Canton Dev Fund Strategy
DPM Debug:
Grant Proposal Strategy
Analysis of approved Canton Dev Fund proposals and a strategy for Lazer's first grant submission, a visual debugging plugin for Daml.
Lazer Technologies · Internal Strategy Deck · April 2026
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Contents
What's In This Deck
01
Approved Proposals Overview
What got funded and for how much
02
Patterns and Insights
What gets approved and why
03
Our Opportunity
Why a debugger, why now
04
Budget and Milestones
1,000,000 CC over 16 weeks
05
Differentiation and Next Steps
How we stand out and what to do next
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Part 1: Approved Proposals
What the Foundation Has Funded
Eight approved PRs from the Canton Dev Fund, analyzed at $0.15 per CC.
PR Proposal Proposer CC Amount USD Value Timeline
#159 CCTools Community Toolkit 0xScoutr 500,000 $75,000 5 months
#130 Daml Package Analyzer Certora 2,010,000 $301,500 5 months
#53 ISS-Based BFT Ordering Digital Asset Undisclosed Est. $500K+ 8 months
#49 Daml OS Maintenance Digital Asset 1,000,000/mo $150,000/mo Recurring
#48 Canton OS Maintenance Digital Asset 2,000,000/mo $300,000/mo Recurring
#47 Splice OS Maintenance Digital Asset 1,000,000/mo $150,000/mo Recurring
#32 Daml3 Training Program Obsidian Systems 5,290,000 $740,600 34 weeks
#24 Multi-VM Canton (EVM) Zenith 2,000,000/mo $300,000/mo 12 months
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Part 1: Approved Proposals
How They Structured Milestones
CC
CCTools (#159)
3 milestones, front-loaded: 200K CC (40%) in M1 for core learn-to-earn platform. 175K for infra and DeFi dashboard. 125K for API and mobile PWA.
⚙
Certora (#130)
4 milestones, back-loaded: 335K CC each for M1 and M2 (build + initial adoption). 670K each for M3 and M4 (tied to 5+ production deployments each).
★
Obsidian (#32)
4 milestones over 34 weeks. 5,290,000 CC total (revised down 20% from original $927K ask). Modules, certification exams, and 12 coding videos.
↻
DA Maintenance
PRs #47, #48, #49: rolling monthly milestones. 1M to 2M CC/mo for ongoing repo maintenance. Acceptance: response times, release cadence, PR reviews.
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Part 2: Patterns
What Gets Approved and Why
Structure
3 to 5 Milestones
Fixed-scope projects use 3 to 5 milestones with explicit, testable acceptance criteria. Not vague deliverables, but conditions like "5 production deployments" or "API accessible with validator tier active."
Framing
Public Good Infra
Every approved proposal is framed as public-good infrastructure or core protocol work. Dapps and use-case demos are borderline. Open-source licensing (MIT or Apache 2.0) is table stakes.
Champions
Named Sponsor
Every proposal has a champion from the Foundation or committee. We are engaging the Tech & Ops Committee to secure ours as we iterate on feedback.
Credibility
Prove It First
CCTools had 20K users before applying. Obsidian voluntarily cut scope by 20%. The strongest proposals show cost discipline and traction, not just ambition.
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Part 2: Patterns
Grant Budget Landscape
Where our $140K ask sits relative to approved proposals.
CCTools
$75K
Ours (DPM Debug)
$140K
Certora Analyzer
$301K
Obsidian Training
$741K
DA / Zenith (monthly)
$150K to $300K/mo
$140K is modest and credible for a first proposal. Above the floor, well below specialized tooling asks. 80% unlocked in the first two milestones.
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Part 3: Our Opportunity
Why a Debugger, Why Now
"A really, really good debugging experience is what lacks on top of Canton. If you ask me personally what I would love to see in the ecosystem, I would say a really good debugging experience."
Jatin Pandya, Canton Foundation
Call with Lazer, April 14, 2026
Foundation DX survey flagged "visual debugging" and "transaction visibility" as top missing tools
Foundation engagement: the team offered to review drafts and give feedback as we iterate through the process
Complementary, Layered Stack
Walnut (#327/#382) = Trace + Debug Primitives
CLI trace, trace bundles, interactive debugger, compiler debug metadata. The low-level foundation.
Ours = Visual Workbench Layer
Remix-style local web UI: node explorer, transaction trees, test reports. Renders Walnut's trace artifacts under the hood.
Certora = Compile-Time Static Analysis
Security auditing of .dar files before deployment. Different layer entirely.
InfraSingularity (#297) = Failure Diagnosis
Decodes rejected submissions into plain-language causes. Different problem, different moment.
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Part 4: Budget and Milestones
Proposed Grant Structure
16 weeks, 3 milestones. 80% unlocked in M1 and M2.
Duration
16 weeks
Grant Ask
1,000,000 CC (~$140K)
Payout
Milestone-based in CC
Milestone Focus Duration CC USD
M1 Workbench foundation: DPM plugin + local web app, participant explorer, live transaction feed 6 weeks 400,000 $56,000
M2 Visual trace explorer (renders dpm trace artifacts + bundles), log panel, visual test reports with assertion diffs 6 weeks 400,000 $56,000
M3 Source-aware display (consumes Walnut debug metadata), end-to-end docs, walkthrough video, 1.0 release 4 weeks 200,000 $28,000
Total 16 weeks 1,000,000 $140,000
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Part 4: Budget and Milestones
16-Week Delivery Timeline
Wk 1-2
Wk 3-4
Wk 5-6
Wk 7-8
Wk 9-10
Wk 11-12
Wk 13-14
Wk 15-16
M1: Workbench Foundation
400,000 CC ($56K)
SCAFFOLD
EXPLORER
TX FEED
M2: Trace + Test UI
400,000 CC ($56K)
TRACE VIEW
TX TREE
TEST REPORTS
M3: Source + 1.0
200,000 CC ($28K)
SRC DISPLAY
1.0 RELEASE
Champion Reviews
Tech & Ops Committee
ONGOING FEEDBACK + ACCEPTANCE REVIEWS
Deliverables
DPM Plugin
Web Workbench
Trace Viewer
Test Reports
Docs + Video
MIT License
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Part 5: Differentiation
Why This Wins
▶
Builds on the Stack
Extends Foundation-funded DPM and renders Walnut's dpm trace artifacts and debug metadata. We consume the ecosystem's formats instead of competing with them.
★
#1 Cited Gap
The Foundation's own DX survey and direct Foundation feedback both identify visual debugging and transaction visibility as the biggest missing piece in the Daml developer experience.
⚙
Right Layer for Us
Product-grade developer UX is Lazer's core strength. Compiler and trace primitives stay with the team best suited for them (Walnut); the visual layer is ours.
✓
Credible First Ask
$140K ($8.75K/week over 16 weeks), with 80% unlocked in M1 and M2. Positions Lazer for larger follow-up proposals after we deliver.
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