Layer-0 Developer Academy
Use cases and capstones
Each use case carries an explicit field constraint. Without it a capstone subject stays a school exercise: it is the constraint — an intermittent connection, a user with no tokens, a proof an administration will accept — that forces a real architecture decision.
Twelve African use cases
CEMAC cross-border settlement
A settlement between two countries in the zone routes through correspondents off the continent, at disproportionate cost and delay.
Constraint
The system must stay auditable by a regulator operating no node, and reversible if the operator changes.
Five capstone tiers
Each tier raises the stakes on a named axis. Acceptance is always something a third party verifies.
- 01L1
Beginner capstone — a verifiable explorer
An explorer that verifies for itself what it displays rather than relaying a provider's data.
First tier: the participant stops believing a display and starts verifying.
Acceptance
- Local verification of digests and inclusion proofs
- Environment reproduced by a peer from the repository alone
- Documentation separating what is verified from what remains assumed
- 02L1
Intermediate capstone — a traceability application
A complete traceability application on an existing chain, usable on a degraded connection.
The real user enters the equation: the constraint is no longer purely technical.
Acceptance
- Contracts tested and audited by a third-party team
- User journey measured on a degraded mobile connection
- Explicit handling of pending and failure states
- 03L2
Advanced capstone — an application blockchain
A complete application chain answering a real use case, reproduced by a third-party team.
The participant no longer consumes a protocol: they write one and own its costs.
Acceptance
- Every call tested, bounded and weighed by measurement
- Upgrade demonstrated against populated state
- The chain's threat model documented
- 04L3
Expert capstone — interoperable infrastructure
An operated infrastructure linking two distinct ecosystems, monitored and tested under failure.
Operations become the deliverable: what counts is that the system holds without its author.
Acceptance
- Cross-ecosystem link demonstrated live
- Recovery runbook executed by another team
- Every trust assumption documented and reviewed
- 05L4
National capstone — infrastructure for Cameroon
Design, cost and defend a production infrastructure answering a real national need.
Institutional constraint becomes the main constraint: the panel is no longer purely technical.
Acceptance
- Architecture dossier costed over three years
- Working prototype of the riskiest component
- A binding reversibility plan and a defence before a mixed panel
BAC Multichain Builders Challenge
The hackathon that asks teams to build across more than one ecosystem, on a problem their own country actually has.
- Agriculture and food security
- Healthcare
- Supply chains
- Financial services
- Identity
- Public services
- Climate
- Mining
- Education
- Internet of things
From training to company
Each step has a gate: nothing advances on enthusiasm alone.
- 01TrainingCertification earned through practical examination.
- 02CapstoneProject delivered and reproduced by a third-party team.
- 03HackathonPrototype confronted with a panel and real users.
- 04Technical validationArchitecture and security review by the task force.
- 05Company formationLegal structure and ownership documented.
- 06IncubationSupport from a partner incubator.
- 07Ecosystem grantApplication submitted to a protocol foundation.
- 08InvestmentTraction demonstrated beyond the Academy's perimeter.