How to start a successful DeFi project

In the last couple of years, the financial industry has taken a course towards decentralization. Smart contracts are increasingly becoming an alternative to traditional banks, brokers, exchanges, and other financial organizations. 2020 has been a boom for DeFi. According to DeFi Pulse, the dollar value of assets locked into DeFi protocols surpassed $13 billion at the end of 2020, up 2,000% from January.

If in the wake of this popularity, you decide to create your own DeFi product and are looking for answers to questions about how to start a DeFi project, you have come to the right place. In this article, we’ll go over the main stages of DeFi development and the factors to look out for when choosing a development team and launching a product.

What is DeFi and what are the benefits of DeFi

As you probably know DeFi stands for decentralized finance. What is behind this definition? We can say that DeFi includes financial services and applications implemented using decentralized blockchain architecture. There are all the same investing, trading, lending, borrowing, and other financial platforms, but they work in a slightly different way.

Unlike traditional financial tools that have central authorities, DeFi is built on decentralized networks and enables peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. This is exactly the advantage of blockchain that has been talked about since the advent of this technology. But in fact, it turned out that this is not so easy to achieve. For example, although cryptocurrencies are decentralized, we still need centralized platforms like crypto exchanges to use them. DeFi allows full decentralization and provides access to more effective financial platforms for a wider audience.

Criterion	Traditional finance	DeFi
Access	Determined by a service provider	Global
Transparency	Lack of transparency	Open-source available for audit
Interoperability	Low level of integration of various services	High level of interoperability
Control	Centralized authorities like banks and other financial firms	Not controlled by centralized authorities
Transaction price	High due to intermediaries	Low due to P2P transactions

Comparison of traditional finance and DeFi

DeFi is built on three pillars, including open source, transparency, and accessibility. This allows everyone to create their own smart contract protocol and become an investor, lender, or borrower without the need to rely on central authorities. In other words, DeFi is intended to become an alternative to traditional financial tools. Plus, DeFi services that exist on the same blockchain platform can be integrated in different ways due to the software compatibility of smart contracts, which allows the creation of entire decentralized financial systems.

Benefits of decentralized finance

Autonomy. Service users have 100% control over their assets. There is no custodian to manage their assets.
Transparency. DeFi services are open-source and open to audit. All transaction activities can also be checked.
Accessibility. There are no restrictions on the use of DeFi products. Regardless of geographic and regulatory factors, anyone can connect a crypto wallet to the decentralized blockchain network and start using it.
Security. DeFi is powered by blockchain. The information recorded in the blockchain cannot be changed. Therefore, no one can fake your data. Also, the absence of a single point of failure makes the entire system less vulnerable.
No need for intermediaries. All operations in DeFi are handled through programmable smart contracts. In other words, you run an algorithm that will be executed only if the conditions laid down in the contract are met. Therefore, there is no need to involve third parties to complete transactions.
Faster and cheaper transactions. Since there are no intermediaries, payments are significantly less expensive, and self-executing smart contracts speed up the processing of transactions.
Cost-effectiveness. DeFi can be both a cost-cutting way and a new way of investment. DeFi apps users can earn passive income from crypto assets and save on fees for transfers, loans, and deposits.

So, as we see, DeFi has many advantages. Decentralized finance can be the beginning of building more efficient and transparent financial systems that give us more control over our assets. Therefore, it is not surprising that the number of DeFi projects has been growing over the past year. Let’s find out how to start a DeFi project.

Starting a DeFi project

Whichever type of DeFi product you are developing, be it lending/borrowing platforms, crypto exchanges, open marketplaces, issuance apps, etc., you follow a specific development scenario. Let’s take a look at the main stages of creating DeFi products, where to start, and what to pay special attention to.

The process of developing DeFi product

DeFi product development is slightly different from regular software development. It’s all about decentralization. DeFi is not run by any financial organization or central authorities, blockchain enforces all the logic of an application or service. To make this happen, you need to build smart contracts containing all the rules of operation. The DeFi development process is as follows:

Business analysis

The development of any software product begins with business analysis. This is part of defining the project functionality and requirements, which will help choose the optimal tech stack and build the product architecture. We advise you to involve a business analyst at this stage so as not to miss a thing. A competent analysis will allow you to get rid of potential system vulnerabilities and create a reliable DeFi product.

UX/UI design

UX/UI design is an integral part of any application. If you want to provide a unique user experience, then you need the help of good designers. A user-friendly interface contributes to user engagement. Whatever interesting and functional features you come up with, you need to correctly implement them into design. Your product’s look and feel should help users reach their goals quickly, be it checking balances, executing a transaction, or something else. Therefore, we advise you not to neglect this part of the project.

Smart contracts development

The correctness and security of your DeFi app depend on the quality of smart contracts. They are the basis of any DeFi product since all the system’s operation logic is laid down in smart contracts. You should keep in mind that smart contracts can both increase the security of your system and make it more vulnerable to hacker attacks if the architecture is incorrect or the quality of the code is poor.

The smart contract development process is not that easy. All possible scenarios for user interaction with the platform should be described in them. Besides, everything must be transparent and secure at the same time, which is a truly challenging task for any developer. Plus, you should be able to quickly upgrade the terms of a smart contract, if necessary, without additional deployments. This means that a smart contract must be easy to read and not contain excessive amounts of code. Therefore, choosing an experienced development team is crucial here.

DeFi integrations

Integration of DeFi products is one of the key features of decentralized finance. One way or another, your product will be connected with other DeFi protocols. This allows you to create a functional financial ecosystem with additional possibilities for users. However, all these protocols have different features and interfaces, therefore you need to conduct a detailed preliminary analysis to make sure that integration is secure and efficient. This is also one of the most difficult parts of developing a DeFi project because your development team needs to examine the code and architecture of other DeFi before starting the integration.

Front-end development

At this stage, the development team brings the UX/UI design to life. By choosing the best front-end frameworks and libraries, front-end developers build your product’s user interface with smooth navigation and fast-loading pages.

Testing

Once you have implemented all the main features, it’s time to test your DeFi product. Before putting it on the market, check if it is reliable and safe in all aspects. It is not enough just to make sure that the system works as intended; you also need to conduct testing for vulnerabilities and loads. A security audit is one of the main tasks here. Bugs in the code can lead to loss of funds. According to The Block Research, there were 15 hacks of DeFi platforms amounting to $120 million funds being stolen in 2020. So, take testing seriously.

Read How to Hire Remote Blockchain Developers here.

DeFi security

Along with the benefits of decentralized finance come weaknesses. Since DeFi has an anonymous nature and lacks a regulatory framework, users of DeFi products are easy targets for scammers, hackers, and money launders. The weak architecture of smart contracts, bugs in the code, insecure integration make the system vulnerable. So, you should do your best to mitigate the risks of fraud and theft. Here are some tips for providing DeFi security.

Always check smart contract vulnerabilities and perform security audits.
Don’t share your private key with anyone. The creator of the product must be the only custodian of the private key. Also, store it offline.
Test the product for edge cases in smart contracts, such as an overloaded network or hacker attack. Timely identification of weak points will help you optimize the system and prevent real cases of fraud.

Don’t neglect audits and testing. Discuss with your development team all possible ways to ensure the security of your product. This is an essential part of starting a successful DeFi project.

Choosing a development team for a DeFi project

Now let’s move on to choosing a development team for your product. We see that the development of DeFi requires deep expertise in the field of blockchain and experience in implementing similar projects. Thus along with security, these two criteria will be of key importance when choosing software engineers. Due to the multitude of hacker attacks lately, people consider DeFi to be risky and are very careful about the choice of platforms and applications. Your task is to create a reliable product with the support of an experienced team that is fully aware of its responsibility for its work quality. So, what should your development team have:

Portfolio of successfully implemented blockchain projects
Experience in creating smart contracts
Experience with fintech projects
Skilled in-house developers
Clear security standards

We also advise you to work with companies providing full-cycle software development services. In this case, you will be able to close all project tasks working with one team, from design to testing and support. Many people note that this option is cost-effective and more convenient since you don’t need to sign contracts and communicate with several companies at the same time.

IdeaSoft experience

Now when you know how to start a DeFi project and what steps you should take, let us tell you how we can help you. IdeaSoft is a software development company with more than 5 years of history. Our portfolio includes over 250 projects, most of which are related to blockchain development. Crypto exchanges, including decentralized (DEX), lending/borrowing platforms, NFT marketplaces, issuance platforms, DeFi aggregators, and more.

