☕DRep Double-Espresso Dispatch
#2 – May 29th 2025 | Fast, strong governance and budget intel—brewed for dReps.
Welcome to the DRep Forum Newsletter
Subscribe for a distilled double-shot of Cardano governance and treasury updates — highlights from recent X Spaces, key insights from the ecosystem, and reminders about upcoming votes and nominations. Staying informed just got simpler.
🔔 Reminders: Governance Action Timelines
🚨 TODAY! 2025 Cardano 200M NCL expires 29th May (Epoch 261) → Review
🚨 2 DAYS LEFT! 2025 Constitutional Committee elections; >2 more days to candidate yourself (Closes; May 31, 2025 6:00 PM (UTC) →Apply as a candidate
TL;DR
The @Amaru_Cardano governance action is at 45.4% YES votes
New EMURGO CEO’s Masterplan to accelerate Cardano → Watch here
EMURGO & Cardano Foundation announce delegation strategies to DReps. CF delegated 20M each to Tempo.Vote, Cerkoryn, Sidan Lab, Socious, Kyle Solomon, Chris Gianneloni (Blinklabs) and Mesh.
Input | Output, EMURGO and Cardano Foundation confirmed they are stepping down from the Interim Constitutional Committee in September → announcements here, here and here.
Update on the @IntersectMBO Board of Directors recent meetings from Adam Rusch → Read here.
Roundtable Talk: Learnings From The Interim Constitutional Committee → https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1lDxLzQbqDoGm
Ongoing – Treasury withdrawal votes require a 67% threshold (not a simple majority). Intersect continues to consult on optimal approach for on-chain voting process.
New Blog: Useful roundup of governance tools and resources published on Essential Cardano.
What DReps Are Saying About Intersect’s ₳275M Ecosystem Budget
The Intersect-submitted 2025 Treasury Budget Info Action is an important next step in the Cardano budget process. Intersect has put forward a list of 39 ecosystem initiatives, with a total proposed cost of ₳275 million. While in itself the vote on this info action doesn’t directly approve any funds, it establishes a body of projects that can be put forward for funding via Treasury Withdrawal action (s).
Included projects are a shortlist based on DRep signalling (above 50%) via the Ekklesia platform earlier in May. A ‘Yes’ vote on the omnibus proposal will unlock the next gate on the way towards treasury funding for these projects, whether subsequent treasury funding is requested in an omnibus proposal, batches or individually.
This infographic summarizes the main arguments for and against the 2025 Treasury Budget Info Action.
🔗 Proposal: ₳275M Ecosystem Budget Info Action (Open for Review until June 13th) until June 13th)
X Space: Cardano Foundation Delegation Strategy
🗓 May 28th X Space hosted by @Cardano_CF
🎧 → Listen | 📄 → Transcript
Why listen?
Cardano Foundation has just delegated 140M ADA to seven builder-aligned DReps—each receiving 20M ADA—to rebalance representation in governance. Their goal: amplify underrepresented technical voices without steering how those DReps vote.
You’ll hear:
How and why these 7 DReps were chosen.
What this strategy means for governance decentralization.
How active, smaller DReps might position for future rounds.
If you’re a DRep making decisions—or hoping to grow influence—this is foundational.
“The 7 that we selected, really, they ticked all of the boxes... They’ve been contributing to Cardano—building tools, building infrastructure, or they have their own product—and they’ve participated in governance for quite some months.” — @NicolasC3rny
New Delegation Strategy – Amplifying Builders
To decentralize decision-making and support underrepresented contributors, Cardano Foundation has delegated 140M ADA to the following DReps:
Tempo.Vote – Governance platform
Sidon Lab – Technical Solution Provider
Socious – Decentralized Social Impact Platform
Cerkoryn – Creator of ChangWatch.com
Kyle Solomon (DripDropz) – Longtime DRep & product committee member
Chris Gianelloni (Blinklabs) – Go Node development
Mesh – TypeScript SDKs, multisig tools, and wallets
✅ Each received 20M ADA
✅ No vote guidance or interference
✅ All had track records as active builders and voters
X Space: Budget Approval & Treasury Withdrawals
🗓 May 27th X Space hosted by @IntersectMBO
🎧 → Listen | 📄 → Transcript
Why listen?
Understand clearly how Cardano’s significant 2025 Budget (275M ADA, 39 projects) withdrawal strategy will balance DRep oversight demands with practical governance workloads and vendor needs. Hear Jack Briggs address the explicit trade-offs and upcoming community decisions. Also includes timely updates on Constitutional Committee elections shaping Cardano's governance.
"We need practical solutions that deliver funding quickly but never at the expense of transparency, accountability, or community trust." — @JBriggsLondon
Budget Approval and Treasury Withdrawal Process
Granular Voting Options: Discussion on providing DReps explicit voting choices (individual vs bundled proposals) via upcoming polls on Ekklesia.
