Cardano Governance
Shape the future of Cardano. Participate in governance and have your voice heard on the network's direction, applications, and growth.
Cardano's governance model
Cardano’s decentralized and community-driven governance ensures stakeholders make collective, transparent network decisions.
Cardano’s decentralized and community-driven governance ensures stakeholders make collective, transparent network decisions.
Empowering active participation with immutable, on-chain voting.
Cardano governance enables the community to influence blockchain development through treasury withdrawals, parameter changes, and other governance actions.
Governance actions require approval from at least two of the three governance roles: Delegated Representatives (DReps), Stake Pool Operators (SPOs), and the Constitutional Committee (CC), ensuring fairness and transparency.
Decentralized governance strengthens Cardano’s security and resilience by distributing decision-making power, reducing single points of failure, and ensuring network stability.
As a registered Delegated Representative (DRep), the Cardano Foundation participates in governance following the Ethos and Principles defined in ‘Our Cardano'.
The Cardano Foundation served on the Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC) from September 2024 to September 2025, ensuring governance actions aligned with the Cardano Constitution while maintaining neutrality and transparency.
Anyone can participate in discussions about Cardano’s constitution, it's budget, the role of delegated representatives, the Parameter Committee, and many other topics.
Understanding governance actions
Understanding governance actions
Cardano’s governance decisions involve seven action types, including Protocol Parameter Changes, Treasury Withdrawals, and Hard Fork Initiations. At least two of the three governance roles (DReps, SPOs, and CC) must approve an action. As an ICC member and DRep, the Cardano Foundation is committed to voting on all governance actions and providing a detailed rationale. Below is an overview of our recent voting activity.
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DRep ID: drep1ydpfkyjxzeqvalf6fgvj7lznrk8kcmfnvy9hyl6gr6ez6wgsjaelx
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CC ID: cc_cold1zwmqzgp5hg98ujhmhuk859pjlzpy4mjjnxjguw8yr22jdps6c64hp
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Governance deliberations: meeting notes
Governance deliberations: meeting notes
The Governance Advisory Team, consisting of subject-matter experts, regularly reviews governance actions and advises on decision-making. To maintain transparency, we publish meeting notes summarizing key discussions and decisions.
03/09/2025
It was announced that the Cardano Foundation's term as an Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC) member ends on September 6th. The team reviewed the 'Cardano in Oceania' proposal, with discussion highlighting both its professional drafting and focus on an underrepresented region, as well as concerns regarding the chosen administrator.
27/08/2025
The meeting on August 27th focused on the active governance actions. The team discussed the decision to vote “Abstain” on the two SNEK treasury withdrawals governance actions due to a planned resubmission of these proposals with a business loan structure. Discussions on the new constitution governance action leaned towards a 'yes' vote from the DRep perspective. The new constitution is considered unlikely to pass due to its high 75% DRep approval threshold.
20/08/2025
Four active governance actions were reviewed, with urgency on the “Update constitutional committee” before the ICC term ends September 6th, as failure would halt governance. The team has not voted as a DRep, with two members recused. The two SNEK treasury withdrawal proposals were flagged as unconstitutional and criticized for lacking transparency and broader community value, with loans suggested as an alternative. It was stressed that DReps should judge proposals on merit, with abstention a viable option when intent is valid but execution flawed. YUTA’s updated constitution, though low in approval, was welcomed for simplifying withdrawals, improving transparency, and serving as a catalyst for iterative governance improvements.
13/08/2025
The Governance Advisory Team meeting on August 13th included a review of governance actions, noting that 32 of 39 treasury withdrawals are enacted or ratified. A proposal was made to reconsider the 'no' vote on the NFTCDN withdrawal, with a consensus leaning towards a 'yes' vote due to its critical service. A discussion on the new constitution proposal highlighted both improvements and concerns about the drafting process and lack of community input.
30/07/2025
The Governance Advisory Team meeting on July 30th included updates on the Cardano Foundation DRep's votes on all 39 treasury withdrawals of the Intersect budget and the submission of the “Update Constitutional Committee” governance action for DRep voting. The GovTools and Tempo budget proposals are unlikely to pass due to insufficient approval. Discussions also covered an RFP process for budget allocation, while raising concerns about centralization and proposing an alternative DRep-led budget allocation process. The team decided to maintain their current stance on the RWA proposal for Haus, emphasizing the integrity of the voting process.
Our Cardano
Our Cardano outlines the Ethos and Principles that guide the Cardano Foundation’s participation in governance, ensuring transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship in fostering a thriving, decentralized ecosystem.
How we make governance decisions
How we make governance decisions
The Cardano Foundation has established a Governance Advisory Team, consisting of subject-matter experts, to evaluate governance proposals based on constitutional alignment and governance merit. The process follows these steps:
01
Governance action intake
Governance Action details are recorded on the Foundation’s Jira Kanban board, and Advisory Team members are notified.
02
Initial assessment
The Advisory Team assesses clarity, potential impact, and criticality of the action and requests input from relevant subject-matter experts (SMEs).
03
Full review
The Advisory Team conducts an in-depth review, including a constitutional review (as an ICC member) and a governance impact assessment (as a DRep).
04
Advisory team recommendation
The Advisory Team votes on the Governance Action.
05
Rationale drafting
Two voting rationales are drafted—one for the constitutional assessment and another for the DRep decision.
06
Executive committee review
The Executive Committee reviews and finalizes the rationale.
07
On-chain vote submission
The vote is submitted on-chain, with metadata including the rationale behind the decision.
Our role in Cardano governance
Our role in Cardano governance