IdeaSoft’s team of talented and experienced specialists can implement projects of any complexity, adhering to the best security practices. Among our clients, you will find Biteeu, a fully licensed and compliant cryptocurrency exchange for the European Union; Bochica, the first Colombian blockchain; Securutize, an issuance platform that entered the list of Blockchain 50 Most Promising Companies within the Blockchain Ecosystem by CB Insights in 2020, and more.

Feel free to share your ideas with the IdeaSoft team. We will do our best to bring them to life with the help of advanced technologies. Contact us to get a free consultation with a technical specialist or a project estimate. And good luck with your DeFi product, you’re on the right way!

How to Develop an NFT Marketplace: Ultimate Guide

I would like to start with some impressive numbers. According to research published on NonFungible.com, the total value of NFT transactions in 2020 increased by 299% compared to the same period last year and exceeded $250 million. Also, the total number of active wallets performing NFT transactions increased by 97%.

Experts predict that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will become the driving force behind the virtual economy in the next decade. The point is that the NFT market is expected to grow, and it’s time to think about how you can benefit from it. Creating an NFT marketplace is one of the great opportunities for this. So, I have put together a detailed guide that will answer the questions of how to develop an NFT marketplace and succeed. Get ready and let’s get started!

Once again, what are NFTs?
What is an NFT marketplace?
How does an NFT marketplace work?
NFT marketplace development: where to start
3.1 NFT marketplace features
3.2 NFT marketplace development with OpenSea SDK
3.3 Custom NFT marketplace development
What to look for when building an NFT marketplace?
How IdeaSoft can help you build an NFT marketplace

Once again, what are NFTs?

When we talk about NFTs we mean non-fungible tokens. Most NFTs are built on Ethereum using ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards. Unlike regular tokens, which are fungible and have the same value, each NFT is unique and cannot be replicated, replaced, or split into parts. For example, if you lend someone $10, it doesn’t matter if you get the same bill back. You just need $10, right? But when it comes to collectible coins, each of which is unique and has its own value, the situation changes dramatically. NFT is this unique coin, one of a kind.

NFTs have some properties that differentiate them from other tokens:

Uniqueness. Each NFT token is a unique asset and it has a unique set of metadata.
Indivisibility. NFT cannot be divided into smaller denominations.
Authenticity. Each NFT has an owner and this information is easily verifiable.
Non-interoperability. One NFT is not equal to another NFT, you cannot simply exchange them, unlike Bitcoin or Ether, for example.

These properties make non-fungible tokens ideal for representing rights to digital assets, which are also unique. Such an asset can be an image, music, any digital artwork, game item, or game character, and so on. Thus, many creators, musicians, collectors have got a chance to become part of the online economy by tokenizing their assets. But still, they need marketplaces for selling/buying NFTs. NFT marketplaces could operate as an auction platform allowing creators and buyers to find and select the best deals for both.

Read the Introduction to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to find out more about what NFTs are and how they can be used.

What is an NFT marketplace?

Unlike Bitcoin or Ether, you cannot directly exchange non-fungible tokens on various crypto exchanges. To buy and sell NFTs, you need dedicated platforms. NFT marketplace is a decentralized platform that allows you to store and trade non-fungible tokens. Lots on such a platform can be offered at a fixed price or sold through an auction. Most NFT platforms require buyers and sellers to have crypto wallets for carrying out transactions. There are different types of NFT marketplaces. Some are more exclusive, while others are focused on letting anyone create and sell their art.

There are universal platforms where you can find anything from art to domain names, such as OpenSea, Rarible, Mintable. On these marketplaces, you can turn any creations into items and start selling them. Other platforms are niche. They focus on selling certain assets. For example, Valuables allows you to sell and buy tweets (you’ve probably heard that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey auctioned off his first tweet as an NFT); Looking Glass Factory offers a marketplace for selling digital holograms, and so on. Niche marketplaces are gaining popularity because they have a more clearly defined target audience and solve specific problems. Also, you can find closed marketplaces available only for approved creators, such as Foundation.app. So, you should definitely think about platform type before developing an NFT marketplace.

How does an NFT marketplace work?

NFTs are implemented using smart contracts. Each token contains a set of unique information (metadata) recorded in its smart contract, and a blockchain provides its immutability and security. To build an NFT marketplace, we need to create a token protocol, usually on the Ethereum network. This is a special group of smart contracts that ensures the implementation of certain functionality of marketplace features. Further, this protocol is integrated with the marketplace system.

Now let’s talk about how NFT marketplaces work from the client-side. For the most part, all NFT auction platforms share a common flow. First of all, a user needs to sign up for a platform and install a digital wallet to store NFTs and cryptos. The registration process on the platform is directly related to a crypto wallet, basically, you sign up with your wallet. Then the user can create his collection by loading items to display his work. The user can also choose which payment tokens he’d like to accept for his art and set a secondary sales fee if the platform suggests it.

The next step is listing items for sale. The user can select a bid for an auction or a fixed price. When listing an item for sale, a transaction is created that launches a personal trading smart contract for the user wallet. The platform may require collection moderation, and after approval, your NFTs will appear on the list for sales and you can accept bids. Usually NFT marketplaces charge some fee on the purchase amount. Also, NFT platforms handle the transfer of items and funds, so for users, the whole process looks pretty simple.

NFT marketplace development: where to start

Now that you know how NFT marketplaces work and what types of these platforms are on the market, it’s time to discuss your project in more detail. If you wonder how to develop an NFT marketplace, I would suggest you start with the business part. As with any other software product, you need to know well who you are building your platform for and what problems it will solve. You have to decide on a list of features and choose one of several options of technical implementation of your idea.

NFT marketplace features

NFT marketplace combines marketplace and auction platform features. Users should be able to create their own collectibles and sell them. Also, different marketplaces offer some additional functionality to attract users and make their user experience exceptional. Start your list with core platform features that will allow users to carry out basic operations:

Storefront

The NFT auction platform is a marketplace, so it should have a storefront. Provide users with all the necessary information about an item: preview, bids, owners, price history, etc. OpenSea, for example, also displays chain info for checking the smart contract so a buyer can be sure of the authenticity of the purchased NFT.

Searching for items

As with any marketplace, your platform should support category management and tagging to make it easier for users to find collectibles they are interested in. Implement a search bar on the site, add categories. For example, OpenSea divides items into the following categories: Art, Domain Names, Virtual Worlds, Trading Cards, Collectibles, Sports, Utility. You can choose yours.

Filters

Filters also make it easier to navigate a site, especially if there are a lot of collectibles on the platform. Give users the possibility to select items by category, payment method, collection, listing status (e.g. “new”, “has offers”, and so on). This will significantly reduce the time between NFT selection and purchase.

Creating listings

The process of NFTs submission and creation of the collection should not take long. Think about the flow and most likely you need something like OpenSea’s Collecting Manager to easily manage collections and items. On the collectible creation page, a user should be able to upload a file and fill in the basic token properties such as name, description, tags. I advise you to sign up for several marketplaces to find out what flow of creating NFT and listing it for sale you like the most, what stages you would do better.

Status of listing

Status of listing also assists users in selecting NFTs for purchasing. By searching, sorting, and filtering, they can find the best options faster and easier. Also, statuses help sellers navigate better as well, especially if you want to implement a collectible verification process. This way you can inform sellers at what stage of the verification process their items are.

Buying and Auction

The development of the auction mechanism for your platform is one of the most critical parts of the project. You need to provide bidders with an easy-to-use and efficient NFT buying system. It is better to include the bid expiration date in the form to give users more control over their bids. Plus, the auction watchlist allows viewing details about the current status of bids.

Wallet

Your users need wallets to send, receive and store cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens. The easiest way to do this is to provide a user with a connected wallet that he already uses. For example, Rarible offers platform members to connect one of the wallets of their choice: MyEtherWallet, Coinbase Wallet, Formatic, or WalletConnect. OpenSea offers several additional options. So, we also need to compile a list of wallets that must be supported by the platform and ensure their integration.

Ratings

Ratings are a great way to help new users choose NFTs. Plus, they act as a reward for the best top sellers, confirming their reliability. So you can use this as an additional feature.

In fact, NFT marketplace features are not limited to those listed. Each platform offers some kind of unique functionality. This way they try to improve communication with users and increase the level of user engagement. Rely on your ideas. For example, you can implement a push notification system to inform users about bid changes, new collectibles, or the status of their listings. Or develop a community by creating a forum on the platform. Some marketplaces also have their own blogs. Draw the perfect NFT marketplace in your mind and it will become the starting point of your project.

