Cardano’s community is taking a huge step towards self-governance. A group called Intersect has put together a list of 39 projects they want to fund. This is a big deal because it shows how Cardano’s users are deciding where the money goes.
What’s Getting Funded?
The proposals cover a lot of ground, focusing on improving Cardano in several key areas:
Improving the Core Technology: A big chunk of the funding is for improving Cardano’s performance. This includes things like:
- Maintaining and improving Hydra (for faster transactions) and Mithril (for easier setup).
- Making it better for people who run the network (stake pool operators).
- Experimenting with new ways to make transactions even faster and more efficient.
- Keeping the important software libraries up-to-date and secure.
Better Governance Tools: Several proposals focus on improving how Cardano is governed:
- Upgrading the Catalyst funding system to make it more integrated with Cardano’s governance.
- Introducing a new funding system that rewards projects based on their community reputation.
- Creating a smart contract system to automatically approve funding requests.
- Auditing how well the current governance system is working.
Boosting Developer Experience: Making it easier for developers to build on Cardano is a priority:
- Maintaining important tools that developers use.
- Improving the Rust libraries used for building apps.
- Providing a free, global content delivery network for NFTs.
Security and Stability: Security is paramount:
- Developing a lightweight data node for mobile and IoT devices.
- Maintaining an open-source RPC server used by many wallets and tools.
- Improving hardware wallet integration.
- Creating a secure and auditable framework for managing treasury funds.
Education and Adoption: Getting more people involved is key:
- Setting up booths at tech events to promote Cardano.
- Improving marketing and outreach efforts.
- Expanding access to a USD-backed stablecoin on Cardano.
- Developing tools for privacy-preserving smart contracts.
What Happens Next?
This isn’t a done deal yet. Cardano users have 30 days to vote on these proposals. If approved, the funds will be released in stages to ensure projects meet their milestones. This whole process is a big test of Cardano’s decentralized governance system. If successful, it will mark a significant step towards a more predictable and transparent funding model for the network. At the time of writing, one ADA token was worth $0.661.
