without further adieu, let’s dive in.
Helping Hands
For this project, I will be building an app that has been in the back of my mind for a while now. The basic premise of the app is to allow passers-by to send money (tokens) to people that are living on the streets and are in need of a meal/clothes/shelter etc. It often happens that most people no longer carry cash, and credit cards do not make a great method for peer-to-peer giving. With Helping Hands, the objective is to create a structured environment for allowing tokens to be gifted from one user to another. The primary requirements of the application are:
- User accounts are transient on devices, as not all users will have a mobile device at all times.
- Allows user to send tokens to another user based on ID number or QR code.
- User receive tokens from company when signing up new users or performing other actions that help the community.
- App allows User A to go “shopping” for User B, and be reimbursed tokens from User B’s balance.
- Shopping is a permissioned activity and must be approved. This is to prevent users from abusing the token balance to purchase items that are destructive to the overall objectives of the community.
- App allows User A to view his own balance and transaction history.
- App allows User A to view User B’s balance when User B approves. User A cannot view User B’s transactions.
This is just a general overview of the requirements of the app as I see them right now, and does not necessarily dictate the exact end product. I fully intend on morphing some of these requirements as development progresses.
Progress Reports
Stay tuned for progress updates. I will be trying for the OST Social Alpha reward so I plan to publish a new blog post near the end of every week. The first blog post will be coming soon (likely tomorrow), as I was a little late to the game.