Growing the Music Vertical on Polkadot: Onboarding Billfold

Growing the Music Vertical on Polkadot: Onboarding Billfold (revised prop from 989)

a PMEI proposal

Requested USD: $1.133M

Please see milestones and technical doc HERE

With community and DV feedback, we have updated this proposal from prop #989 to request in stables and to split into two smaller tranches, focusing first to onboard Billfold.

The team behind {bash} events, PMEI (Polkadot Music Events Initiative), is a web3 foundation supported BD agency and DF grant recipient that is focused on bringing active users to Polkadot through the music industry vertical. We are leveraging decades of our music industry experience and relationships to strategically bring in millions of users and billions of dollars in transactions.

The music industry is a $100B industry which functions primarily on paper intensive processes - mostly in excel spreadsheets and manila envelopes (we’re not joking). Music is absolutely prime for change and blockchain can be a large component of that evolution.

Key Points on Proposal

This prop covers the financial obligations under contract terms for Polkadot’s integration with Billfold, marketing expenses and legal expenses. Nothing goes to the PMEI team.
We are only onboarding Billfold in this prop
3 year contract term
Will drive 3 million accounts for loyalty rewards and use of USDC on Polkadot for concession payments
Direct Polkadot branded marketing to all users of the Billfold platform

Tell me more...

This proposal is solely to cover costs to fulfill our financial requirements for a contract that will bring 3M+ of Billfold’s existing user base to Polkadot. Based on Billfold’s repeat and expanding customer base, we will see 4.5+ transactions per user on average annually. Each new user will automatically be added to Polkadot which means a potential total of 5M+ new Polkadot users across the contract term. That means 22.5M transactions per year.

So as Billfold grows, so does the number of users and transactions on Polkadot.

This is an incredible case of blockchain solving an issue where web2 falls short. This deal also brings hundreds of millions of dollars in transaction volume through Polkadot in gradual steps.

If you are unfamiliar with Billfold, please visit their website HERE to learn more.

In short, Billfold is a vendor payment system for live event concession sales (alcohol, soft drinks, merchandise). What sets them apart is that they streamline concession sales by using a single tap feature at the point of sale and groups transactions to reduce time spent on checkout and reduce banking fees. Billfold is running $150M in annual transaction volume with massive brand partnerships which will greatly impact the usage of the Polkadot network.

Billfold believes in web3 and in Polkadot’s ability to provide the speed and security necessary to handle the current and future volume.

HERE is a video outlining Billfold’s value prop and current operation.

The nature of this deal does not allow us to execute on these commitments without full funding in advance. A traditional milestone approach is based on building tech and presenting repos for review. In our situation, we are funding Billfold for the acquisition of their users and the chance to create a long, ongoing relationship with Polkadot.

ROI for Polkadot

In basic terms, the CAC is $0.33 per user TO BEGIN WITH. Every new user added to Billfold will automatically get and transact with a Polkadot wallet- so the CAC only decreases with each new user.

ROI for Billfold

Why else is this so incredible? Because Billfold can benefit from a blockchain solution that optimizes their business. Currently, Billfold’s dashboard provides every vendor (ie. bar vendor, merch vendor, food vendor, etc.) with an itemized list of concession items that are tracked and transacted on, with basic databasing and fiat rails, making it hard to verify and transparently share data with artists and brands. With Polkadot user wallets, this data is clear and verifiable so that an artist or brand can query data to identify loyal customers and reward that audience. This all happens on Polkadot. Beyond that, a vendor could already be working on tight margins, and in territories with volatile foreign exchange rates, this can mean a tremendous loss in revenue should the local currency shift out of their favor between payment settlements. USDC payouts solves this for every vendor on Billfold, and its powered by Polkadot.

Users need intuitive experiences for mass adoption of web3

If we agree that more active users on Polkadot is conditional for success, then this deal is a homerun for the ecosystem. These are repeat, lifetime users that are top-of-funnel and will have the chance to learn about and engage with Polkadot tech through extremely positive brand deposits. On average these users are transacting 4.5 times per year through Billfold’s current business, and they are in the process of making a larger global push to capture a far more significant piece of the market. It’s not a stretch to think that transactions can scale 10x from here.

In addition, every PoS unit and receipt will have Polkadot advertising baked in to reinforce the fact that Polkadot is what powers and secures their experience. That means each user has a great experience and sees the Polkadot logo, over and over and over again. This is directly marketing to users that are USING the tech. Simple, straightforward and impactful marketing.

More on PMEI’s Mission

PMEI is helping music companies use Polkadot. Polkadot products create highly optimized experiences within already successful web2 businesses- particularly in music and events. It’s important that we drive web3 products to solve real problems caused by traditional finance. Solving these problems breaks down barriers and creates an easy, web3 entry point for people in their everyday lives. This not only creates great success stories for other companies interested in leveraging web3, but it also drives organic growth for Polkadot.

More on Billfold

Billfold has 3 million active users through their point of sale (PoS) product, generating $150M+ in annual transaction volume. They will be integrating crypto with the help of the Polkadot Music Events Initiative and community approval of these onboarding terms. This Billfold deal onboards an established web2 company that will scale the music industry vertical on Polkadot, adding 3 MILLION active users and progressively transitioning $150M+ in annual transaction volume through Polkadot-based USD stablecoins.

