Welcome to the Intersect development update, where we break down all the essential Intersect happenings. This week, we have updates on progress towards Plomin, Cardano budget survey results, committee activities, member meet-ups, community tooling, and much more!

Plomin upgrade 🍴

Hard fork ratification

The Cardano community and its ecosystem are on the brink of momentous, positive change. After many years of work and the dedication of countless individuals, the ecosystem stands with the age of Voltaire before it.

Over the last week, key votes have taken place, and as the voting currently stands, the thresholds and guardrails for the Plomin hard fork have been met. The ICC members have voted unanimously to pass the hard fork.

The mainnet hard fork governance action will be ratified tonight, January 24, 2025, at approximately 21:44 UTC.

• GovTool
• Cardanoscan
• Cexplorer
• Adastat
• Tempo.vote
• Governance X Bot

All governance actions are enacted on the epoch boundary following their ratification. Therefore, the mainnet hard fork governance action is expected to be enacted on January 29, 2025. This will bring full CIP-1694 governance features on-chain and mark the start of the age of Voltaire and decentralized governance for the Cardano blockchain.  

An achievement everyone associated with Cardano should be proud of. 

Stay informed 

Join the dedicated Plomin hard fork Discord channel at #hfwg-plomin.

The hard fork working group will continue to meet, make recommendations, and update the Intersect knowledge base during and after the voting and enactment and for any necessary time after the hard fork has taken place. 

We recommend bookmarking this page and checking back often. The Knowledge base, guides, and FAQs on GovTool contain information on the constitution and on-chain governance.

Budget committee: updates and initiatives

With the completion of the Plomin upgrade, the Budget Committee is preparing to propose the Net-Change-Limit and the draft 2025 Budget proposal for DRep and community review.

The draft 2025 Budget Proposal has been completed and is currently under review by the Budget Committee and the chairs of all our committees. This review process has generated valuable insights, and we receive broad feedback. The proposal will remain reviewed and revised until we submit it on-chain in the coming weeks for DRep approval.

Consultation period: Key takeaways 

Present multiple budgets for community consideration rather than a single, larger budget proposal. Accordingly, each funding track (or "bucket") should have its budget Info Action to be voted on by the ICC and DReps. Once the ICC and DReps ratify a funding track (as an Info Action), corresponding Treasury Withdrawal Actions can follow.

For example, if there are five funding tracks, there will be five Info Actions and at least five Treasury Withdrawal Actions submitted on-chain for community consideration.

We also heard feedback on the net change limit: It should not exceed Treasury income for the same period. For instance, in 2025, the Treasury is projected to grow by approximately ₳350 million. A budget proposal submitted on behalf of members and committees at Intersect should not exceed this amount. Furthermore, the Net Change Limit should leave ample headroom for other budgets to be submitted on-chain.

As part of our transparency efforts, we heard a strong emphasis on radical transparency in the accounting and auditing of Treasury funds, including the use of smart contracts and on-chain verifiability wherever beneficial. This included carefully considering and documenting how surplus or unspent ADA can be reutilized, reinvested, or returned to the Treasury. Note: Any solution must comply with the interim and/or delegate-approved Constitution (whichever is in effect as per CIP-1694).

Learn more about the insights from our consultation period.

Constitution

The Cardano Civics Committee’s constitution ratification working group has been working hard behind the scenes, planning how to bring the delegate-endorsed constitution to mainnet.

The civics committee recommended, on behalf of the working group, that the delegate-endorsed constitution (formed via the Constitutional Convention) be put on the blockchain as a governance action. Intersect has accepted this recommendation and will pursue it.

Depending on the successful enactment of the Plomin hard fork, the working group aims to submit a new constitution governance action on Thursday, January 30. This action will send the delegate-endorsed constitution to the DReps and interim constitutional committee(ICC) for ratification.

If submitted on the 30th, the action's voting period would be from January 30 to March 5, with potential enactment dates between February 13 and March 10. Of course, these dates depend on the will and votes of DReps and the ICC.

The successful enactment of this new constitution will replace the interim document, establishing a genuinely community-driven framework shaped by the input of over 1,400 contributors across 63 workshops in 50 countries. This constitution is a robust foundation for the governance model and is a critical prerequisite for implementing on-chain budget processes.

Membership and community

Building on last week’s exciting announcement, we’re eager to share more about our collaboration with STORM Partners. As leaders in legal and compliance within the Web3 space, their team brings unmatched expertise in navigating corporate, regulatory, and tax complexities. From assisting with fundraising—whether through equity, debt, or tokens—to structuring DAOs in Switzerland and internationally, they’re empowering businesses to thrive in an ever-evolving landscape.

Their specialized services, including obtaining crypto asset service provider licenses, securing no-action letters, and guiding clients through mergers, acquisitions, and litigation, provide critical support for the blockchain industry's sustainable growth.

At Intersect, we’re excited to welcome and connect these invaluable services to our members. Stay tuned for an X Space with STORM Partners soon, where we’ll explore this partnership's transformative impact on our community.

As our membership continues to grow, here are our latest numbers:

Community hubs

Last week, our Sri Lanka hub, led by CoinCeylon, hosted a highly successful in-person New Year Networking Town Hall Soirée, welcoming 71 attendees from various sectors, including business leaders, community members, and blockchain enthusiasts. Each attendee was given a physical printed copy of the Intersect MBO development update 2024 report.

