UCalgary Blockchain Society - Seeking Hardware Grant

About Me:

UCalgary Blockchain Society is the largest blockchain club in Western Canada, with an active membership of over 700 students. Over the past year, we have hosted more than 20 events and collaborated with industry leaders such as Ripple, Near Foundation, Dfinity Foundation, Uniswap and more.

We are also developing a two-year credited DeFi program at the University of Calgary, supported by prominent organizations like Covalent, the Bank of Canada, and the Ethereum Foundation. Our DeFi lab collaborates on cutting-edge research with entities like Circle and Uniswap. The lab is led by Dr. Alfred, who teaches DeFi courses and provides advisory to institutions including the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada, and other governments. The University of Calgary is among a handful of global institutions specifically focused on DeFi and blockchain data research through its DeFi lab.

Why I’m Requesting a Grant:

As part of our DeFi lab initiatives, we are currently building a validator network in Calgary to advance blockchain education and empower the next generation of leaders in DeFi and blockchain. Our goal is to raise funds to support both academic and student-led research efforts. As a student-run initiative, we lack the financial resources to fund our own hardware. Therefore, a grant would be crucial for our participation in the Squad Staking program and for advancing our mission.

Additional Information:

We are excited about the opportunity to contribute to Ethereum’s growth and decentralization through this program, and we look forward to collaborating with Obol to further enhance blockchain education and innovation.

I was not aware about the DeFi Lab, that is some amazing work!

Outside of the hardware, there are some very real and interesting areas of research within the roadmap for Distributed Validators that I think the student and faculty might find interesting. The Distributed Validator Protocol Roadmap

Reaching out to you now to get the hardware going!

I’m glad you find it interesting! The work that the Obol team are doing with the Distributed Validators Protocol is incredibly impressive and much needed in today’s industry. We are very grateful for this support to continue our mission of educating the next generation of web3 builders. I believe the roadmap also aligns closely with the work we’re doing at the DeFi lab as well. I’m excited to share more about our lab in the future and hopefully collaborate on research projects too!