Read also ‘How to start a successful DeFi project’

NFT marketplace development with OpenSea SDK

Once you have a list of features for your future platform, we can talk about the technical implementation of the project. This is a more engineering answer to the question of how to develop an NFT marketplace. You can find some ready-made tools for building non-fungible token marketplaces. For example, OpenSea offers an SDK that allows you to create such a platform using OpenSea’s infrastructure, but with your design on the top.

OpenSea’s SDK opens up enough opportunities for building a functional NFT marketplace, including the ability to sell items for your own ERC 20, make a profit, enable private listings, bulk transfers, and more. The SDK allows you to create ERC-721 or ERC-1155 (semi-fungible) items. Also, the good news is that you don’t need to deploy your own smart contracts. This toolkit greatly simplifies the NFT marketplace development process with ready-made blocks. However, If you don’t have a technical background, it will be quite difficult for you to do it yourself. Therefore, I advise you to contact blockchain specialists who know how to develop an NFT marketplace using the OpenSea SDK.

Custom NFT marketplace development

In some cases, off-the-shelf toolkits may not meet all project requirements. This is when the custom NFT marketplace development comes into play. With the support of an experienced development team, you can create a non-fungible tokens marketplace with any functionality from scratch. While this option will cost you more, it has many advantages. As a minimum, you are not limited by the SDK’s capabilities. You can implement any features you have in mind and build a more complex solution that will help you stand out from competitors and attract more users.

Steps of nft marketplace development — Steps of NFT marketplace development

The custom development process for the NFT marketplace consists of the following steps:

Business analysis. At this stage, you need to describe the business part of your project: for whom your product is being created, which features you need to implement, which user flow to build. The more accurately you study user behavior, the more user-friendly solution you can create. Nobody likes complexity. Therefore, our task is to build a simple and effective marketplace architecture. I advise you to include business analysts at this stage so as not to miss a thing.
UX/UI design. When developing a marketplace, the UX/UI part is crucial. The user interface should be clear and simple. Good UX/UI is the golden mean between usability and a nice look and feel of your platform. I highly recommend consulting a professional when creating the UX/UI for your product. If users experience issues interacting with your marketplace, you gave the money away, and no talented developers can fix that.
Smart contract protocol development. Back-end is the logic of your platform. When designing an NFT marketplace, this step will be different from a similar step in standard custom development. The thing is NFT marketplace is a decentralized platform, so most of the data is verified on a blockchain. For instance, Ethereum allows the network to run certain scripts to make an app decentralized, so most of the backend logic is transferred to the decentralized part.
Front-end development. This is the stage for bringing your design to life. Choosing the best framework for your project, software developers implement all the necessary features on the client-side. The main task here is to ensure fast operation of the platform, good performance, and reliability.
Testing. You should never skip this step. Detecting and fixing bugs promptly makes you sure that your product is ready to launch. Plus, software testing allows you to make sure that your platform works as intended and meets the original project requirements. Remember that a properly tested software product provides reliability, security, and high performance.
Launching and support. Once you are sure that your platform is bug-free, it’s time to launch your NFT marketplace. Many people think that this is the last step, but software is software, you need to constantly work to maintain and update it. Plus, speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that 80% of clients usually come back to us for implementing new features, because the business needs to meet the growing expectations of users. So, don’t lose contact with your development team, which will become your reliable partner for years.

Check with blockchain developers to find out if you need custom development or you can use the SDK. To do this, be prepared to provide a team with a list of platform features.

What to look for when building an NFT marketplace

There are two main things you should pay special attention to when building an NFT marketplace. They are essential to your success. Among these things are security, and the choice of an experienced development team. Let’s dwell on each point.

Security

You cannot ignore security when it comes to finances. Blockchain is a fairly reliable technology that has built-in security mechanisms, but additional features never hurt. You may need tools to inspect and detect malicious content that could harm your users. You can also implement additional checkboxes in the process of publishing or buying tokens so that users can be sure of their authenticity and reliability. A user profile is also an important security element. Implement at least basic KYC (know your customer). For example, OpenSea invites users to add links to their social media accounts to help NFT buyers find out more information about creators.

Experienced blockchain development team

So we got to the choice of the development team. I don’t want to waste a lot of time explaining how important it is to work with experienced blockchain developers to get a quality software product. It’s obvious. I’d rather try to give you some advice when choosing the right software provider.

First, outsourcing development teams will help you significantly speed up the process of creating your NFT marketplace. Especially when it comes to companies that provide full-cycle development services. This is the most cost-effective solution.

Second, check the expertise of the company you intend to work with. How to do it? Check the delivered projects, make sure the team has experienced blockchain developers, find feedback on the company’s work. Make sure a software provider can cover all your project-related requests.

Finally, just find out if you enjoy communicating with the team. If communication is easy and casual, and the team understands your goals, your project is more likely to be successful.

How IdeaSoft can help you build an NFT marketplace

After you’ve learned how to develop an NFT marketplace, it’s time to talk about how our team can help you. IdeaSoft is a custom software development company providing full-cycle software development services, from business analysis and UX/UI design to deployment, testing, and support. Since 2021, IdeaSoft has been part of Sigma Software Group, Swedish software development and IT consulting company with over 1,150 specialists in Ukraine. Blockchain development is one of the main specializations of IdeaSoft.

The five-year history of the company includes successful projects of crypto exchange platforms, blockchain protocols, trading platforms, issuance platforms, and more. Our client list includes Biteeu, a fully licensed and compliant cryptocurrency exchange for the European Union; Bochica, the first Colombian blockchain; Securutize, an issuance platform that entered the list of Blockchain 50 Most Promising Companies within the Blockchain Ecosystem by CB Insights in 2020. Feel free to check out our portfolio to find out more about these projects.

If you want to build your own NFT marketplace, we can offer you several options, including custom development and creating a marketplace based on the OpenSea SDK. We are not limited to the types of digital assets, so we can develop an NFT platform that meets all your requirements. IdeaSoft team can also develop separate NFT collectibles, like Hashmasks, if you need to sell a series of tokens. For this, the distribution of tokens is created once, they are divided by rareness and sold as one large gallery. The value of assets depends on the rarity of tokens.

IdeaSoft nft marketplace development services — IdeaSoft NFT marketplace development services

Check the Blockchain development page to learn more about IdeaSoft services or contact us here to discuss your project. I can’t wait to hear your ideas!

Introduction to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)

If you follow the news of the crypto world, you’ve probably already heard about NFTs, which along with DeFi have become the hottest topics of 2020. Having gone from gaming to a promising way of real-world asset tokenization, NFTs have every chance of becoming a widespread solution, experts say. Read this article to find out what non-fungible tokens are, a new market disruptor, or just another hype.

What is a non-fungible token (NFT)?

Non-fungible tokens were first introduced back in 2017. Unlike regular cryptographic tokens, NFT represents a unique digital asset that cannot be replicated. Any cryptocurrency is essentially a token, be it Bitcoin or Ether or something else. These tokens are fungible because they are tradable for each other, and their value remains constant. Hence, you can easily exchange one Bitcoin for another Bitcoin. But this doesn’t work with non-fungible tokens, which display the rights to a unique asset of its kind. Essentially, NFT is a way of asset tokenization.

For example, you can digitize the right to a work of art and receive a token to prove it. There is only one such token that relates to your asset and you cannot find the same equivalent to it. Even if you exchange your token for an art object for another token that represents an art object, they are not the same or equal. Just like any real-world assets are unique, NFTs representing them are unique too.

Non-fungible tokens have a number of specific characteristics, which include:

Uniqueness. Each NFT token contains a unique set of data and represents a unique asset.
Indivisibility. You cannot divide NFTs into smaller denominations, unlike fungible tokens like Bitcoin, for example.
Authenticity. Since NFT is powered by blockchain, it is quite easy to track the validity of your token and its owner thanks to such blockchain properties as traceability and immutability.
Non-interoperability. NFTs cannot be directly traded one to another even if they are on the same platform. You can buy and sell NFTs on special marketplaces.