The event provided a platform for meaningful connections, fostering collaboration and strengthening ties within the Cardano ecosystem.  The soirée featured engaging conversations about the hub's achievements in 2024 and plans for 2025, creating a vibrant atmosphere of innovation and shared goals. Attendees appreciated the opportunity to network, exchange ideas, and celebrate the progress of the Sri Lankan Cardano community. The event was a testament to the hub's commitment to promoting decentralized governance, blockchain education, and community growth.

You can watch the highlights video from the event here and see some photos on the hub’s X page.

This week, we have the following activities taking place:

Japan hub

• X Space is to be held on January 24 at noon UTC. To join, click here.

Sri Lanka hub, led by CoinCeylon

• Monthly Town Hall to be held on January 25 at 15:00 UTC. The link to join is here.

North America hub, led by AWEN

The North American hub has partnered with GM Cardano to present GM 2025. This exciting event will be held on January 25 in Fort Myers, Florida. You can find the invite and full agenda here, and the event will be live-streamed for anyone unable to make it in person! Guest speakers include Tamara Haasen, who will sit down with Lloyd Duhon to discuss the groundbreaking Ecosystem Mapping Project and its implications for IO and the broader Cardano ecosystem in 2025. Follow the hub’s X account for more details on all the speakers at the event and to keep up-to-date with any future events.

DReps

Last chance to participate in the first DRep debate of the year

Tomorrow, Saturday, January 25, the North America Intersect hub in Fort Myers, FL, will host the first DRep debate of the year. This is your chance to see DReps debate the critical issues shaping Cardano's future. Moderated by Dr. Adam Rusch and Jenny Brito, this debate promises to deliver thought-provoking insights and fresh perspectives on blockchain governance. If you cannot make it in person, it will be live-streamed.

If you would like to attend and present your views, you can still reserve your spot here: https://lu.ma/cc96lvq8

Following this first DRep debate, we plan to host similar debates in our other hubs worldwide. These events will continue to provide a space for DReps to discuss critical topics, share diverse perspectives, and engage with the broader Cardano community. Stay tuned for updates on future debates coming to a hub near you – you won’t want to miss them!

Join the upcoming DRep online training sessions in Vietnamese

We’re excited to announce two forthcoming DRep online training sessions in Vietnamese on January 25 and 26, 2025. These sessions are a great opportunity for the Vietnamese Cardano community to deepen their understanding of the role of DReps. If you want to join, here is the link to register.

Governance tooling

This week, GovTool was rereleased once more for preview and production. The complete release log includes versions  2.0.6 and 2.0.7. Key items include fixed markdown styling issues in proposal formatting, support for base64-encoded images for DReps, support for DRep metadata-based searching, and the ability to delegate to inactive DReps.

Since Cardano GovTool is currently in its bootstrapping phase, the full governance-compliant release can be extensively assessed on the preview network. Soon enough, we will all be able to experience it on the mainnet. At the same time, all teams are working to maintain system stability. Updates can also be followed on the core-gov-tool-announcement Discord channel.

You can also check for compatible wallets and known issues.

Governance in numbers

As we press ahead following Chang, follow the progress of governance actions on-chain here every week. Since Friday, January 17, 2025: 

• We've advanced from epoch 534 to epoch 535
• Unique delegators increased by 7332 (98,204 -> 105,356)
• The total number of vote delegations increased by 7582 (104,717 -> 112,299)
• Total DRep votes stayed the same (684)
• The total number of DRep registrations increased by 28 (905 -> 933)
• DReps who have attached metadata increased by 27 (459 -> 486)

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

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.

This week, we focused effort on planning & execution activities for Q1 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. 

Grants

Ryan Wiley (@cerkoryn) has completed his grant to create a Cardano governance ‘Minimum Attack Vector’ (MAV) dashboard. This tool displays real-time governance MAV per type of governance action.

This dashboard indicates the minimum number of voters per group: delegated representatives (DReps), stake pool operators (SPOs), and the constitutional committee (CC) required to reach voting thresholds for each on-chain governance action.

This view shows the potential centralization of power between voting groups. This is valuable information for delegators who wish to promote governance decentralization. To take a look at the dashboard, please see changwatch.com.

Cardano Curation has also published its third of ten educational videos about Voltaire's era. This decentralized participatory governance system empowers everyone to have a say in shaping Cardano's future. To watch the video, please click here. Alternatively, visit the Cardano Curation X page to watch more of their videos.

Below are our latest stats for Intersect grants:

Important member resources

• Interested in joining the team? We’re looking for a social media and content manager. Read more and apply today!
• 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.
• Support - Please always use your membership email address and contact Intersect for support with any application errors, login issues, or questions without answers.
• 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.
• Intersect events calendar - keep up-to-date with all events Intersect hosts, such as working group and committee meetings, X spaces, and more.
• Social - we are continually active on Twitter (X) and LinkedIn, so follow us there to stay updated on our latest news and insights.

Well, that’s it for this week's update. Thanks for reading!

Finally, we’d like to hear 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.