Phased Funding Approach: Treasury withdrawals likely structured into phases, with the initial tranche (~175-190M ADA) covering approximately six months.
Smart Contract Oversight: Transitioning to ADA-only milestone payments via smart contracts developed by Sundae Labs.
Legal Structure & Oversight: Cardano Development Holdings (CDH) manages legal frameworks with Intersect as administrator.
Additional Highlights
Constitutional Committee Elections: Fully community-driven elections in June, candidates selecting term lengths based on vote counts.
GovTool Continuity: Interim maintenance funding secured until July 2026, with long-term strategy open for community input.
Community Outreach Initiatives: "New Dawn" campaign promoting Cardano's visibility beyond traditional channels, using platforms like Reddit and Brave.
For DReps: Future treasury votes will likely follow this structured approach rather than lump-sum withdrawals.
X Space: The Age of Node Diversity
🗓 May 20th X Space hosted by @cryptstitution
🎧 → Listen | 📄 → Transcript
Why listen?
This was the first time Cardano’s node builders came together publicly to explain how client diversity is reshaping the protocol’s infrastructure. You’ll learn what defines a Cardano node, how teams are specializing across Rust, Go, .NET, Scala, and TypeScript, and why shared standards like Blueprints and conformance testing now underpin network coordination. It also previews how governance must evolve—where off-chain consensus across teams becomes as critical as on-chain voting. If you’re making decisions about Cardano’s future, this is foundational.
“Client diversity is not optional. It’s foundational to protocol security, network resilience, and credible neutrality.” — @rom1_pellerin
Node Diversity – Amaru, Acropolis & Beyond
Cardano is entering a multi-client era. Seven+ teams are building nodes in different languages (Rust, Go, TypeScript, .NET, Scala) with varying scopes: from full block production to DApp backends and testnet experimentation.
Proposal: Amaru Node Development 2025 (₳1.5M budget)
Node Teams Featured:
Amaru (Rust, by PRAGMA) – Feature parity target with Haskell node
Acropolis (Rust, by IOE) – Modular architecture with future-proofing for L2s
Dolos (Rust, by TxPipe) – Tailored for DApp backend use
Dingo (Go, by Blink Labs) – Focused on reusability and indexing
Razor (.NET, by SAIB) – Built to onboard .NET developers
Scalus (Scala, by Lantr) – Ledger rule framework for L2 experimentation
TypeScript Node (Harmonic Labs) – Lightweight, relay- and browser-friendly
📋 Governance Updates
Delegation Strategy Announcements:
Cardano Foundation: 140M ADA delegated across 7 DReps (20M each): Tempo.Vote, Cerkoryn, Sidan Lab, Socious, Kyle Solomon, Chris Gianneloni (Blinklabs), Mesh.
EMURGO: Announced removal of Genesis ADA from direct voting.
Input | Output, Cardano Foundation & EMURGO: All confirmed stepping down from Interim Constitutional Committee in September, after serving during bootstrap period.
Constitutional Committee Elections:
Fully community-driven election process in June.
Candidates select term lengths based on vote counts.
Candidate applications close May 31st; voting from June 5th.
Treasury Process Developments:
Smart contract oversight systems in development (Sundae Labs).
Cardano Development Holdings (CDH) managing legal frameworks.
GovTool maintenance secured through July 2026.
Community Engagement
Global DRep Activity:
Azteca Event (Mexico) - On May 27, the 'Azteca Event' was held at Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Mexico, organized by Cristian Jair Rojas. DReps Lucas Macchiavelli and Rodrigo Oyarzun presented on decentralized governance, with @ChileStakepo sharing DRep analytics from @governancevote. Source →
Treasury Contributions:
Development Momentum:
Cardano has surpassed Ethereum in core development commits over the past year (per Cryptometheus data).
Project Ecosystem Updates
Check out the snapshot below for an updated overview of the current number of projects building on Cardano and when you can expect to see them launched:
Input | Output, Sundial and BitVMX introduce Bitcoin DeFi and ‘Cardinal’ in Las Vegas.
The Catalyst Interactive Map just went live!
Lace 1.22 is here! The update allows users to be part of a beta program that allows storing and managing BTC from Lace.
Bodega Market have partnered with Sundial with the intention of making Bodega Bitcoin’s 1st prediction market.
TapTools have introduced Cardano Builder DAO, a smart contract-governed funding mechanism designed to support Cardano builders.
Metera Mainnet is officially live, allowing users to trade Indexes on Cardano.
Liqwid Labs have launched their Bitcoin DeFi product which includes, bi-directional bridging from multiple Cardano-Bitcoin bridge solutions.
