blockchain-enabled-crowdfunding | Hyperledger Fabric for building a collaboration | Blockchain library

Crowdfunding is practice of funding that operates independently of any government and is a way for people, businesses and charities to raise money. It is a way of raising finance by asking a large number of people each for a small amount of money. People invest simply because they believe in the cause. There are several types of crowdfunding (donation based, rewards based, debt, equity) but not all types of crowdfunding are regulated by government organizations like the UK's Financial Conduct Authority. Crowdfunding has many benefits, but it also comes with a substantial risk of fraud -- as well as a number of potential risks, such as loss of money, locked-in investment, lack of income, and lack of information. Many people worry about being scammed by a fraudulent request, due in large part to crowdfunding's lack of transparency and trust. There have been few reported cases of fraud in crowdfunding -- particularly when compared to the number of transactions and amounts involved -- however as the number of crowdfunding platforms grows, so does the risk that platform operators themselves may engage in or enable fraud. This code pattern showcases blockchain-enabled crowdfunding by showing you how to use a Hyperledger Fabric network to build a platform to aid crowdfunding. This network provides a holistic view of the requirement and its current status -- which helps to address the need more efficiently, and reduces the problems of over-collection or under-collection for a need. All of this means that the platform creates trust, accountability, and operational transparency. In this code pattern, we have taken an example of the crowdfunding event - "Raise funds to increase Green Cover".
Setup blockchain network using IBM Blockchain Platform(IBP)
Interact with IBP using Fabric Java SDK
Build a nodejs client application which will interact with blockchain network with the help of Fabric Java SDK application
In this step, we will setup the Hyperledger Fabric network using IBM Blockchain Platform as explained below.
Here, we use the Fabric Java SDK App to build a client to invoke and query chaincode on the hyperledger fabric network. Open the manifest.yml file under fabric-java-sdk-app directory. Under env section, provide the valid credentials for an user who can execute transactions in the network. Also update Organization Affiliation and Chaincode name. Note: In this pattern, we are using admin credentials directly for executing transactions.
A web application is provided to perform various operations like Donate, View Supporters etc. Web application code can be found under webapp directory. This web application invokes rest interfaces implemented in Fabric Java SDK client application as explained above. Hence the web application needs Fabric Java SDK client application url for rest invocations.
Run the below command. cd webapp
Update the Java application url (as noted in section 3) in config.js file of webapp directory.
Deploy the application to IBM Cloud using the command: ibmcloud cf push Deployment might take a few minutes to complete. Ensure that there are no errors while deploying the application.