🎉 My First Web3 Project: On-Chain Betting DApp

On-Chain Betting DApp

First, credits to Luiz Duarte (LuizTools), that makes everything on this path 10x easiest to learn. Thank you.

As part of my journey into the Web3 and blockchain development world, I’ve just completed my first project: a functional on-chain betting decentralized application (DApp)! It was an exciting challenge that allowed me to apply both Solidity for smart contract development and modern frontend technologies like React.js and Next.js. Let’s dive into the details of how I built this project, step by step.

🛠️ Building the Smart Contract: Solidity & Remix IDE

For the backend, I used Solidity to develop a smart contract that powers the on-chain betting system. The contract handles all the logic, including placing bets, determining winners, and handling payouts—all executed directly on the blockchain, ensuring transparency and trust.

I coded this contract using the Remix IDE, a powerful online tool for writing and deploying Solidity contracts. Once the contract was ready, I deployed it to the Polygon Amoy Testnet, which is a test version of the Polygon blockchain. This allowed me to simulate real blockchain interactions in a development environment before moving to the mainnet.

💻 Frontend: Next.js, React.js, and Web3.js Integration

For the frontend, I turned to VSCode, where I created a sleek and responsive website using Next.js and React.js. The frontend ground is built using the Bootstrap frontend toolkit, ensuring a responsive and modern design without compromising on performance.

To connect everything together, I integrated Web3.js into the frontend to facilitate interactions with the blockchain and the deployed smart contract. I also implemented MetaMask wallet support, allowing users to connect their wallets, place bets, and view results, all directly from their browser.

🔗 Key Features:

• On-Chain Betting Smart Contract: Built using Solidity and deployed on the Polygon Amoy Testnet.

• Frontend with Next.js & React.js: A clean and functional UI built to enhance user experience.

• Bootstrap Toolkit: Ensured a responsive design using Bootstrap as the frontend foundation.

• Blockchain Integration: Used Web3.js to enable seamless communication between the frontend and the smart contract.

• MetaMask Support: Easy wallet connection for users to interact with the blockchain and place bets.

🛠️ Improvements to Enhance Learning and Implement New Technologies

1. Add Unit and Integration Testing with Hardhat or Foundry
   Implementing thorough unit and integration tests for the smart contract using frameworks like Hardhat or Foundry can deepen your understanding of the solidity contract’s behavior in various scenarios. This would allow you to simulate complex betting situations and catch bugs early.

2. Gas Optimization Techniques
   Optimizing the gas usage of the smart contract can teach you valuable lessons about Ethereum’s gas model and efficient Solidity programming practices. You can use Solidity optimizer settings, manually inspect the contract to reduce gas-heavy operations, and implement libraries like OpenZeppelin for gas-efficient contract modules.

3. Switch to a Layer-2 Solution
   While you deployed on Polygon’s Amoy Testnet, you could explore deploying on other Layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum or Optimism, or even dive deeper into ZK-rollups. This would provide insights into how different scalability solutions work and how to adapt DApps for high-throughput environments.

4. Implement a Backend with The Graph
   By using The Graph to index events from your smart contract, you can create a more efficient and responsive frontend that doesn’t need to query the blockchain directly for each user action. This will introduce you to subgraphs, off-chain indexing, and data querying in decentralized environments.

5. Add a Token-Based Economy or Reward System
   Introduce a token to the DApp to create a reward system for players, or even issue NFTs as rewards for winning bets. This would require smart contract modification, including token standards like ERC-20 or ERC-721, and provide experience with tokenomics and NFT integration.

6. Frontend Enhancements with Web3modal
   Improve the user experience by implementing Web3modal for seamless multi-wallet support beyond just MetaMask. This would allow your DApp to support wallets like WalletConnect, Coinbase Wallet, and more, enhancing usability for a wider range of users.

7. Deploy to a Multi-Chain Environment
   Expanding the DApp to be multi-chain would allow you to deploy on multiple blockchains (e.g., Ethereum mainnet, Binance Smart Chain, Solana), enabling you to understand cross-chain deployments and compatibility challenges between ecosystems.

8. Integrate a Decentralized Oracle
   For betting applications, you could introduce decentralized oracles like Chainlink to provide real-world data feeds, making the betting outcomes more dynamic and realistic (e.g., sports scores, weather data, etc.). This would allow you to learn about off-chain data integration and security considerations when using external sources.

9. Create a Full CI/CD Pipeline for Smart Contracts
   Set up a continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline using GitHub Actions or GitLab CI to automatically test, build, and deploy the smart contract upon each change. This would improve your DevOps skills in a blockchain environment.

10. User Authentication with Web3.js and Firebase
    Implement Web3.js with Firebase for a hybrid authentication system, allowing users to authenticate using their MetaMask or another Web3 wallet, while also storing additional user data off-chain. This would give you experience in bridging traditional web technologies with blockchain.

11. Enable Betting with Stablecoins
    Modify the contract to allow betting using stablecoins like USDC or DAI, providing users with a more stable currency for placing bets and minimizing volatility risks. This would require adding support for ERC-20 tokens in your contract and frontend.

12. Mobile-Friendly DApp
    Enhance the frontend to be fully mobile-responsive, including optimizations for mobile wallet browsers like MetaMask Mobile or Trust Wallet. This would improve your frontend development skills while ensuring your DApp is accessible to a broader audience.

13. Upgrade to Solidity 0.8.x and Introduce Error Handling
    Upgrading to the latest Solidity version (if applicable) and implementing advanced error-handling techniques (e.g., try/catch with external calls) would expose you to the latest best practices and security features.

By working on these improvements, i can gain deeper expertise not only in Solidity and Web3.js, but also in essential Web3 development tools like The Graph, Chainlink, and Rust, while building more robust and feature-rich DApps.

📝 What’s Next?

As I continue my journey in blockchain development, I plan to refine my approach using a clearer agile methodology. This means breaking down projects into manageable sprints, ensuring continuous feedback, and iterating on improvements—aligning with the best practices found in the professional world.

My future projects will push the boundaries even further, and I’ll be documenting every step. Stay tuned for the next projects, where I’ll dive deeper into advanced smart contract optimization, decentralized finance (DeFi), and more complex DApp architectures.

💡 Follow My Journey:

If you’re interested in following my progress, learning more about blockchain development, or collaborating, you can find me on:

• My Blogs (Hashnode, Medium e Dev.to): Where I document my Web3 learning journey in detail.

• GitHub: Check out all my projects, including the code for this on-chain betting DApp.

• LinkedIn: Connect with me professionally as I continue building in the blockchain space.

This is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to continue growing my skills and contributing to the Web3 ecosystem!