Cardano Goes to the Dogs
"I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source." - Doris Day
There is something magical and undefinable about our pets. Perhaps it's their joy when we arrive home after a hard day. Maybe it's their unique ability to comfort us, not with a million prying questions, but with simple companionship and caring silence. Whatever “it” is, our animals become a part of our families and our lives. Kurt, the proprietor of Woof Stake Pool, is a big fan of dogs - specifically Cedar, Zola and Tark.
As a result he decided to name his stake pool Woof and to donate a portion of the rewards to charities that benefit animal causes. Being a fairly new pool, they are focusing on one charity, The Best Friends Animal Society, with hopes to expand into others as the pool grows.
Best Friends is a unique charity that started with an animal sanctuary in the high Utah desert thirty five years ago. Their work over the decades has been fundamental in creating a cultural change and focus on treating animals with kindness and respect, advocating for those unable to speak for themselves. It's hard to imagine now, but thirty five years ago euthanasia was the primary method of population control. This organization was, and is, truly a labor of love. It was bootstrapped by very disparate founders from the most humble of beginnings. Over the decades, it has grown from a simple refuge to a nationwide organization which continues to advocate tirelessly for the welfare of our furry friends. You can actually take a vacation at the Sanctuary and visit all the animals in their care!
So now that we know Best Friends is a great charity, lets talk more about Woof Pool. In addition to his love of animals, Kurt has over twenty years of experience as a software developer. He has been involved in the blockchain space since 2017. He chose Cardano because of its methodical, peer reviewed approach which leads to a better product and greater security. Over the course of the last several months, Kurt has become aware that each SPO must work to define itself in the vast Cardano space. He is using several different avenues to do so. He is a participating SPO in Dripdropz, which allows his delegators to redeem Bison coins every epoch. He is also an official Hosky Token pooper scooper. Additionally he has partnered with Cyber Phil in order to help spread the word about Woof. It seemed like a natural fit as both men are big fans of dogs and memes.
While growing the pool is the primary imperative, Kurt is also concurrently focused on learning more within the technical ecosystem. He has enrolled in Plutus Pioneers where he hopes to expand his skills and make connections that will eventually allow him to build Dapps for the Cardano Community. He also is running a test net pool which will allow him to test new software and support the network. Never one to sit still, Kurt is also in the early stages of working with Shelter Pets on some education for charities. He has become aware of the difficulties and expense when converting ADA to fiat for donations which could be avoided if charities held their own crypto wallets. Kurt and Shelter Pets are on a mission to educate their respective charities as to the rewards of holding their own wallet and repeating the benefits of passive staking income. Its still early, but the general thought process is to create an application to simplify the process for all involved. The application would manage charity wallet addresses, provide updates and help non profits create wallets and organize their backend accounting.
The Woof website offers links to many educational resources including: The Charles whiteboard video, IOHK research papers, and Grayscale’s Introduction to Cardano report. Additionally he is producing some Cardano related guides including “How to set up a Cardano private testnet” and another about “Writing a simple DApp using PAB Services” which is still in process. His commitment to his pool is demonstrated by his personal pledge of 100,000 ADA. In addition to the Woof pool, Kurt is also building DApps on Cardano, learning Haskell and intends to produce educational videos about the things he learns in the process.
Kurt is committed to the Cardano Community. He is focused on giving through charitable donations, but also by educating newcomers, running a testnet pool and, eventually, building DApps for Cardano. If you are looking for an active stake pool with a professional and motivated proprietor, Woof is a great choice. Kurt is actively engaged in both the technical and social aspects of the Cardano Community. If you stake with his pool you are eligible for Bison and Hosky tokens in addition to regular staking rewards. And he helps homeless pets, who can resist that?
By Traveler Jo | CardanoArmy.io
You can find Traveler Jo somewhere close to the sea. She loves Cardano, kayaking and food - not necessarily in that order. She's busy exploring the world, always in the company of her husband, tired dog and indignant felines.