Intersect Development Update #50 February 21st
SUBJECT:? Budget proposals updated, upcoming committee elections, and a new operational services section, plus more - Intersect Development Update?
Welcome to Intersect Development Update number 50, where we break down all the essential Intersect happenings. This week, we cover updates to the Cardano budget proposals and more ways to get involved, as well as the constitution, committee elections, a new section, operational services (in line with our budget proposals), membership, open source, governance tools, and more. Let's dive straight into the update!?
The Net Change Limit (NCL) proposal was posted on Govtool on February 18th. Please check it out, review it, and provide feedback. Based on the input received thus far, the approval threshold has been changed to 67%, which matches the current DRep voting threshold for treasury withdrawals of 67%.?
Those interested can find the full NCL proposal text here and can give feedback on the proposal before it’s submitted on-chain!
Feedback so far
The budget committee has spent the week collecting feedback in the Cardano Forum and on social media. They've participated in two AMA sessions, X Spaces, SpacePlace, and Cardano Ambassador Calls. Today, they are releasing feedback tailored to each committee's budget and asking them to incorporate that feedback into their cycles and produce any necessary changes to their budget requests that they feel are appropriate based on feedback.
We have two updates on the proposals from the initial release. Based on community feedback, the proposals are very much live documents.
You can view all change history on the Cardano Forum (see the pencil icon at the top right of each proposal). We will endeavor to keep you abreast of all the latest happenings in this report, but you can also get involved directly by participating in the discussions.?
Committee elections
The Intersect Steering Committee (ISC) has officially approved the election process for the upcoming second round of Intersect Committee elections, electing the remaining committee seats. This marks a significant milestone in our journey as we cement Intersect as a member-led organization for the Cardano ecosystem.
Key Dates:
In our inaugural elections in late 2024, Intersect successfully filled 31 seats across seven committees and the governing board, with 123 candidates participating. This robust engagement underscored the community's commitment to active participation and collaborative decision-making.
Members are encouraged to participate actively by applying for committee positions or exercising their voting rights to shape the future direction of Intersect and, by extension, the Cardano network.?
To be eligible to vote or run for a position, individuals must hold an active Intersect membership by March 31. This ensures that all participants are committed members of the community and dedicated to the ongoing development and governance of Cardano.?
The ISC is reviewing the election process to make improvements to eligibility criteria, voting procedures, and overall communications, with changes making their way to the upcoming elections this April.
Watch out for more information on this as we approach candidate registration. There will be plenty of opportunities to gather all the information you need to decide whether to apply and/or who to vote for!?
The Cardano Blockchain Ecosystem Constitution?
On Tuesday, February 18, the "Cardano Constitution to Replace the Interim Constitution" governance action was ratified, reaching a significant milestone. The final results showed that 84.23% of active delegated ada voting was in favor, surpassing the required 75% approval threshold. The action was also unanimously ruled constitutional by the seven interim constitutional committee seats, far above the 66.7% approval threshold.?
At the next epoch boundary, the Cardano blockchain ecosystem constitution will officially replace the Interim Cardano constitution this Sunday at 9:45 PM UTC. Join us for a special X Space in collaboration with Epoch’s End, where we celebrate this important milestone at 9 PM UTC on Sunday.
Intersect’s Constitutional Council was proud to vote YES to the governance action! Thank you to Mauro Andreoli, Ian Hartwell, HOSKY, Juan Sierra, Mercy Fordwoo, Eystein Magnus Hansen, Ubio Obu, and Jose Miguel De Gamboa.?
You can view their rationale here.
Decrease treasury tax from 20% to 10%
On Thursday, February 13, a new governance action titled “Decrease Treasury Tax from 20% to 10%” was submitted. This action aims to reduce the Cardano treasury cut from 20% to 10% to increase staking rewards for both SPOs and delegators. Intersect’s parameters committee has been requested to review this proposal to provide guidance on the impacts.
Useful links: Delegate to a DRep
We will update you on the Intersect Dev report weekly, so stay tuned for more news as this story develops. Hard fork working group sign off - for now! Intersect's hard fork working group was designed to oversee the Chang and Plomin upgrades, which became known in the community and across the ecosystem.