Criterion	Fungible token	Non-fungible token
Type of token	Uniform	Unique
Exchangeability	Can be exchanged for a token of the same type	Cannot be exchanged for a non-fungible token of the same type
Divisibility	Divisible into smaller units(1$=100 cents)	Cannot be divided
Data registered in blockchain	Only the balance	ID, ownership, metadata
Examples	Bitcoin, Ethereum	Art, property (house)

Comparison of fungible and non-fungible tokens

The main advantage of NFTs is their uniqueness, which allows us to apply them to any object in the real world, without the risk of fraud. As we remember, all data recorded on a blockchain remains there. Also, for many NFTs are an opportunity to trade real-world assets on digital exchanges.

How do non-fungible tokens work?

Currently, most NFTs are built on Ethereum using ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards. The ERC-1155 token standard allows one contract to contain both fungible and non-fungible tokens. Software developers can use Ethereum’s off-the-shelf tools to create new NFTs. Meanwhile, other decentralized platforms like EOS and NEO also offer their NFT standards. Businesses looking to enter the NFT space can take advantage of professional NFT development services to build custom solutions tailored to their needs.

NFTs are implemented using smart contracts. Each token contains a set of unique information (metadata) recorded in its smart contract, and a blockchain guarantees the immutability of this data. The transfer of ownership of the NFT takes place using a blockchain transaction, which can only be authorized by the private key of the owner of the NFT, just like a regular blockchain transaction. Thus, we receive a reliable permanent digital confirmation of the ownership of the asset.

It is important to understand that the value of each token is unique. NFTs can be traded on open marketplaces that connect buyers to sellers. Examples of such NFT marketplaces are OpenSea, Rarible, Decentraland, and others.

Read The Ultimate Guide to Developing an NFT Marketplace

NFT use cases

The beginning of the use of NFT is associated with gaming. Games like CryptoKitties and Blockchain Cuties have allowed users to create rare items, and monetize them. In the game Gods Unchained, users can collect and sell unique cards. In these examples, blockchain looks like an interesting tool for maintaining the online economy of virtual worlds, but gradually this model began to be applied in the real world. Non-fungible tokens are great for real asset tokenization. Tokenization helps to increase the liquidity of assets in areas such as real estate, art, collectibles, and others.

NFT segments distribution (2020), Source: *Nonfungible.com*

Here are some NFT use cases besides collectibles and gaming:

Art – NFTs have opened up new opportunities for the art market. Tokens allow transferring the right to an object of art in a digital form, which makes it possible to earn money on the use of these objects in digital space. Blockchain allows you to track who exactly owns an art object and protect the rights of the author. You can already find platforms for publishing digital art such as OpenSea, Rarible, etc.
Identity – NFTs can also be used for digital identity as they allow for the unique characteristics of each token. With the help of non-fungible tokens, we can digitize our academic qualifications, medical history, and other unique information. This will give users complete control over the use of their data.
Domain names – NFT is an effective tool for decentralized domain name services. Tokens can now verify ownership of a specific crypto domain, such as name.eth or token.crypto.

The growing interest in NFT is driving new use cases for these tokens. The combination of NFT and DeFi is considered particularly advantageous, as reliable proof of ownership of a unique asset can make decentralized financial products even more popular.

The future of NFTs

The NFT market has shown growth in the past year. In the first half of 2020, the cumulative turnover of non-fungible tokens reached $232.5 million, showing an increase of 294.29%, compared to the first half of 2019, according to the Nonfungible.com report. The growing interest in non-fungible tokens is attracting new investments. According to the L’Atelier BNP Paribas report, NFT investments rose 299% in 2020. Also, Nonfungeable.com found that the number of buyers of NFT rose 66% in 2020. According to forecasts this year, we can also expect an increase in the NFT market as an interest in this technology has just begun to grow. NFT has yet to be proven to be effective or useless. Therefore, for now, we can expect the emergence of new projects related to non-fungible tokens.

Summing up

Non-fungible tokens differ from ordinary crypto tokens. They have such properties as uniqueness, indivisibility, and non-interoperability. Because of these properties, NFTs are an excellent way to tokenize real-world assets for further use in the digital space. It’s hard to say right now if NFT will be the next big thing in crypto, as interest in this topic is growing and we don’t have enough case studies to evaluate its effectiveness. However, the current projects look pretty promising, and there is no reason not to try new software solutions using NFT. ERC 404 tokens offer a new standard for managing unique digital assets.

If you have an idea for a blockchain project, the IdeaSoft team will be happy to help you bring it to life. More than 5 years of experience and 250+ completed projects have allowed IdeaSoft developers to gain extensive expertise. We worked with a variety of blockchain-based projects from creating smart contracts to building crypto exchanges. Check out the blockchain development services page and feel free to contact us to discuss your project.

Software Development for the Public Sector: IdeaSoft and SoftLakeSprite Experience

The support of the IT sector at the state level and the introduction of advanced technologies in various areas significantly accelerate the development of digital infrastructure. Successful cases from countries with a high level of support for IT initiatives, such as Estonia and Singapore, have already proven this. Therefore, it is not surprising that software development for government agencies is in great demand. However, many IT companies, guided by various stereotypes, doubt whether to work with the public sector. We decided to dispel these myths and share our experience of developing software for the government sector.

IdeaSoft and SoftLakeSprite experience

Over the past year, Ukrainian IT companies IdeaSoft and SoftLakeSprite have implemented two projects for the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine. In June 2020, IdeaSoft won a tender for the development of additional features for the portal of state-owned enterprises of Ukraine called ProZvit. The tender was carried out by the public organization Transparency International Ukraine.

The organization regularly publishes information on new tenders with clear requirements for filing applications on the website. The selection criteria are also completely transparent. For example, in our case, the organizers of the tender took into account the experience of creating analytics and data visualization modules, as well as the cost of development services. As you can see, the criteria are the same as when choosing a development team for any commercial project. Anyone can find the results by the number of points scored by each tender participant on the Transparency International Ukraine website.

We collected all the necessary documents and applied for the tender, as we were interested in a new experience. The review of commercial applications did not exceed the specified time and soon we received an email notifying us that we won the tender. IdeaSoft’s experience was fully relevant to the project requirements, and we also enlisted the support of SoftLakeSprite. The company has excellent expertise in working with data, as it specializes in the development of ERP systems for industrial enterprises in the engineering industry. Work on the project began immediately after the signing of the contract. We communicated with the manager from the Reform Support Team (RST) at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine.

The process of interacting with a public sector client is not much different from working with a commercial client. In the same way, you get the requirements, the necessary access and get to work. If you are accustomed to the timely delivery of projects, and ensuring safety standards at all stages of development, then building government software will be an interesting project for you, where you can apply your best practices.

Key deliverables

Work on additional modules for the ProZvit portal went according to plan. We completed the project on time. The portal is a public website with visualization of the financial results of all state-owned enterprises in Ukraine and an assessment of the effectiveness of management entities. The source of information for the portal is the database of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade with the financial results of all state enterprises and open data of state institutions.

IdeaSoft and SoftLakeSprite have successfully implemented several add-on modules, expanding the functionality of the portal. For example, we created a map of state-owned enterprises, ensured clickability of statistical data displayed on the portal, and implemented a system of financial risk indicators to identify the effectiveness of the portal. Updated logic implies automatic calculation of a coefficient showing the level of the financial performance of an enterprise based on financial reporting data. For each enterprise, 18 financial indicators are calculated. On the basis of 8 out of 18 coefficients, an integral indicator of the enterprise performance is calculated. As a result, an enterprise is assigned a “green”, “yellow” or “red” zone.

At the end of last year, the Reform Support Team of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, together with Transparency International Ukraine, with the support of UNDP in Ukraine, successfully presented the updated functionality of the portal.

Continuing cooperation

After the release of the updated portal, we continued working with the public sector and are now working on the second project. This is the development of a performance management system for one of the Ministries. The system is designed to ensure high-quality interaction between the head of the department and the team and ensure the implementation of KPIs (key performance indicators). With the help of the system, the manager can see the tasks assigned to each employee and understand the workload of each employee. The system helps automate the process of monitoring the implementation of the strategic plan, including control and organization of the implementation of strategic and operational tasks.

We used the world’s best practices in performance and personnel management to build the functionality of the system. Thus, the following principles were included in the logic of the system:

visualization of the connection between the tasks of a particular person and the big goals of the Ministry, providing motivation and understanding of the role and responsibility of each employee;
the use of the system when conducting a performance review of managers with their teams;
retaining comments throughout the year and using factual information in the annual evaluation, which helps to speed up and facilitate the process of evaluating effectiveness.

