Intersect Development Update #25 - August 2nd
Welcome to the twenty-fifth edition of the Intersect Development Report! This week, there are more updates relating to the Chang upgrade and then a focus on our Open Source Office, there’s a DRep survey we’d like your input on, as well as updates from the DRep workshops, community Hubs and more.
Getting ready for Chang - Node 9.1.0 release
The release of Node 9.1.0 is a key step in Cardano's transformation, with 31% of the stake now producing blocks on this version (as of August 2nd). Additionally, the Preview network has upgraded to the Conway ledger era. These developments are crucial for advancing on-chain decision-making and incorporating CIP-1694 into the mainnet as part of the Chang Upgrade, which introduces decentralized governance in two phases. Further updates will follow as progress continues.
SPOs, head straight to our repository to upgrade.
Check out the hard fork working groups' ecosystem readiness page for wallets, DApps, exchanges, tooling, and more.
Initial governance parameter settings
The Intersect governance parameters working group have shared their report and recommendations on the initial settings to be included in the technical guardrails as Cardano upgrades to Chang. Dive deep into the details here.
Hard fork working group
The working group aims to share information and support consensus planning among the Chang community and delivery teams. It ensures alignment and keeps everyone informed about updates and decisions. They have compiled a FAQ for the community and are hosting weekly Q&A sessions. If you're interested, join us on Discord, and you can view previous sessions there.
Drafting Cardano’s final constitution
The community is gearing up for a summer of consultation. Workshops will be held worldwide as part of a collective, collaborative effort to gather as much community input as possible for the drafting of the final Constitution. Read our recent blog to see the latest workshop locations.
We want the scale of the global consultation effort to match the scale of the ambition—and one of Intersect’s core pillars—for Cardano’s governance to become fully community-led. To achieve this, we are opening up applications for countries unrepresented in the currently confirmed list of workshops. Our aim is to have 50+ workshops in 50 unique countries—an additional 13 countries are needed to reach our goal!
Apply now!
Events
ADN: Argentina Digital Nation
Intersect was prominently featured at the Argentina Digital Nation event held at the Hilton Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires on July 31st. The event gathered leading figures from the public, private, and web3 sectors, including experts in technology, politics, and entrepreneurship. Our presence was a resounding success, marked by the addition of 70 new Intersect members from across Latin America.
We are thrilled to announce the launch of two community hubs in the Latin America region, strategically located in Brazil and Argentina. These hubs are already bustling with over 200 associate registrations, underscoring the growing enthusiasm and engagement within the Intersect community. This expansion signifies a crucial step in our mission to strengthen the Cardano ecosystem, ensuring continuity and growth in the space.
The event provided a vibrant platform for networking and idea exchange, positioning Intersect as a key player in the digital and technological transformation sweeping across Latin America. We look forward to building on this momentum and continuing to drive innovation and collaboration within our network.
Alex Pestchanker, Executive Director at Intersect, participated in a fireside chat.
From left to right: JJ Siller - Chief of staff IOG , Mauro Andreolli - new co-manager of the Intersect Argentina Hub, Charles Hoskinson - CEO IOG, Alex Pestchanker - Executive Director Intersect - Lucas Machiavelli new co-manager of the Intersect Argentina Hub.
Lara Bonasorte Head of community at Intersect with Otávio Lima the new manager of the Intersect Brazil Hub which launched at Blockchain.rio
DRep Workshops
In an update from the DRep Pioneer program, Intersect is happy to report the success of the DRep Workshop in Rio, which occurred on July 26th and was hosted by Daniela Alves in partnership with GovChainLab and the Instituto de Tecnologia e Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro. Check out the images from the event below.
In other DRep Workshop news, we have an upcoming event for those of you able to attend in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, August 3rd, hosted by Phil Lewis. It’s an in-person DRep workshop in Sydney - Registration link. You can also view a complete list of upcoming workshops here.
And continuing on the subject of DReps, Intersect is conducting a five-minute multiple-choice survey to understand the communities thoughts and explore DReps' backgrounds and motivations, identify whom they represent, and uncover any barriers to becoming a DRep. We would appreciate your participation.
The insights gathered will help us support those who have successfully completed the DRep pioneer program, address obstacles, and refine our approach to foster a more inclusive and effective representation within the Cardano ecosystem.
After analyzing the data, we will share the results in our following development report to ensure transparency and provide valuable insights into the DRep ecosystem.
Supporting Cardano’s governance
Intersect brings members together and empowers them to direct Cardano’s future. In a recent update from Intersect’s open source office (OSO), the focus continues to be fostering a vibrant and collaborative developer community within the Cardano ecosystem.