The working group first sat as a team of three on February 13, 2024. Since this first gathering, the working group has met at least weekly, if not more. Eventually, it grew to an attendee list of more than sixty, providing updates via the knowledge base and hard fork bulletins to thousands across the Cardano ecosystem.?
The hard fork working group met for the last time on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, almost a year later. The group has fulfilled its remit to oversee all aspects of the Chang and Plomin hard forks to a successful conclusion and will cease—at least for now! With the current conversation on product roadmaps and budget proposals, the community will define and determine future upgrades.?
Thousands of people have contributed to these hard forks by helping peers and sharing knowledge, updating nodes, readying DApps and tooling, or participating in new on-chain governance. Although a few stand out, many have contributed to the hardworking group. Without their efforts, the outcomes of these hard forks may have been very different. In no special order, we would like to pay special thanks to these people and their contributions over the last year:
Additional hard fork workshops will arise as and when the community decides, at which time the Technical steering committee will once more call upon the community. Until then a huge thank you to all that took part.
Membership and Community
With our latest enterprise member, HELLO Labs, we’re expanding opportunities for developers to bridge Web2 and Web3 through blockchain-powered entertainment. HELLO Labs is making blockchain mainstream by enabling developers and content creators to engage broader audiences.
Through HELLO Arcade, there is potential for integrating Cardano-based games and applications, unlocking new use cases for Intersect developers. Additionally, Killer Whales, HELLO’s media incubator and accelerator, offers a platform for blockchain projects built by Intersect members to gain industry-wide exposure.
This collaboration strengthens Intersect’s developer ecosystem, fostering innovation at the intersection of blockchain, gaming, and entertainment.
Intersect membership growth
Over the past five months, Intersect has experienced remarkable growth across all membership categories, demonstrating an increasing interest and engagement within the Cardano ecosystem.
As of February 2025, Intersect’s total membership (including Associates) has risen to 4,545, reflecting a 45.07% increase from 3,133 in September 2024. This surge highlights a growing recognition of the platform’s value in fostering community-driven governance and development.
Breaking this down further:
Associate memberships grew from 2,068 to 2,712, marking a 31.14% increase. This indicates a rising number of individuals looking to engage with Intersect’s initiatives at an entry level.
Individual memberships saw the most substantial growth, surging by 114.58% from 830 to 1,781. This remarkable expansion suggests a heightened interest in deeper participation and voting rights within the ecosystem.
Enterprise memberships also increased significantly, from 31 to 49 organizations, at a rate of 58.06%. This reflects a strengthening commitment from businesses and industry stakeholders to collaborate within the Cardano ecosystem.
The overall trajectory underscores Intersect’s successful efforts in building a more inclusive and engaged governance community. With increased participation across all levels, the organization is poised to drive an even more significant impact in 2025.
Community hubs?
This week, the following activity is taking place in our community hubs:
Africa hub, led by WADA
Open source
Did you know? Our Open source office (OSO) holds open office hours twice a month. OSO office hours are deliberately open; we welcome nearly any topic and enjoy discussing our work in more detail. This year, we plan to hold spotlight sessions as another extension of project support services. Our next session (Feb. 27, 2025, 7 pm UTC) will dive deeper into Adastack.io and GameChanger Finance. Please like, repost, or simply set a reminder to attend OSO Office Hours with Adastack.io and GameChanger.
Last year, we learned much about connecting with the community and discovered that Google Meet was not the best platform. In 2025, we will host our office hours on X (formerly Twitter). Follow IntersectOSO to ensure you don't miss any sessions!?
Find out more about these projects via Project Spotlight recording on our Youtube! The Open Source Committee (OSC) has approved two new processes for a 60-day pilot test, utilizing a backlog of early project submissions. All documents will be on the OSC gitbook shortly, which can be found? in our threads here: Project Incubation Lifecycle Framework | Intersect Committees
The Contribution Ladder serves as a framework to outline how a new contributor can engage with a project, establish merit, and become a core maintainer. This framework is designed to be adaptable to individual projects. It acts as a risk mitigation strategy for developer onboarding and future budget allocations from the OSC, particularly regarding maintainer retention. Explainer Video: Enhancing Cardano's Ecosystem with a Contribution Ladder
The Project Incubation Acceptance Criteria is an addition to the previously adopted project lifecycle framework, which outlines the stages of a project's development and how the OSC will evaluate project health. This criteria establishes precise requirements for moving between lifecycle phases and the process for project submission. Intersect’s Incubation Program allows the community to host their projects under Intersect, providing guidance and support to help projects grow and mature. While applications will be accepted to build a backlog, evaluations will not begin until the 60-day pilot concludes, allowing the OSC and Technical Steering Committee (TSC) to validate the process and implement any necessary changes. Explainer Video: Project Framework and Incubation - YouTube Workflow Diagram: Incubation Workflow - Google Slides
ICYMI - Calling all Cardano developers! Intersect’s Cardano Developer Experience survey is open; your input is crucial! Your experience matters – it just takes 5 minutes to complete. The survey, which runs from January 24 to February 28, helps identify challenges, opportunities, and areas for improvement in our tools, resources, and support systems.?