The system is currently in a testing phase. After the official launch, we will tell you more about this case.

As a final point

Speaking from personal experience, the implementation of IT projects for the public sector is an excellent opportunity to get new expertise and a new case in your portfolio. In Ukraine, every IT company can take part in a tender and get the opportunity to develop software for the government. You should not abandon such projects, guided by stereotypical ideas about lack of funding, lengthy development processes, and the like. You may have to work with complex tasks within certain restrictions or you may need additional certifications in terms of security, but these are specificities of the industry. Also, software for the public sector should have increased performance and resilience to failures. All these are very interesting challenges for a development team, and such experience can become a huge plus for a company’s internal expertise.

How to Choose a Development Team for Your Fintech Project

One of the most exciting things about Fintech is the rapid development of the industry despite economic and regulatory challenges. This is probably the main reason why the number of Fintech projects is growing every year, bringing new progressive solutions to the financial sector.

In order to implement a good business idea, you need not only advanced technologies, but, more importantly, a talented development team capable of creating a high-quality and law-compliant software product, and in this article, we will tell you how not to make a mistake when choosing a Fintech software provider.

Fintech market overview
Where to look for a development team
Features of a Fintech project
3.1 Security
3.2 Regulatory compliance
Criteria for choosing a development team for a Fintech project
4.1 Expertise
4.2 Delivered projects
4.3 Cybersecurity requirements
4.4 Clients reviews
4.5 Company capacity
How IdeaSoft can help you with your Fintech project

Fintech market overview

The Fintech market has been actively developing since 2018. The emergence of innovative Fintech projects positively disrupted the entire industry, offering completely new efficient financial systems. Even economic challenges only strengthen the development of Fintech.

Look what happened last year. Not only did COVID-19 not harm the industry, but it has accelerated changes in how people interact with financial services, increasing the demand for digitizing finance. Digital payments, digital savings, and WealthTech have become the main fintech trends in 2020. Fintech companies themselves are also experiencing changes.

According to a joint study conducted by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF) at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, the World Bank Group, and the World Economic Forum, 60% of firms surveyed reported launching a new product or service in response to COVID-19, and another 32% plan to do so.

Industry growth is predicted by other studies as well. According to The Business Research Company, the Fintech market is expected to grow to $191,840.2 million in 2025 and $325,311.8 million in 2030. Along with tech companies and traditional financial institutions transforming their services to meet customer needs, investors are also active players in the market.

As reported by CB Insights, $24.6 billion was invested in the development of Fintech projects back in 2019. For the implementation of projects, companies most often turn to outsourcing. And this is not surprising. Fintech product development requires extensive expertise, which will take you a lot of time and money to grow it within a company. Outsourcing helps provide cost-saving and faster outcomes.

Where to look for a Fintech development team

By turning to outsource, you open up a huge world of software development where there are no geographic boundaries. You can choose a Fintech software provider from any corner of the world based on the price and terms of cooperation that are acceptable for you. Many of these companies also specialize in web development & consulting, helping Fintech startups build scalable and secure digital platforms.

So where to start looking for a development team? The easiest way is to google it. You will find many sites of software providers in the search results. You can draw them out and find out more about the activities of the companies.

However, the owners of Fintech projects need more guarantees, since the development of a financial project requires experienced specialists and an understanding of Fintech regulation. Specialized sources will make it easier for you to find a development team providing you with company profiles on independent sites.

So we can highlight 3 groups of resources to find Fintech software developers.

The first group is the directories of companies providing business services. On such sites, you will find full company profiles with examples of projects, developer rates, links to corporate sites, customer reviews. The advantage of such directories is that they are independent. Representatives of the platform moderate all reviews, so you can be sure of their reliability. Also, such sites have simple and convenient search navigation that lets you filter companies by type of service, region, rate, etc. Finally, many directories create their software provider ratings to make it easier for business owners to choose a development partner. Examples of directories are Clutch, GoodFirms, CrunchBase, TopDevelopers, Techreviewer, and others.

The second group is freelancer websites. Usually, independent specialists who are ready to work on a project are registered on such sites. However, there you can also find representatives of outsourcing companies promoting their services. If you have your own development team and just want to expand, then this is a great option for you. But if you want to completely outsource the project, then it is better to look for developers on sites from the first group. Examples of freelance platforms: Toptal, YouTeam, UpWork.

The next group is business forums and Q&A platforms. On such sites, specialists from software companies often share their experiences and lead their columns. You can create a request, describe your requirements and wait for someone to respond to your question, or find the right people in answers to similar questions already posted. The most popular examples of Q&A platforms for the software development industry are Reddit and Quora.

The resources for finding Fintech development companies are not limited to the above list. For example, you can add LinkedIn here as one of the top networking platforms. Any site will provide you with a huge number of options, and more importantly, you will need to choose the best provider from these many to ensure the success of your project.

Features of a Fintech project

Each industry has its specifics. Fintech is no exception. It is a fairly dynamic and innovative industry that offers new approaches to financial management. Based on this idea, many Fintech project owners put the tech stack at the center of the development team’s selection.

For example, technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, which are used in Fintech, require developers with extensive expertise and vast experience in their implementation. However, the bar is raised even more when other features of Fintech projects are added to the selection criteria for the development team.

Security

Security is a key feature of any Fintech product. Financial companies work with sensitive customer data and so they are the number one target for fraudsters. Loss of data is a threat to the loss of reputation and customer trust.

Therefore, companies are forced to pay special attention to ensure the security of transactions and protect the customers’ data. Your development team needs to understand this perfectly to make security a priority. When starting a conversation with an outsourced software development provider, immediately discuss what security features the team can offer you. Make sure they take this matter seriously.

Traditional ways to protect Fintech applications include encryption sensitive data, tokenization, multi-factor authentication (SMS confirmation code, or biometrics (fingerprint, face, etc.), integration of multi-step approval processes for key actions, run time app self-protection, compliance with security protocols, and more. You can implement AI technologies for operational tracking data and finding patterns of unauthorized transactions to prevent them in the future.

Regulatory compliance

Compliance is the second crucial issue for a Fintech project and it is also a security element. You should keep in mind that there are no universal rules and standards that apply everywhere. Therefore, before proceeding to the development of a Fintech project, study the legal framework of the region where you are going to promote your product. Regulatory compliance will reduce the risks of your clients by increasing their level of trust, as well as protect you and your reputation as it allows you to meet industry standards.

For example, in the European Union, you have to comply with the GDPR, which means that you can only work with personal customer data for a specific purpose and inform your customers about it. Fintech projects must also comply with anti-money laundering (AML) laws. AML compliance includes the development of documents and procedures to ensure that the company’s activities comply with current legislation, protection of information flows, and counteracting fraud and corruption.

Implementing KYC (Know Your Customer) is another very important step in reducing risks and increasing the effectiveness of control because it will allow you to be sure that you are working with respectable customers who don’t break the law. If your project is related to cryptocurrencies, study blockchain regulation in the region you intend to work. It is better to implement all the necessary features required by state standards at the stage of product development to launch a fully relevant product on the market and gain user trust. Make sure that your development team knows how to do this.

Criteria for choosing a development team for a Fintech project

There are many criteria for choosing a software development provider. You probably have the ones that you use when researching outsourcing companies. However, based on the specifics of Fintech projects and the high requirements for developers of such projects, we advise you to first of all pay attention to the following criteria.

Expertise

So, we mentioned that the development of a Fintech project requires a lot of expertise. Your team should not only be able to write code but also be well versed in the specifics of the industry to build the right architecture and make the product fully compliant.

Of course, no one tells you that all developers on your team must have a master’s degree in finance, but a team lead or lead engineer should have experience working with financial products. The easiest way to check the expertise is to study the company’s projects, but we’ll talk about it later.

The main key to success is choosing a team with relevant experience for you. You don’t necessarily need the most top-notch company on the market. You need a company with experience in developing Fintech products and the technical stack you need.

*Technologies used in Fintech (Source: HackerRank)*

Therefore, to begin with, we advise you to make a detailed list of requirements. Describe the features you want to see in your application or platform to understand which developers you need. Choosing an experienced provider will help you minimize the risks associated with creating a new product and achieve cost-effectiveness. Read our article How to reduce software development costs to find out more about it.

