Overview
Onboard.Ninja is a platform that lets event organizers hand out Cardano tokens through scannable QR-code cards. An attendee scans the card with a phone wallet, approves the claim, and the token lands directly in their account1. The product is in public beta and built on Proof of Onboarding, an open standard for distributing tokens at in-person events without paper seed phrases2.
Onboard.Ninja is led by Adam Dean, who co-authored the Proof of Onboarding standard (also known as CIP-99) in 2023 to give projects a safer way to greet new users at conferences and meetups3. Cardano Catalyst Fund 13 awarded funding to Onboard.Ninja to turn the standard into a hosted, self-serve platform that projects can use without writing code3. The attendee's wallet stays on their own phone, which means they hold their own keys rather than relying on the event organizer to safeguard funds.
Key Features
- Pre-printed claim cards. Each attendee is handed a printed card with a unique QR code. They scan it from a wallet app and the token claim runs straight into their account, with no seed phrase to copy or paper wallet to load1.
- Works with mobile wallets people already use. Supported claim flows cover three self-custody Cardano wallets, where you hold your own keys: VESPR, Begin, and Lace. Attendees can install whichever they prefer at the event4.
- Tokens or NFTs. Organizers can send either fungible or non-fungible tokens to new users at live events3.
- Built on a public protocol. The underlying Proof of Onboarding code, including a test server, a wallet integration library, and the QR-code generator, is published openly on GitHub under a Creative Commons license, so other teams can use it to build the protocol into their own wallets or platforms2.
- Organizer-facing campaign tools. The hosted product gives each campaign its own funding wallet, generates claim codes and print-ready QR codes, and tracks claims as they come in, so an organizer can run an airdrop (a free token distribution to attendees) without writing smart-contract code5.
What to Expect
If you are an attendee at an event using Onboard.Ninja, the experience is built around your phone. You install one of the recommended Cardano wallets (VESPR, Begin, or Lace), set it up, save your recovery phrase, then point your phone's camera at the QR code on the card you were handed. The wallet recognizes the claim and pulls in the token. During the claim, the wallet sends your wallet address and the card's claim code to the claim server named in the QR code6.
If you are an event organizer or project team, the path is to email the team for a demo or try the beta app. Expect to coordinate directly with the team on token supply, card design, and claim windows. The supporting code is published openly, so a more technical team can also use the public code repository to build Proof of Onboarding into its own wallet or platform2.
Onboard.Ninja supports Cardano only.
