Intersect Development Update #67 - June 20

16 min

Welcome to Intersect’s Development Update #67. This week, we mark a significant milestone with the successful completion of the smart contract demonstration on the mainnet, laying the groundwork for upcoming Cardano treasury withdrawals. Alongside this, we’ve published our first iteration of administration policies to support transparency and delivery assurance, launched the second cohort of our Developer Advocate Program, and confirmed the first sessions of our relaunched Town Hall and AMA, as well as the Enterprise Forum series. Community hubs continue to drive education and engagement worldwide, with strong activity in Sri Lanka, Africa, and Japan.

Following the success of our consolidated Budget Info Action (BIA), which captures 39 community-reviewed funding proposals, we are now entering the next phase: preparing to submit treasury actions on-chain. The focus has shifted to ensuring robust technical infrastructure and governance processes are in place, a step that has included real-world testing, smart contract validation, and enhanced policy clarity.

Smart contract demonstration – mainnet testing complete

In conjunction with SundaeLabs, we recently completed a three-day smart contract demonstration on the Cardano mainnet, designed to simulate the entire treasury withdrawal lifecycle. This milestone represents a critical proving ground for the systems that will underpin future funding execution.

Day one focused on creating and deploying the Treasury Reserve smart contract, establishing the base permissions, and initiating the contract structure.

Day two explored what happens after a proposal is approved, simulating contract funding logic and the interaction between administrators and vendor roles.

Day three concluded with full contract functionality, including a funded demo vendor contract, withdrawal mechanisms with milestone-based logic (pause, resume, complete), and the activation of the "sweep" challenge, which automatically returns unused funds to the treasury after a set timeout.

These demonstrations, all verifiable on-chain, provided valuable insight into the user experience and technical execution of the proposed system. More importantly, they offer the Cardano community transparency into the tooling and governance process Intersect will be using. If you missed the updates, you can read the summary blogs here:

Administration policies released

To support this new chapter in treasury administration, Intersect has also published its complete set of administration policies. These policies formalize the procedures and standards that will guide Intersect in its role as administrator under the Cardano Constitution.

They cover key areas of responsibility, including:

These documents reflect our commitment to transparency, accountability, and delivery assurance as we prepare to manage public funds on behalf of the community. You can read the complete set here: https://bit.ly/INTADDPO

Treasury withdrawals are the next step!

Following the continued advancement of the smart contract framework, we’re now completing the final configurations to be ready to submit Treasury Withdrawal Actions. We anticipate that actions will be submitted by epoch 567, with the intention of submitting all 39 at the same time.

We welcome feedback and discussion as we move forward. Your input helps ensure that the governance infrastructure we build is shaped by those it serves.


Constitutional Committee elections: voting still open

The CC election is currently underway and will remain open until July 2. This is a crucial opportunity for DReps to elect representatives who will play a vital role in the future of the ecosystem.

To help the community get to know the candidates, Intersect is hosting four X Spaces where candidates can introduce themselves. We encourage all interested community members to attend and engage with the candidates.

Here's the schedule for the upcoming Intersect Candidate Introduction Spaces:

  • June 23: 17:00 – 19:00 UTC (Join)
  • June 25: 17:00 – 19:00 UTC (Join)
  •  June 27: 09:00 – 11:00 UTC (Join)
  •  July 1: 09:00 – 11:00 UTC (Join)

Don't miss these opportunities to learn more about the candidates!

The Governance tools

This week's GovTool update includes the rollout of an improved wallet connection experience, resolving the long-standing issue of unnecessary validation prompts by only requiring users to sign transactions when necessary (e.g., voting or submitting proposals).

Additionally, a new ‘run locally’ guide was released to enable external contributors to test and develop independently. Preparations began for a dedicated page to track treasury withdrawals and a visual proposal validation system to enhance transparency and trust in submissions.

These updates aim to streamline the user experience and support more profound community contributions.

Governance tools working group

This week’s working group focused on the positive reception of the revised GovTool proposal, highlighting added contributor incentives, improved wallet UX, and strategic collaborations such as the Andamio integration for bounties. The team discussed the upcoming constitutional information action submission and finalized plans for new governance tooling features, including treasury withdrawal pages and proposal validation.

Engagement will continue through X spaces and educational videos to drive transparency, feedback, and voter turnout.

Open Source

Developer Advocate Program: second cohort now open

 Open Source Office (OSO) has officially launched applications for the second cohort of its Developer Advocate Program, a flagship initiative designed to strengthen the Cardano developer ecosystem. This next phase builds on the momentum of Cohort #1, inviting experienced developers and educators to help grow adoption, share knowledge, and foster deeper engagement across the Cardano ecosystem.

The program provides funding and support for advocates to host workshops, create technical content, and connect with developers both on- and off-chain. It promotes hands-on, practical advocacy that contributes directly to the growth of open-source infrastructure.

Interest has been strong, with 16 applications submitted within the first 24 hours, and solid community feedback is already coming in. The application window remains open until June 30, 2025 - Apply here.

Tex and Georg at CHAOSScon 2025!

Reminder! We’re excited to share that Tex (Terence McCutcheon), Open Source Program Manager at Intersect, and Georg Link, Open Source Committee Seat and Bitergia Open Source Strategist, will be presenting a keynote on Cardano at CHAOSScon 2025 North America! They’ll dive into real-world open-source governance, sustainability, and metrics within the Cardano ecosystem.

Don’t miss this if you’re tracking how blockchain communities measure and mature their open source impact.

Membership and Community

Intersect relaunches our monthly Town Halls and AMAs.
This month, we’re excited to relaunch our monthly Town Hall and Community AMA series, now with a refreshed and more transparent format that puts the community at the forefront. This is your opportunity to stay up-to-date on key developments across Intersect and Cardano governance, ask questions directly to the team, and participate in shaping the conversation moving forward.