Delivered projects

The company’s delivered projects are the main indicator of its success. When choosing a software development partner, ask for the company’s Fintech projects portfolio to find out what types of products the team worked with. Probably, you can find projects similar to yours in the portfolio and assess the level of their implementation. When a company has experience with a wide variety of projects, its expertise grows. Engineers not only know how to implement this or that feature but can also bring fresh ideas based on what they have learned from past projects.

Obviously, software development companies can’t talk about some of their projects. Fintech is an industry where clients often ask for NDAs. If this point is also important to you, do not forget to request an NDA before starting to discuss your project.

Cybersecurity requirements

As we already said, security is a priority for any Fintech product. However, to implement the necessary security features and protect you and your customers from data loss, a development team must take this issue seriously. Make sure that the development process in the company you are going to work with meets all cybersecurity requirements.

Proper software security practices can prevent many future security problems. Therefore, your development team must comply with coding standards, especially if it works with complex programming languages that allow wider interpretation and do not have built-in mechanisms for detecting errors.

Also, if open-source software is used for product development, the development company must ensure that the open-source software complies with the company’s security policy. Most importantly, the team must be aware of their role in mitigating risks and ensuring security.

Clients reviews

You may or may not believe reviews, but it’s best to study the customer feedback about the company you intend to work with. This will help you to know the strengths and weaknesses of your potential development team. You can find reviews on independent sites like Clutch or GoodFirms if you don’t want to read the ones posted on corporate sites.

For example, Clutch asks users to provide detailed feedback on a company’s work, including details of the development process, impressions of collaboration, and results achieved. Moderators verify all reviews to make sure they are from real people. For example, here’s what IdeaSoft’s profile on Clutch looks like.

Company capacity

The size of your development team can change at different stages of the development process. Make sure that the company has the necessary pool of engineers and other IT specialists capable of covering the tasks of your project. Your developers must have the appropriate expertise and seniority level.

We also recommend choosing a company that provides a full cycle of software development services from market research and design to coding, testing, and support. Working with one team throughout the entire software development process has a lot of advantages. Firstly, you will work with people who know your project with all its features from the very beginning.

Secondly, within the same company, different departments have experience of working together, it is easier for them to maintain communication and transfer your project from one stage to another. For you, working with one team will be more cost-effective and more comfortable. This integrated approach can also help optimize Web3 development costs.

How IdeaSoft can help you with your Fintech project

IdeaSoft has been providing fintech software development services for customers all over the world for more than 8 years. Our team has extensive experience in the development of Fintech projects of various complexity levels. We use the latest technologies such as blockchain, AI, ML to transform financial systems and create innovative Fintech products. Our expertise has been proven by over 250 successful projects over the past 5 years.

Working with Fintech projects for different regions, the IdeaSoft team is well versed in the specifics of providing Fintech services in different countries. Security, multidisciplinary professionalism, a combination of new and proven solutions are the foundation of our approach to software development. So we can help you create any kind of modern Fintech software.

Feel free to check out our delivered projects and contact us to speak with a technical specialist.

Key Reasons Why Outsourcing Software Development Benefits Your Business

The IT Outsourcing market worldwide is projected to grow by 8.48% (2024-2029) resulting in a market volume of US$812.70bn in 2029. But despite the impressive numbers, many still have concerns about outsourcing.

In this article, we have collected reasons why do companies outsource software development, what benefits you will get, and what to look for when choosing a development partner. Let’s get started!

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IdeaSoft team got you covered! We have a full-cycle product deveopment team along with in house BA and QA departments to help you at the every stage of development. Reach out today and get your tailored estimate withn a week!

Why do companies outsource software development

The emergence of outsourcing software development companies was driven by market demand. Since 2000, the world has taken the direction of digitalization, and the introduction of technology has become a necessity. In whatever domain a company works, it needs tech solutions to be interesting for its customers, competitive and profitable.

Now, during the lockdown due to the pandemic, technology has become even more crucial and has finally convinced business owners that ignoring tech progress only slows down business development. However, not every company can afford to maintain a staff of developers. That’s where outsourcing comes in.

Outsourcing software development allows you to transfer the tasks of creating software solutions to a third-party company that has relevant experience and takes over the entire process. Before considering all the benefits of outsourcing, I can say that it is effective both in terms of costs and in terms of the quality of the result.

These reasons have hardly changed over the years. Outsourcing development services continue to close the issue of reducing the cost of developing a software product, allowing you to focus on the main business goals, entrusting the technical tasks to another company without hiring your own specialists. And that’s not all that software development outsourcing companies do for business.

Cost-effectiveness of outsourcing

The main reason why companies outsource software development is the cost-effectiveness of this option. Reducing development costs opens up additional investment opportunities for other areas of business (marketing, human resources, office expansions, etc.). Plus, software development isn’t cheap. According to last year’s GoodFirms study, a majority of tech companies offer software projects of general utility at a price range of $20,000 to $40,000. So, how outsourcing helps to reduce costs? Here are several ways.

First, salary differences across the globe. It is well known that developer rates in Eastern Europe and Asia are lower than in the US and Western Europe. With the opportunity to work with developers around the world, you can choose the best partner for yourself regarding price and quality, while reducing the budgets for creating software.

Let’s estimate, if the development of your application takes 4 months, working with US rates, you will pay a developer at least $50 per hour of his work, and for example, a developer from Ukraine will receive 2 times less. I think you see where the cost efficiency lies.

Region	Average region rate/hr
North America	$50-175
Western Europe	$50-200
Eastern Europe	$25-50
Asia	$18-40
Central America and South America	$30-50
Africa	$18-40

Average developer rates by region Source: SharpMinds

Second, working with an outsourced development team, you pay only for the services of specialists, avoiding operating expenses for an office, providing workplaces, vacations, sick leaves, and so on. Plus, you save time and money on recruiting new employees. When hiring your own staff, you need to find developers with the necessary expertise, conduct interviews, instead of starting work right now by transferring the project requirements to an outsourcing company.

Moving forward focusing on core business

You know that the business of a company implementing a software solution or a startup that is working on creating a new product is not limited to the software development process. You also need to work on promotion, sales, business development, partnerships, in other words, do everything to make the company’s main activities profitable. Outsourcing software development frees up time. This is especially effective when it comes to tasks like custom web development, which often require specialized skills and significant resources.

By entrusting the technical part to another team, you can follow the process, focusing on the main goals of your company. I don’t think you want to go out of business for six months or more while you are busy developing software. By outsourcing a project you don’t burden yourself with additional responsibility, as well as don’t overwhelm your in-house team with tasks that don’t match its expertise.

Access to world-class developers

Another great reason for outsourcing is access to an infinite talent pool. You can choose developers from all over the globe without being limited by geographic boundaries. A large selection of professionals will allow you to build a development team with the experience most relevant to your project at competitive prices. Whichever technology you are looking to work with, outsourcing will give you access to more profitable solutions.

For example, blockchain is one of the most trending technologies in recent years. Read about how to get started with blockchain implementation in our article. How much will a blockchain developer cost you? According to real-time calculator Arc, freelance blockchain developer hourly rate in North America is $81-100, while the average rate of blockchain developers from Eastern Europe is $61-80.

The more competitive the market, the more likely it is to find a great deal. Turning to outsourcing, you yourself choose which region to work with. According to SharpMinds, an approximate number of IT professionals in outsourcing locations in 2019 looked like this:

Approximate number of IT specialists by region 2020

There are many different annual rankings designed to determine where the best developers live. You can be guided by them when choosing a software development partner or follow recommendations of your partners. Anyway, using outsourcing services, you expand your capabilities.

Also, by working with an outsourcing team, you free yourself from unnecessary legal work. You don’t need to draw up employment contracts, think about taxes, your outsourcing partner will take care of everything.

Rely on proven expertise

Outsourcing software development companies work with different industries and projects, therefore they have a multifaceted experience that may be useful to you. Experts can help you choose the best features for your product, advise a tech stack that suits your requirements, and find insights you might not have guessed.

It will take years and investment in training to nurture such expertise within a company. When you decide to outsource software development services, you get this and you can be sure that your project is in the hands of experienced professionals.

Some projects require special knowledge and skills that you cannot get in one specialist, but that a trained team can provide. For example, not all IT companies have specialists who work with technologies such as blockchain, AI/ML, cloud computing. If a company doesn’t implement these technologies on an ongoing basis, you can’t expect to be provided with the best solution.

The global marketplace gives you the opportunity to find a team with exactly the expertise you need, no matter how many miles between you.