PMEI is spearheading a new and exciting initiative with our business development and onboarding partners at Transistor that will onboard these two companies into the Polkadot ecosystem. Billfold and Radiate are some of the most forward-thinking names in electronic music events, and are excited about the prospect of launching products on Polkadot to further solidify their leading position as music event technology providers.

This proposal will cover the cost to integrate and market the following:

Onboarding 3 Million active user accounts via Polkadot (substrate) custodial wallets
Streamlining crypto native payments for those users through web3 PoS solution: including, but not limited to, live events and sporting events
Polkadot activations via loyalty reward tools for brands, venues and artists
Marketing strategy centering the Polkadot brand across physical PoS systems and digital receipts in Billfold activated venues

Why vote aye on this?

We already have LOI’s in place and defined scope Billfold. We are weeks away from finalizing a contract which will be executed upon successful passing of this prop. If for ANY reason, a contract is not signed for either party, the dedicated funds will be returned to the treasury. We have signed a contract with web3 foundation to ensure this happens and there is accountability on our end.
We will onboard the current 3M active users over a period of 3 months + every additional user that uses Billfold We are gradually transitioning their payment settlement to USDC on Polkadot resulting in organic volume and growth of transactions
Anybody creating an event can now use this tech moving forward to run their events and any entity can activate these users via their Polkadot wallets to market and interact with fans and the artists

Proponent: Polkadot Music Events Initiative

Beneficiary: Polkadot Music Events Initiative Multisig Address: 15nKYvAm8Yu9QVK65JWrhfyabhHkWywg21X9gX4GFJo3v4cT

Proposed Start Date: Oct 15th 2024

NOTE: PMEI is managing this project to ensure that proper technical integrations are delivered. These components will also be used in the context of {bash} events beyond our current onboarding flow and tech stack.

These components will also be available to other event organizers and marketing orgs can have elevated tools for streamlined use of web3.

ANY project can benefit from this in Polkadot. ANY team can build on and customize these tools. This makes the funnel for onboarding wider, and the engagement and web3 education MUCH easier and more accessible.

Deliverables

The initial user onboarding will be completed within a 3 month timeline from when the deal finalizes.

The full scope of this integration is expected to be completed within an eight month timeframe. This would put the completion date, including payments, around June of 2025. Getting to contract signature(s), creating user onboarding infrastructure, and a built PoC for borderless payments using USDC on Asset Hub are the initial stages and are anticipated to be done by 2024. Marketing will begin as soon as user onboarding has launched.

Technical documentation and further timeline expectations can be found HERE.

Budget Requested USD: $1.133M

Billfold Integration $ 1,018,000 -this is the cost to acquire users through Billfold and move forward with the integration. This pays Billfold, nothing goes to PMEI whatsoever.

Legal $ 75,000 - includes software licensing agreement and negotiation, compliance costs

Marketing/ PR $ 40,000 - We are working with a top tier marketing agency to broadcast the completion of this integration to build positive sentiment around Polkadot and its ability to solve real world problems.

Project Management Fee - 0% (we are not charging an agency fee for this. Now that we have been granted funds for DF, this sits within our purview)

The costs to integrate will not be used for any operating expenses for the PMEI team as we are a DF funded initiative

Who’s on the team? PMEI

Miami - Expert full stack developer in Polkadot and Kusama known for their work under Moonbeans and across the Moonbeam ecosystem. Miami is the lead Developer for {bash} events.

Spencer Zabiela - Lead for {bash} events with deep ties in the music industry. Spencer is driving business development, bringing Billfold and Radiate together under this enterprise onboarding deal.

Sam Ruberti - Sam Ruberti has been developing full stack applications for over fifteen years. He was a Senior Rust Developer on the ink! team at Parity and has built full stack software for many companies, including Bloomberg, Peloton, and Clear, with a heavy focus on distributed systems, microservices, security, and user-facing web applications. He joined the Web3 space in 2017 and has launched numerous dApps, tokens, DeFi platforms, and NFTs on various chains.

Jaclyn Francis - Formerly at Tidal (Jay-Z’s HiFi music streaming platform recently acquired by Square/Block), Jaclyn is also part of the PMEI/ {bash} team and will be managing the digital ticketing experience for live music venues and artists using the RA platform.

Additional Support

Transistor - Transistor is a blockchain research and development firm focused on Polkadot adoption in the United States founded by Peter Mauric and Yoon Kim. Transistor will be supporting this onboarding effort with business development, key partner integration and development work. Peter led multiple teams and initiatives in the development of Ethereum and launch of Kusama and Polkadot’s success while at Parity Technologies and the Web3 Foundation from 2017-2022. Yoon Kim is a Polkadot ICO investor who worked at the highest levels of Wall Street tech banking and hedge funds throughout the Web 2.0 era.

Exiled Studios - Exiled Studios is a gaming studio focusing on developing low touch, high reward games. Exiled focus on algorithmic and low touch strategy games allows time poor, ex-gamers a way to enjoy gaming without the effort. Exiled is currently building the Exiled Racers gaming platform on top of the Moonbeam (Polkadot) blockchain.

Summary

Please see milestones and technical doc HERE

Budget: Requested USD $1.133M