The problem Mercado solves

Addressing Market Imperatives (Problems Addressed)
Global Creative Nexus: Eliminates geographical constraints, connecting diverse artists with a worldwide audience.

Equitable Asset Valuation: Deploys cutting-edge algorithms to ensure digital assets are priced according to real-time market forces.

Meritocratic Exposure: Levels the playing field, allowing emerging artists to gain recognition based on talent rather than pre-existing fame.

Unprecedented Customization: Grants creators unparalleled control over their digital presence and brand representation.

Streamlined Commissioning: Revolutionizes the custom art market by providing a secure, efficient platform for bespoke digital creations.

Trust-Centric Ecosystem: Establishes a robust reputation system, fostering a high-integrity environment for all participants.

Seamless Onboarding: Simplifies entry for newcomers through intuitive ETH-to-MERCAT conversion processes.

Community-Driven Growth: Fosters a dynamic, interactive community that drives long-term platform engagement and value creation.

Portfolio Diversification: Offers collectors unprecedented access to a wide array of digital assets, enabling strategic portfolio construction.

Economic Paradigm Shift: Creates novel revenue streams for digital creators, catalyzing a new era of creative economics.

Challenges we ran into

1. Creating a Very Complex 3-Tiered Smart Contract
   This involves managing multiple layers of access and functionality within the contract, ensuring secure interactions between tiers, and implementing robust access control, error handling, and security measures to manage the contract's complexity.
2. Using IPFS to Manage Data
   Utilizing IPFS requires handling decentralized storage, managing data integrity through secure linking with the smart contract, addressing potential delays in data retrieval, and ensuring privacy by possibly encrypting data before uploading.
3. Integrating Chart.js
   Challenges include efficiently fetching and formatting blockchain data for visualization, ensuring smooth interactivity and real-time updates in charts, and managing performance issues when dealing with complex or large datasets.
4. Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
   DeFi involves implementing secure financial logic in smart contracts, managing liquidity risks, and ensuring interoperability with other protocols, all while maintaining robust security to prevent vulnerabilities.