Xcan - Final Report

DAO Programs & Initiatives Domain Allocator Offerings (prev Questbook)
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Acknowledgement

We want to start by thanking the Arbitrum DAO, Domain Allocator @Juandi, and Program Manager @JoJo for their support and guidance throughout this D.A.O. grant program.

The trust and encouragement from the program team made a real difference, not just in keeping us on track, but in giving us the confidence to build something we genuinely believe in. This kind of support is what makes Arbitrum stand out as an ecosystem that truly cares about empowering developers and backing meaningful technical work.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this vision, and we hope the outcomes speak for the effort the whole team put in.

About Us

Lampros DAO is an open community of builders and researchers dedicated to strengthening the Arbitrum ecosystem. We focus on developing open-source tools, improving developer experience, and conducting ecosystem research that drives informed, scalable growth within Arbitrum and beyond.

Executive Summary

Project Name: Xcan
Questbook Application: View Application

Links:

Xcan is a hands-on developer learning and certification platform built specifically for the Arbitrum ecosystem. The idea was simple: instead of one-off workshops that developers forget after a week, we wanted to give people a structured path, from their very first Stylus contract all the way to deploying a real Orbit chain project, with verifiable, on-chain proof of what they built and learned.

We built the full platform from scratch during this grant: the challenge engine, GitHub submission flow, LLM-assisted code review, NFT certificate system, and 9 learning modules ranging from Web3 Basics to Cross-Chain Development and DeFi on Arbitrum. We also ran a video series (13 videos published) and a Stylus Advocates program that certified 51 regional developer advocates.

How the grant helped:
Before the grant, we had an MVP and a vision. The grant gave us the runway to actually build it properly, smart contracts for trustless attestations, a full frontend and developer dashboard, the complete module curriculum, outreach content, and the advocate program. Without the grant, none of this would have shipped in this timeline. The funding was directly responsible for the platform that now has ~400 developers actively enrolled, ~800 NFT certificates minted, and 150+ Orbit chains deployed by learners.

Performance Against KPIs

Milestone-Level Summary

Milestone Projected KPIs Actual Results Status
M1: Platform & Smart Contracts Attestation contracts on testnet; backend + GitHub integration live Trustless attestation contracts deployed; certificates issued as on-chain NFTs; GitHub integration fully functional Achieved
M2: Frontend & Initial Modules Dashboard live; 3 modules; 100 devs onboarded Full dashboard live; 9 active modules; 260 completions on Arbitrum Stylus module alone Exceeded
M3: Advanced Curriculum & Orbit Explorer Advanced modules live; Orbit explorer integration D.A.A.O, Cross-chain UX, Capstone modules published; 154+ Orbit chains deployed by learners Exceeded
M4: Video Series 10-12 videos; 500+ cumulative views 13 videos published; ~989 cumulative views Achieved
M5: Stylus Advocates Program 50 advocates trained & certified 51+ advocates trained and issued on-chain “Stylus Advocate” certifications Achieved
M6: Final Training Outcomes 250+ devs trained; 400+ certs issued; final report 289+ devs fully trained; 390+ under active training; 779+ NFT certs minted Exceeded

Key Numbers at a Glance

Metric Target Actual
Developers under training (active) - 390+
Developers fully trained 250+ 289+
Certificates claimed (NFTs) 400+ 779+
Orbit chains launched by learners - 154+
Stylus Advocates certified 50 51+
Total module completions - 1,399+
Active modules - 9
Videos published 10-12 13
Video views 500+ ~1000

Module Completion Breakdown

Module Completions
Arbitrum Stylus 260
Web3 Basics 170
Master Arbitrum Orbit 149
Stylus Core Concepts 135
Stylus Foundation 111
XCAN Advocate 51
Master DeFi on Arbitrum 30
Cross-Chain Development 21
Precompile Playground 0 (newly launched)

Qualitative Impact & Community Feedback

What we’re most proud of

The number that sticks with us isn’t the certificate count; it’s this: around ~25% of the builders who showcased at Arbitrum India’s first Open House were Xcan graduates. That’s the clearest sign that the platform actually works as a funnel from learning to building to deploying on Arbitrum.