Improved flexibility and scalability

One of the best things about outsourcing software development is flexibility. Once again, you don’t need to hire developers on a full-time basis. You can build a team depending on the workload and current tasks, paying for the time of those specialists that you need at each separate stage of the development process. Also, you can choose a cooperation model that meets your requirements.

Outsourcing companies usually offer three options for cooperation, which differ in the degree of flexibility and control:

Fixed Price is a model that is based on a predetermined list of requirements, budget, and delivery time for a software product. Working according to this model, you outsource your project, agreeing in advance on all aspects of cooperation, and see the result at the end.
Time-and-Materials provides you with more flexible terms. According to this model, you discuss approximate deadlines and maximum budget and pay for development services in a “pay as you go” format. Also, you can make changes to requirements and take part in the control of the development process.
Dedicated Teams is a great option if you want to lead the development process yourself or need to expand your internal team with specific specialists. The services of dedicated development teams are used by companies around the world, as it is more cost-effective than maintaining their own staff permanently.

Criterion	Fixed Price	Time-and-Materials	Dedicated Team
Project Size	Small to Medium	Medium to Large	Large
Time&Budget Flexibility	Fixed	Flexible	Flexible
Control Over the Process	Little	Significant	Full
Requirements	Defined	Changing	Evolving
Methodology	Waterfall	Agile	Agile/Waterfall
When to Choose	You have clear requirements and determined deadlines. You have a limited or fixed budget. For developing MVPs. For small projects with a limited scope of work.	If workflow may change. You don’t know your market well enough. You want to have control over the development process. Your requirements may change.	You have a complex and long-term project. You want to have complete control over the development process. You need to expand your team and your business.

As you can see from the table, depending on the type of your project, you can choose a model that will allow you to get the most beneficial outcomes. If you want to expand your project through outsourcing, you can do it in the shortest possible time, saving money on hiring the right specialists.

You don’t have to worry about finding a developer with the expertise you want, an outsourcing company takes over this task while you can focus on other business issues. This gives you the flexibility to design your product, keeping your efforts to a minimum and freeing up time for other tasks.

Better risk management

Launching a new product is always risky. Will potential users like your app?

Or can this software solution provide your company with the results you expected? Outsourcing helps reduce these risks for several reasons.

Firstly, you don’t hire your own employees, which means you don’t bear additional expenses. If the product does fail, you will lose less by using outsourced development services.

Secondly, by developing a product on your own, you take full responsibility for yourself and the quality of the product depends only on you, while an outsourcing company takes on the quality risks. By choosing an experienced software development partner who has sufficient experience and examples of successfully implemented projects, you can be sure that your software will work as intended.

Also, experts say that the distribution of tasks among different companies reduces the risks associated with the launch of a software product.

Why Ukraine is the best option for software development

Now that you know the main advantages of outsourcing software development, it’s time to talk about one of the most popular outsourcing destinations. Ukraine is in the top ten countries for outsourcing software development according to various ratings. SkillValue recognized Ukrainian engineers as one of the best in the world in terms of price and quality (Ukraine ranks fifth with a score of 93.17%). Talented developers, reasonable prices, convenient time zone, and geographic location make Ukraine an attractive partner for companies around the globe.

There are more than 20 higher education institutions that teach programming in Ukraine, that annually graduate thousands of beginner IT specialists. Here you can find a developer of any senior level, as well as a master of any technology.

According to Entrepreneur, in 2018, there were around 165,000 developers in Ukraine, and their number is expected to increase by up to 125% by 2025. Ukrainian engineers are well versed in most popular technologies, including AI/ML, blockchain, big data, and others.

So, you can be sure that you will find here a team that will meet your expectations regarding expertise, price, and desired tech stack. Such world-known startups as Grammarly, Jooble, GitLab, Depositphotos were developed by Ukrainian engineers.

Here are more reasons why outsource development services to Ukraine:

There are 1600+ tech companies in Ukraine offering various services related to software development (According to the IT industry in Ukraine. 2019 Market Report)
The time difference between Ukraine and the United States is 7 hours and between Ukraine and the UK is 2 hours, which makes the country a convenient location for working with various markets.
The culture of Ukrainians is similar to the business culture of the West, so you will not have any misunderstandings or other cultural barriers.
Ukraine has a favorable business climate, where the development of the IT industry is supported at the state level. This is one of the reasons why global giants like Microsoft and Oracle open their R&D centers in Ukraine.

Final Thoughts

Among the most common reasons why companies outsource software development are reducing development costs, freeing up time for core business goals, and solving capacity issues. On top, outsourcing software development can help reduce development costs in half because there’s no need to maintain your own staff and because of the difference in developer rates in different countries.

Partnering with an IT outstaffing company allows businesses to scale efficiently, access top-tier talent, and stay agile in a competitive market.

With a professional development team like IdeaSoft you get additional flexibility in scaling your project depending on the development stage and you can choose a cooperation model that meets your requirements, such as a fixed price, time-and-materials, dedicated team.

Leave us a message in the form below and we will get back to you shortly!

Where to Start Implementing Blockchain

If you have already learned about the benefits of blockchain and decided to start your blockchain project, you are probably wondering now how to do it right. Blockchain is still a fairly new technology, so not many people have a full understanding and sufficient expertise to work with it. And it’s okay. We all have to learn. To succeed, you need to build a clear and understandable development process. We have prepared a guide on how to successfully launch a blockchain project to help you get started with this technology. Here are 6 main steps.

According to Statista, global spending on blockchain solutions in 2023 is expected to reach $15.9 bln. Blockchain can solve many business problems, the main ones of which are ensuring the transparency, security, and cost-efficiency of the system. However, you need to clearly understand what tasks you want to solve with this technology to be sure that you have chosen the right one. There is no rush and you should consider alternatives, compare options to find out whether the blockchain is the only right solution.

Start with these 3 questions that will help you finalize your decision.

Do I need data storage and how it should work? Blockchain is primarily a data warehouse that provides distributed access to information. If your database needs centralized management, you don’t need blockchain, and vice versa, if you need to provide secure access to multiple operators, use blockchain. This is an important question to be answered.
Do you want to involve third parties in your work? If you have profitable contracts with counterparties, you trust them and want to continue working with them, then blockchain will be useless for you. This technology aims to build a system without intermediaries, where a blockchain itself is the main regulator.
Are you ready to build a transparent business system? If you have trust issues in your company, then blockchain will help solve them. Thanks to the properties of transparency and traceability, all blockchain participants will be able to see what is happening in the system. If you are not ready for such openness and want to keep your business data in secret, choose another technology.

Now if you have answered ‘yes’ to most of the questions, then you can go to the next step. If most of the answers are ‘no’, consider other software solutions. Our team will be happy to help you with this.

Step 2. Choose the right blockchain

Different blockchain platforms provide different capabilities and are suitable for different tasks. Once you have decided on the goals of the project, you can make an informed decision about what type of blockchain you need. Before moving on to choosing a platform, decide on whether you will use a public or private blockchain. Let’s take a look at the main difference between the two.

A private blockchain is a permitted blockchain, which has restrictions on who is allowed to participate in the network to perform actions and transactions. This option is for you if you need to know who is a member of your blockchain network. A set of rules for accessing and working with data is defined for each participant. The most known private blockchain platforms are Corda and Hyperledger Fabric.
A public blockchain is a network accessible to all users, which means that everyone can write, read, and participate in it. This type of blockchain doesn’t have access or rights control but is more secure since it has more nodes on which information is stored. Examples of public blockchains include Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Criterion	Public Blockchain	Private Blockchain
Access level	Anyone	Allowed Users
Participation	Permissionless and anonymous	Permissioned and identified
Speed	Slower	Faster
Security	Consensus mechanisms (proof of work, proof of stake)	Pre-approved participants and multi-party consensus
Network	Decentralized	Partially Decentralized
Asset	Native asset	Any asset
Energy consumption	Large	Low
Platforms	Bitcoin, Ethereum, NEO, Stellar	Corda, Hyperledger Fabric

Comparison of public and private blockchains

The final decision on choosing the type of blockchain depends on your goals and the required functions, as well as the degree of openness of the system you want to build. The choice of a platform largely depends on your business processes. Pay attention to the criteria privacy, cost-effectiveness, speed of implementation, and bandwidth. Most often, the difference in these properties is crucial.

