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 serves on the Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC), ensuring governance actions align 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.
21/05/2025
The meeting addressed six active governance actions, with a primary focus on the 200 million ada Net Change Limit (NCL) proposal, which was nearing its expiry, currently at 41% DRep approval. Discussions covered its constitutionality (deemed constitutional by all reviewers despite minor wording issues), the Foundation's DRep stance (leaning towards voting against due to stability concerns), and broader implications of NCL changes on budget processes and treasury withdrawals. Other actions reviewed included a DeFi liquidity proposal (with a notable hash mismatch, though the interpretation was debated), the Amaru budget proposal, and an Ecosystem Builder proposal. The team also discussed potential conflicts of interest in voting on proposals where members have involvement, the upcoming Constitutional Committee (CC) elections (noting a low number of current applicants), and the Foundation's potential role if the candidate pool remains insufficient.
07/05/2025
The team discussed four new governance actions: two proposing Net Change Limits (NCL) of 200M and 300M ada, and two for ecosystem budgets (Rust node Amaru and a DeFi liquidity proposal with a submission error). Deliberations focused on the constitutionality and DRep perspective for the 200M NCL, with arguments presented for both lower and existing limits, considering impacts on major budget holders like IOG and the need for ecosystem spending versus predictability. The lack of rationale in NCL proposals for changing existing limits was noted. Concerns were also raised about potential conflicts of interest regarding the DeFi proposal, leading to a discussion on abstention. The team was urged to submit voting recommendations for all active governance actions, prioritizing the 200M NCL.
29/04/2025
The meeting addressed a new 200 million ada Net Change Limit (NCL) action and the implications of frequent NCL changes. Deliberations covered Ekklesia tool budget proposal status (especially Intersect's opposition), upcoming reconciliation workshops, publishing Foundation votes/rationales despite tool limitations, and defining DRep delegation withdrawal criteria. Actions include reviewing the new NCL, publishing key rationales, and refining delegation guardrails.
16/04/2025
Discussions covered the status of Net Change Limit actions, differing ICC rationales regarding constitutional interpretations, and community concerns about ICC voting patterns. Key deliberations included potential CC re-election for the Foundation, offering mentorship to governance action proposers, the challenge of unified CC action, and future constitutional amendments targeting ambiguities, guardrails, and process simplification, acknowledging the associated complexities.
09/04/2025
The meeting covered the status and voting strategy for two Net Change Limit governance actions, noting potential challenges in reaching the required 50%+1 approval threshold due to DRep participation levels. Deliberations also addressed the high 67% threshold for Treasury Withdrawal actions, the unclear process following budget approval, and concerns regarding DRep voting engagement. Discussions included the technical feasibility of using GovTool for DRep voting and the complexities of creating a standardized assessment framework for diverse budget proposals, considering alignment with the Cardano roadmap and potential funding ceilings. Next steps involve finalizing votes on the Net Change Limits, associated communications to encourage DRep participation, testing GovTool compatibility, and refining an internal approach for assessing budget proposals.
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