We are pleased to announce that we have recently onboarded four new Developer Advocates who will play a crucial role in advancing our mission. These advocates are:
- Alex Seregin
- Bernard Sibanda
- Udai Solanki
- Suganya Raju
Our Open Source Office recently featured Anastasia Labs in a project spotlight. Anastasia Labs, a Haskell consultancy and development firm, specializes in the Cardano ecosystem and collaborates closely with Intersect on various initiatives. You can watch the spotlight here. Additionally, you can explore demos of two exciting products that Anastasia Labs is currently developing:
Written technical documentation will follow these projects shortly, so watch this space. To learn more about Intersect-supported open source, please visit our knowledge base.
Community tooling
The Summon Association and Mike Hornan have completed the final milestones for their Education and Multimedia Grant, titled ‘Cardano Governance in a Nutshell.’ Milestones 4 & 5 wrap up the project with a total of 30 videos, which can be accessed through the links below:
The Drep campaign platform is now ready to test from any interested community members who want to become DReps on Cardano mainnet. You can do that in the live environment at sancho.1694.io. For more information on the available features, please refer to the milestone acceptance form (M4) available here. If you have any questions, please contact Darlington Wleh at LidoNation.
Community hubs
Japan hub
The Japanese Intersect hub has been very active this week. They hosted a live talk and launched a dedicated Discord server for community interactions. They also created exclusive Discord and OpChat channels for paid members, enabling direct communication with the team. Additionally, they are developing unique benefits for Japan hub members to enhance their experience. Stay tuned for more details on these exciting offerings. You can follow the hub here.
Sri Lanka hub
Calling the Sri Lankan Blockchain Community to join hands with us and be a part of building the future of Cardano together. Last weekend, the Sri Lanka hub held its second town hall, attracting over 90 listeners. If you missed it, you can catch the recording here. You can learn more about this hub via its website.
Africa hub
This week, the Central African Intersect MBO hub, led by Intersect WADA, officially launched in Goma. Over 80 attendees, including students, entrepreneurs, developers, and businessmen explored Intersect MBO’s role in Cardano, membership benefits, and working groups. The event featured a lively Q&A session and networking opportunities, fostering connections and inspiring enthusiasm for blockchain and Cardano within the community. You can follow the hub here.
Governance tooling
Following the recent node update on SanchoNet, our teams are putting great effort into bringing GovTool online again. We expect that to happen early next week with the latest node version.
We are also happy to announce that we have started testing GovTool on the Preview network. This is especially important now that the Preview network has upgraded to the Conway ledger era.
In further news the beta version of the Constitutional Committee (CC) Portal will be live next week on SanchoNet, enabling CC members to familiarize themselves with the tool and test it’s functionality.
After the period of downtime following the new node installation, we have the updated SanchoNet stats, which are:
July Intersect town hall
The July Intersect town hall, held on Thursday, July 25th, was another successful event that united like-minded individuals in the Cardano community. You can view a recording of the event here.
This week’s reminders
- RareEvo—We’re excited to return to Las Vegas and proud to sponsor RareEvo this year from August 15 to 17 - sharing a Cardano spot with the Cardano Foundation and EMURGO. Kicking off on Friday at 12pm, join us as we host a panel conversation on Intersect’s role in Cardano with members Jenny Brito, Adam Rusch, and Lloyd Duhon.
- Later on Saturday (from 10am to 12pm), we’ll have two workshops covering Cardano’s budget for 2025 and exploring Cardano’s open source governance tooling to drive participation and inclusivity.
- Our core infrastructure roadmap working group now has a public Discord announcement channel. Visit and join this channel here, and you can read more about this working group in our knowledge base.
Important member resources
- Intersect knowledge base - Frequently updated, our knowledge base provides granular detail on our internal governance structure, committees and working groups, and funding opportunities, among many other items.
- Intersect website - The latest news, roadmap, and more.
- GovTool - Take part in testing governance actions on the SanchoNet testnet.
- Discord / Telegram - Join our lively community and interact with committees, working groups, and other members.
- Social - We are continually active on Twitter (X) and LinkedIn, so follow us there to stay updated on our latest news and insights!
- Town hall - Please check out the recording if you missed our July town hall.
Well, that’s it for this week's update. Thanks for reading!
And finally, we’re interested in hearing more from you about subjects important to you, such as Cardano’s governance. Your ideas and suggestions are crucial to us. If you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions, please get in touch via email, X, or LinkedIn.