Don't miss this chance to make your voice heard and help build a stronger, more innovative Cardano ecosystem! Take the survey now: Developer Experience Survey?
Operational services
Intersect’s operational services aim to support committee projects by managing the tender contract processes and overseeing the budget. This section will include apostates from the operational services team each week. Rational services will cover RFPs, grants, and delivery assurance.?
You can now find comprehensive information about procurement processes and delivery assurance on the Knowledge Base. Please read the Procurement Guidance & FAQs for detailed information about the procurement end-to-end process, including key standards, principles, and expectations of Intersect Operational Services. We'll keep this information up-to-date as we move forward and welcome your feedback and questions. Please email [email protected] or join our AMA every other Thursday. The next one is scheduled for Thursday, the 28th, at 2 pm - join via this Google meet?
With just three months to prepare a tool for implementation, the operational services team focuses on finding an off-the-shelf (OTS) solution to meet the requirements outlined in the procurement blog. We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas to help us select the most appropriate tool for our needs. Applications are welcome today and will close on Monday, March 10, 2025, at 10 a.m. UTC. Please submit your application using the form here.
2025 Request for Proposals (RFP)
The Intersect stake-based voting tool RFP is now open for applications. You can read all the requirements and the application process here. The evaluation will close on Monday, February 24th, at 10 a.m. UTC.
2024 grants
SWARM, who previously facilitated the Intersect town halls, has completed its 4th and 5th Milestones. All the details can be found here. The SWARM team will be leading a final retrospective, which will take place on 25th February and will focus on operational collaboration and the creation of town halls.?
Cardano curation have also published two more short educational videos:
We have 3 more to look forward to:
Delivery assurance
We're improving the change management process. Watch for the updated version coming soon to the Knowledge Base.
Governance tooling
Govtool - Following on the core issue recently raised by community members that revolves around the lack of governance action (GA) support in the proposal submission area of GovTool after the implementation of the Plomin Upgrade, GovTool on preview has support for updates to the constitution type of proposal/governance action. The next type that will be supported shortly will be a motion of no-confidence.
Other governance actions (e.g., hard-fork initiation, protocol parameter changes, update committee, threshold, and/or terms) can be raised using the CLI. However, the lack of features in the GovTool interface can be a barrier for non-technical users. These capabilities will be added in the next few days and weeks.
Based on a grant Lido Nation won last year, governance action outcomes have also been released for preview and after a few adjustments, will be ready for a release to mainnet in the next couple of days.
Governance in numbers
As we press ahead following Plomin, follow the progress of governance actions on-chain here every week. Since Friday, February 14, 2025:?
To learn how to start using Cardano GovTool, explore GovTool documentation. Here, you'll find everything from step-by-step guides to detailed explanations of its features.
On the Intersect Discord server, you can connect to the core maintainers of governance tools via the new request and new help & support channels under Core Governance Tools in Discord.?
Governance tools working group
This week's session covered the latest updates on GovTool, the DRep Compensation Proposal, the DRep Directory user experience, the CSL upgrade, and the number of delimiters in the voting power display. Some of these have already been addressed and will be included in the new release shortly.
GovTool is fully open source and maintained by Intersect members. The working group continues to invite community members to participate in discussions and feature development for the Cardano GovTool. All feedback is welcome (see guide on feedback), and ongoing conversations are held in the wg-governance-tools Discord channel, where new feature ideas are regularly triaged and implemented.
Important member resources
Well, that’s it for this week's update. Thanks for reading!
Senior EU agile project manager, senior mentor and consultant.
1 周An excellent work!