A Spotlight on Stake Pools: SHARP Stake Pool
Delve into the crucial work of stake pool operators, starting with the SHARP Stake Pool operated by Kyle Johns
The Cardano Foundation currently delegates to 45 pools, with a delegation volume of around 14 million ada for each pool. While earlier delegations concentrated on heightening decentralization, with the successful implementation of Alonzo and smart contract capabilities unlocked, we felt it was of utmost importance to attract and support both ecosystem builders and contributors. For this reason, and although decentralization will always remain a core pillar of the Cardano blockchain, just under a year ago the Foundation tuned its delegation methodology to better support those building the ecosystem. Now, with this strategy in place and three rounds of delegation complete, we look to bring into focus these builders—some of the most active architects of the future.
The series “A Spotlight on Stake Pools” will showcase stake pools that not only mint new blocks and secure the network but also build tools, update libraries, and consistently contribute to the overall ecosystem.
We start with SHARP Stake Pool, operated by Kyle Johns. SHARP contributes substantially to the C# library—used by many developers in the ecosystem—and makes building on Cardano simpler for .NET developers. SHARP also regularly contributes to the Developer Portal.
Why did you become a stake pool operator?
I wanted to contribute to the Cardano Network. I set up a pool during the Haskell Testnet and have been online ever since.
What is the mission of your stake pool?
I want to provide .NET developers with a way to build on Cardano. With our .NET Library, developers can connect to wallets, build their own wallet, and/or build simple to complex transactions.
Could you give us a brief overview of your stake pool’s history?
I started in the Haskell Testnet and launched my pool on day one when Shelley was released. It was originally named LIFT pool. I also helped found the Mission Driven Pools group.
I was able to donate to charities like The Water Project and Save the Children.
After Catalyst Fund 3, I was funded to build CardanoSharp. That's when I pivoted the pool from LIFT to SHARP.
How did the Cardano Foundation delegation impact your stake pool operation?
My pool donates 10% of rewards to the CardanoSharp Treasury. Myself and the other contributors decide how to spend these funds. Right now we primarily use the funds for feature bounties. As we grow, I would like to start funding people's projects that use our .NET Library.
Did you find the Cardano Foundation delegation enabled you to either build or improve your tools, projects, or open source repositories?
Absolutely! Ever since the Cardano Foundation's new delegation strategy we have had the following updates: The two standout projects we have been able to work on are the CardanoSharpWallet and CardanoSharp.Koios. The CardanoSharpWallet already has over 21,000 downloads while the CardanoSharp.Koios has over 5,000.
Other projects we have been able to work on include CSCLI: Cross-platform CLI for building and interacting with Cardano data structures using .NET; and CardanoSharp.Blazor, this is a library that allows web application developers to connect to CIP30 compliant web wallets.
How would you summarize your contributions to the Cardano ecosystem?
We focus on building libraries, tools, and support for the .NET world. We want to eliminate friction for .NET developers so integrating/building on Cardano is as easy as possible.
Are you currently building something that you would like to share?
Yes, the Library! I think the more developers we can get in our community to use, test, and/or contribute to our ecosystem the stronger our offering will become. With our technology, developers can build Desktop Apps (project-talon), CLIs (cscli), Web app (cardanosharp-blazor), Mobile Apps (cardanosharp-catalyst-demo), and many many more tools for Cardano/.NET developers to leverage.
Other project that are being worked on by community:
- •Talon: a desktop light wallet
- •Cscli: a light command line interface
- •SharpDao: this is a Fund 9 proposal that has already led to new features being added
- •SaturnNFT: A platform to mint nfts (Partners with CardanoSHARP)
To stay up to date with SHARP Stake Pool, follow @SharpStakePool on Twitter, Discord and the CardanoSharp website.
The Cardano Foundation encourages all eligible stake pools to apply for delegation. We provide full details on how to apply, and the form to apply for delegation is now available.