Step 3. Develop the proof of concept (PoC)

Proof of Concept is an important step for every new project. This allows you to prove the feasibility of your solution under real-world conditions. In software development, proof of concept will show whether your business idea is technically feasible and financially viable. After that, you will come up with a complete understanding of whether this project is worth investing in or needs to be improved. If you are dealing with blockchain for the first time, then testing your idea is crucial to your success, because you need to be sure that you have chosen the right technology and are moving in the right direction.

Here are some of the benefits of creating proof of concept:

You will know whether your product can solve your business problems.
You will choose the right technology stack for your project.
You can get feedback from the target audience at the early stages of product development.
You can save time and money without wasting it on a failed idea.
You can find out potential issues and ways to avoid them.

So, where to start? PoC development starts with defining a minimum viable product (MVP), a set of core features for your product that is sufficient for a first release. However, you don’t necessarily need to design an MVP to prove that your business idea will work out, you just need to make the list of core features to build a prototype or model of your future product and test it on a limited number of users. Then collect feedback, make conclusions, and draw up final requirements for your project. These actions will help you find out possible pitfalls and areas for improvement before you start the project.

Step 4. Think about regulation

One of the difficulties of working with blockchain is the lack of government regulation in many countries around the world. But this is constantly changing. More and more states are recognizing the importance of cryptocurrency and introducing new laws to regulate blockchain operations. Therefore, we advise you to follow the updates of the regulatory framework, as well as assess the need for the execution of any documents and interaction with traditional institutions. For example, you might need help evaluating assets before tokenizing them. It’s better to think ahead about the strategy for operating and regulating your network.

Read our recent article What is Asset Tokenization on Blockchain

According to the latest study of Comply Advantage, cryptocurrency regulations around the world looks like that.

Country	Cryptocurrency	Exchanges
USA	Not considered legal tender	Legal, regulation varies by state
Canada	Not legal tender	Legal
Latin America	Laws vary by country	Laws vary by country
Australia	Legal	Legal
Japan	Legal	Legal
China	Not legal tender	Illegal
India	Not legal tender	Illegal
UK	Not legal tender	Legal
Switzerland	Legal	Legal
EU	Legal	Regulations vary by member-state

Source: Comply Advantage

Step 5. Find an experienced development team

Once you are done with the preparatory part, it’s time to find a development team for your project. The blockchain market is developing rapidly, but there are not many experienced specialists working with this technology yet. Many providers prefer old proven technologies and don’t strive for innovation. Therefore, pay special attention to the experience of the developers with whom you are going to work, learn more about the delivered projects. You need specialists who are well versed in technology and will be able to build the right architecture for your project and take all the advantages of blockchain.

If you’d like to save money on development and get a high-quality product, turn to outsource software development companies. According to the Skill Value report, based on +550 technical assessments, the top 5 countries with the best developers of the world includes specialists from Slovakia, Mexico, Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine. These countries win regarding price and quality. Learn more about company projects, reviews, and work approaches to select professionals who will help bring your business idea to life.

We are delighted to be featured in the Top Emerging Tech Companies in Ukraine for 2020 across fields such as AR/VR and blockchain by Clutch. IdeaSoft is actively developing the blockchain direction and provides high-quality software solutions for innovative companies around the world.

Based on deep expertise and experience, confirmed by more than 200 successfully delivered projects, we can help you launch a blockchain product of any complexity. Contact us to discuss your idea. Let’s make progress together!

Step 6. Scale and improve

Working with an experienced development team will let you build a clear and effective interaction process and soon your product will be finished and ready to launch. You need to constantly improve and keep your product up to date to make it interesting to users. Experts advise to draw up short-term and long-term development plans that help to achieve the set results. Also, partnering with the development team will allow you to have a range of experts to suggest something or help you implement a new feature when you need it.

Blockchain is an excellent and promising technology for those who are not afraid to experiment and strive for market leadership. Follow these 6 initial steps of blockchain implementation and make your business grow. According to Deloitte, 84% of business executives believe that blockchain technology will eventually become mainstream. Now you have the opportunity to be one of the pioneers who will become the creators of blockchain history. Don’t miss this!

Our designers have also prepared for you infographics on the launch of a blockchain project so you can go through all the steps once again and save the instructions for yourself. Don’t hesitate to contact us in case you need a consultation. Good luck with your project!

Where to start implementing blockchain infographics

What Percentage of Project Success Depends on PM: an Interview with Eugenia Gorlacheva

Find a good project manager if you want your project to be successful. The project manager is one of the most interesting IT professions. This specialist knows how to communicate with both a client and a development team to achieve set goals. Eugenia Gorlacheva, PMO at IdeaSoft told us about her work, professional development, and project success criteria in a recent interview. Read on to find out more.

“Management is not about giving orders, it’s about serving people”
Eugenia Gorlacheva, PMO at IdeaSoft

IdeaSoft: Why did you choose the profession of a project manager and what do you like about your job?

Eugenia: Management is not just a profession, this is a lifestyle. My strong belief is that you should feel that you are a manager, you need to serve people this way, overcoming challenges and making an impact. Throughout my life, I’ve always been controlling and managing something. So, I didn’t choose, it just happened. The best part of my job is that I can help the team and clients turn business needs into technical solutions. And quite a pleasant bonus is that I can always grow in this profession.

IdeaSoft: What qualities should a good project manager have?

Eugenia: Willingness to learn, patience, empathy to a client, and passion for what you do. I’m not talking about being self-organized, the ability to plan, and have PM knowledge as long as we are not creating a job description now. We are talking about things that go along with these qualities.

IdeaSoft: How can a project manager improve his skills?

Eugenia: There are so many different ways to improve, from courses, webinars, workshops to self-education watching YouTube videos, and reading books. At IdeaSoft, we have competent managers and supportive colleagues ready to help. Also, a big deal in a project manager’s growth is projects where a PM is involved. Different teams and technologies always require thinking out of the box. And this diversity also can be found at this company, as we have different clients with different requirements.

IdeaSoft: In your opinion, what percentage of project success depends on the project manager’s skills and why?

Eugenia: A project manager usually takes primary responsibility for a deliverable, so this person is motivated better than anyone to get the final product according to the client’s requirements and within time and budget. Though the team matters for sure. I am lucky to have a team of developers, business analysts, designers, and QAs, who really care about what they do, I’m proud to work with them.

IdeaSoft: How do you know if a product launch is successful?

Eugenia: Happy customers and end-users. This is the best measurement for project success.

IdeaSoft: What is the best advice you would give to someone starting out in a project management position?

Eugenia: Do your best, keep in mind that management is not about giving orders, it’s about serving people. And a project manager should be sincere with clients, a team, and management even though it takes great courage sometimes.

Blockchain

Software

IT Consulting

Design

Blockchain

Software

IT Consulting

Design

How Can We Help?

Table of contents:

What is DeFi and what are the benefits of DeFi

Benefits of decentralized finance

Starting a DeFi project

The process of developing DeFi product

DeFi security

Choosing a development team for a DeFi project

IdeaSoft experience

Table of contents:

Once again, what are NFTs?

What is an NFT marketplace?

How does an NFT marketplace work?

NFT marketplace development: where to start

NFT marketplace features

Storefront

Searching for items

Filters

Creating listings

Status of listing

Buying and Auction

Wallet

Ratings

NFT marketplace development with OpenSea SDK

Custom NFT marketplace development

What to look for when building an NFT marketplace

Security

Experienced blockchain development team

How IdeaSoft can help you build an NFT marketplace

Table of Contents:

What is a non-fungible token (NFT)?

Non-fungible tokens have a number of specific characteristics, which include:

How do non-fungible tokens work?

NFT use cases

Here are some NFT use cases besides collectibles and gaming:

The future of NFTs

Summing up

IdeaSoft and SoftLakeSprite experience

Key deliverables

Continuing cooperation

As a final point

Table of contents:

Fintech market overview

Where to look for a Fintech development team

Features of a Fintech project

Security

Regulatory compliance

Criteria for choosing a development team for a Fintech project

Expertise

Delivered projects

Cybersecurity requirements

Clients reviews

Company capacity

How IdeaSoft can help you with your Fintech project

Table of contents:

Why do companies outsource software development

Cost-effectiveness of outsourcing

Moving forward focusing on core business

Access to world-class developers

Rely on proven expertise

Improved flexibility and scalability

Better risk management

Why Ukraine is the best option for software development

Final Thoughts

Table of contents:

Step 1. Set clear project goals

Step 2. Choose the right blockchain

Step 3. Develop the proof of concept (PoC)

Step 4. Think about regulation

Step 5. Find an experienced development team

Step 6. Scale and improve