🗓️ Date: June 27, 2025
🕝 Time: 14:30 UTC / 15:30 BST
🔗 Register: lu.ma/jnd1vbdx

The forum will be monthly and will feature a dynamic panel discussion followed by a live audience Q&A. In this first session, we’ll provide updates on the Cardano Budget, share the latest iteration of the GovTool proposal, and outline progress on the Constitutional Committee election process. 

You’ll hear directly from:

Bring your questions, get real-time updates, and help shape the future of governance. A recording will be available afterward for those who are unable to attend live.

Intersect Enterprise Forum: Web3 in focus – first session, July 2

We’re also excited to be launching the Intersect Enterprise Forum, a new monthly series designed to bring together enterprise members, ecosystem leaders, and the broader community for in-depth conversations on blockchain adoption, real-world use cases, and Cardano’s evolution as a platform.

The first session, titled "Web3 in focus", will take place on July 2, 2025, at 14:00 UTC and will be streamed live on YouTube: Watch the session live.

This opening forum will feature a dynamic panel discussion exploring key topics such as:

  • Cardano as a product, including the onboarding experience and usability
  • Real-world challenges in enterprise and government adoption
  • Clarifying the narratives around Web3, crypto, and DeFi
  • Market focus and strategies for driving practical adoption.

The panel will include:

Each monthly session will conclude with a live audience Q&A, providing the community with an opportunity to engage directly with thought leaders and decision-makers. A full recording will be made available after the event for those who are unable to attend live.

We hope you’ll join us for this inaugural discussion as we spotlight the real-world potential of Cardano and help shape the path forward for enterprise adoption.

Enterprise membership spotlight: Norwegian Block Exchange

We’re excited to announce that Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) has joined Intersect as an Enterprise Member!

Founded in 2018, NBX is a leading Nordic crypto service provider, licensed and regulated in Norway. The company offers secure trading, custody solutions, and blockchain services for both retail and institutional clients, including being the world’s first to issue a credit card with BTC cashback. NBX also became the first listed company in Norway to adopt an active Bitcoin treasury strategy.

NBX will provide regulated custodial services to entities within the Cardano ecosystem, supporting projects that require secure asset management.

By joining Intersect as an Enterprise Member, NBX gains full participation rights in Cardano’s governance process, with access to working groups and committees, and direct involvement in shaping Cardano’s decentralized future.

We’re thrilled to have NBX on board and look forward to the value they’ll bring to the ecosystem!

Community hubs

Last week, our Africa hub, led by Wada, held its Hub Internal Meeting on June 12, with 11 attendees. The meeting featured a detailed discussion on the Cardano Budget Withdrawal process, including insights from the Ekklesia poll, and an announcement on the summer plans and revised structure for upcoming Wada Forum sessions. You can watch the recording here.

Intersect at Red Cypher 2.0 – Sri Lanka Hub Spotlight

On June 14, our Sri Lanka hub participated in Red Cypher 2.0, a leading cybersecurity Capture the Flag (CTF) event hosted by the University of Ruhuna’s IEEE Student Branch.

Building on the success of the first edition, the event combined expert-led workshops with a hands-on CTF challenge that focused on skills such as cryptography, blockchain, reverse engineering, and more.

With over 140 students across 35 teams and nearly 200 participants in total, Red Cypher 2.0 sparked intense interest in cybersecurity and positioned Sri Lanka’s academic community on the global stage.

As the Title Sponsor, CoinCeylon was proud to see Cardano and blockchain technology integrated into the program, providing students with direct exposure to real-world decentralized security tools.

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This week, our hubs are hosting the following events:

The Japan hub - X Space event will be held on June 20 at noon UTC; the link to join is available here.

Africa Hub, led by WADA - Our Africa Hub held an X Space on CC Elections and Treasury Withdrawals on June 18, with 96 attendees. The Host introduced the guest speakers: the Ace Alliance, a group consisting of five long-time Cardano community members contesting for a seat to serve together on the CC.

The Ace Alliance was represented by Adam Rusch and Hosky, with introductions and discussions focused on their candidature for a Constitutional Committee seat. Community members came up to ask questions, such as whether the group might allocate a budget to cover operational costs if they are elected as CC members. You can listen to the recording here.

Sri Lanka hub, led by CoinCeylon - Our Sri Lanka hub recently concluded its fourth and final workshop at the University of Ruhuna, titled “Mastering Blockchain Technology and Building on Cardano: From Fundamentals to Real-World Applications.” The session welcomed 147 attendees and introduced them to tools like MeshJS and Aiken, as well as concepts in decentralized governance and the Cardano Academy certification program.

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This workshop marked the culmination of a month-long series that engaged over 168 engineering students in hands-on learning. Certificates of Participation were awarded during a closing ceremony. Special thanks go to the IEEE Student Branch, the Computer Society of the University of Ruhuna, and Dr. Kushan Sudheera for their support. The series was delivered by the CoinCeylon x Intersect Sri Lanka Hub, continuing their mission to grow blockchain education and Cardano awareness in Sri Lankan academia.

You can read more and view highlights on the hub’s X page.

That’s it for this week’s update. Thank you for reading. To learn more about Intersect’s work, explore our Knowledge Base, which provides detailed information on governance structures, committees, and funding. Additionally, visit the Intersect website for the latest news, updates, and roadmap information.

Join the conversation on Discord, and follow us on Twitter (X) and LinkedIn to engage with fellow members, working groups, and the broader community.

Your voice helps shape the future of Cardano governance.