We didn’t just teach people concepts. Developers who went through Xcan modules came out the other side with real, working projects deployed on Arbitrum testnets. Several of those projects were showcased live at the Arbitrum India Open House event:

These are real apps, an AI-powered lending agent using AAVE on Arbitrum, an English auction Rust/Stylus smart contract, a liquidity agent on Camelot DEX, a yield tokenization tool, and more. All built by developers who started on Xcan.

The on-chain certificate system also turned out to be more impactful than we expected. Learners actively claimed their NFT certs and started using them in hackathon applications and DAO program applications as verifiable proof of skill. That’s exactly the kind of signal quality the ecosystem needs.

Ecosystem Recognition

We were happy to see organic recognition from other ecosystem teams; these weren’t coordinated, just developers and teams noticing the platform:

Participant Feedback

We collected detailed feedback from participants throughout the program. The full sheet is here: Participant Feedback Spreadsheet

A few things that came up consistently:

  • Developers appreciated having a clear, step-by-step path rather than scattered docs and tutorials
  • The GitHub submission + automated review flow felt “like a real job” for several learners, which was the point
  • The on-chain certificate was a meaningful milestone that people actively shared

Financial Summary

Total grant received: $40,000 USD

Category Amount % of Total
Platform Architecture & Smart Contracts (M1) $10,000 25%
Frontend + Module Launch + LLM Grading (M2) $8,000 20%
Advanced Curriculum + Orbit Explorer Integration (M3) $7,000 17.5%
Onboarding Video Series Production (M4) $5,000 12.5%
Stylus Advocates Program (M5) $5,000 12.5%
Final Reporting, Analytics & Operations (M6) $5,000 12.5%
Total $40,000 100%

The funds were used exactly as planned. The largest chunk, $25,000, went toward building the platform (smart contracts, backend, frontend, curriculum). The remaining $15,000 covered outreach, the advocate program, and wrap-up reporting.

There were no major deviations from the original budget. Where we ended up spending more time and effort than expected was on the attestation system and the advocate training curriculum, both of which paid off given the numbers above.

Future Plans & Continued Ecosystem Alignment

What’s next for Xcan

Platform: We’re keeping the platform live and maintained. We’re not treating this as a finished project; it’s an ongoing pipeline. On that note, we recently got a separate proposal approved in the Education domain, Arbitrum Builder Pods, which kicks off this month. Builder Pods are a structured learning path for students and builders, and Xcan will serve as the core learning path and technical curriculum across all pods. So the platform now has a direct, ongoing use case feeding into it right away.

Curriculum: We’re adding more Orbit-specific templates and CI/CD workflows to make it even easier to go from “completed a module” to “deployed something real.” We also plan to integrate deeper Stylus toolchains, including SmartCache and cache management tooling, as elective modules.

Community: The certified Stylus Advocates are now a distributed network. Our goal is for them to run local workshops and community sessions independently, which reduces reliance on central coordination and lets the program scale regionally without needing per-event funding.

Ecosystem alignment: Everything Xcan does feeds directly into Arbitrum’s developer pipeline. More trained developers to more projects building on Stylus and Orbit to more activity on the network. We want Xcan to be the go-to starting point for any developer who hears about Arbitrum and wants to actually build on it, not just read about it.

Conversations and partnerships: The visibility from this program has opened conversations with bootcamps, university clubs, and a few regional developer communities interested in adopting the Xcan curriculum. We’re actively pursuing those partnerships as a path toward long-term sustainability, alongside exploring optional paid tracks (mentorship, placement support, custom analytics) for institutional users while keeping the core learning journey free and open.

Additional Remarks

A few things we want to flag that don’t neatly fit above:

The attestation system became more than a certificate. We designed it as a credential, but developers started actively using their Xcan NFT certs when applying to hackathons and Arbitrum ecosystem programs. That’s a signal worth building on, and something the DAO could potentially reference in future program criteria.

The platform is open and reusable. All modules are open-source. Any bootcamp, university club, or Orbit team can fork the curriculum and run it with their own community. We’ve documented the setup so it doesn’t require our team to be involved. That’s important for longevity.

The advocate network is the real multiplier. Certified Stylus Advocates across different regions means that developer education doesn’t have to stop when this grant ends. Those advocates are now capable of onboarding developers independently, and several of them already started working on it.

Thank you again to the D.A.O. Grant Program, the Domain Allocators, and the Arbitrum community for the support. We built something we’re genuinely proud of, and we’re committed to keeping it running and growing.