Welcome to Intersect update #116
This week - a proud moment for Cardano governance, with the van Rossem hard fork initiation governance action live on mainnet, the Hydra vote for the 2026 budget process reaching its conclusion with audited results now published, and the Constitutional Committee election entering its final hours of candidate registration. With multiple governance actions in voting and the hard fork ratification window open, this is one of the most active periods for on-chain decision-making the ecosystem has seen. Read on for the full picture. 

Contributors: Bosko M, Ian H, Intersect

van Rossem hard fork update

Big news regarding the van Rossem hard fork progress this week as the hard fork initiation governance action was submitted to Cardano Mainnet on Tuesday, June 16.
The culmination of months of work, coordinated through the Intersect Hard Fork Working Group (HWFG) with contributors from Input Output, Cardano Foundation, Emurgo, Midnight, Intersect and Ensurable Systems among many others. Having progressed gradually through SanchoNet, Preview and Preprod test networks, the decision was made by the HFWG, in collaboration with the Intersect Technical Steering Committee, to give the go-ahead for Mainnet this week.

SPO adoption has been strong to date, with 85% of block production being made on node version 11 in Epoch 638. Exchange readiness is reported to be around 36.86% by liquidity, with a number of major exchanges reporting as being in progress.

Voting on the hard fork requires DRep, SPO and Constitutional Committee member votes for ratification. There are various sources for hard fork readiness that voters can use to make an informed decision:

• Cardano constitution
• General: van Rossem upgrade readiness page
• SPO readiness: PoolTool | Cexplorer | ADAtool
• Exchange readiness: CardanoScan | Cexplorer

For a technical deep-dive, read this week's Upgrade Bulletin.

For a less technical overview of hard fork progress, read this Intersect blog.

Plutus Cost Model update

The Plutus Cost Model parameter update action was enacted on Cardano Mainnet on June 18, 2026 at 21:45 UTC and is now live across all Cardano networks.

Contributors: Civics committee,  Thomas L, Ian H, Intersect, Intersect Steering Committee

Constitutional Committee elections 2026 update

Candidate registration closes this Sunday, June 21, at 21:45 UTC - and - there is a development worth noting.
Five candidates have now registered for four available seats, meaning the election is competitive, if only by a narrow margin. This is a meaningful improvement from last week, when the candidate count matched the number of open seats exactly.

Registration is still open. More candidates would strengthen the outcome, and anyone considering running should act now. Waiting until the last minute creates unnecessary risk, especially if there are wallet issues, signing issues, or questions about the registration process.

Once registration closes, DRep voting begins at the epoch boundary on June 23 and runs through July 23. The election uses stake-weighted voting: each DRep may vote for up to four candidates, and each candidate they vote for receives that DRep's full voting power. The four candidates with the highest total voting power at the close of voting will form the election outcome, which will then support an on-chain Update Committee governance action to seat the new members before current terms expire in September.

If you believe you have the experience, judgment, and commitment to contribute to Cardano governance at this level, please consider registering before the deadline.

Candidate registration

Election documentation

Weekly AMA sessions

Recently closed governance actions

Live governance actions*

*data from 2026-06-19 at 10:00 UTC

Contributors: Budget committee, Neil B, Ian H, Matt D, Intersect

Audited results of Hydra voting for the 2026 Cardano budget

The independent audit of the Hydra Voting phase of the 2026 Cardano Budget Process has been completed, and the results are now published. The audit, conducted following the close of the voting period facilitated by Intersect, verified voter eligibility, vote validity, participation metrics, and proposal support calculations.

Community participation was strong, with 113 DReps taking part, representing 84.39% of the total DRep voting power. Of those, 112 cast valid votes, with one voter deemed ineligible. Valid participating voting power totaled approximately 5.07 billion ada against a total registered DRep voting power of approximately 6.01 billion ada.

Eleven proposals met the 67% supermajority support threshold required for budget approval. Support levels among successful proposals ranged from 68.45% to 85.67%, with TxPipe's suite of Rust library, data node, and integration standard maintenance proposals achieving the highest support scores. The full list of successful proposals and their support percentages is available on the published results page.

The audit report covers methodology, eligibility verification, participation calculations, and final results. It is publicly available alongside an internal audit conducted by the Ekklesia team. All underlying voting data remains independently verifiable via the Ekklesia verification guide.

2026 Treasury Reserve Contract Oversight Committee

Following on the success of our administration oversight function from our 2025 budget process we are pleased to announce some important updates for the 2026 budget cycle.

The Oversight Committee ensures that Intersect does not have unilateral control of treasury funds whilst they are held on-chain.

Existing members Sundae Labs, NMKR, Dquadrant and the Cardano Foundation have agreed to continue their roles for the 2026 budget process, for which we are most thankful. Eternl and Sundial have agreed to participate and take on roles as part of the Oversight Committee for the 2026 cohort of administration proposals. Strengthening our commitment to decentralization by expanding the committee from five to six members.

We thank Xerberus for their time and effort in supporting and continuing to see out the 2025 cohort.

A new Treasury Reserve Contract

As part of prudent and conscious on-going treasury management, a new Treasury Reserve Contract (TRC) instance has been created to facilitate vendor payments for any enacted proposal under Intersect administration from this point onwards.

You can follow this TRC instance at the following address:

Treasury Reserve Contract stake address

Treasury Reserve Contract payment address

Treasury Management Dashboard

While new features and points of data have been developed and deployed to the UI the underlying smart contracts have not been changed, ensuring that the original technical specification and audit persist.

You can always find the latest information on our Administration Services Hub.

Contributors: Larisa M, Intersect

If there’s a theme this week, its participation.

The conclusion of the Hydra voting phase of the 2026 Budget process gave a timely reminder that our governance systems are steadily becoming part of a normal rhythm, with each iteration an improvement on what came before. The results themselves (covered earlier in the update) shone a light on the encouraging aspect of the participation levels. Questions were asked of vendors, proposals were challenged, discussions took place and, importantly, stakeholders took the time to participate in deciding which proposals would go forward to the next phase.

Participation wasn't limited to governance. We also saw Pyth Network announce a year of free access to its Pyth Pro service for Cardano builders. Delivered through collaboration with Cardano's Critical Integrations initiative, the programme provides projects with access to institution-grade price data and onboarding support, lowering the barrier for teams looking to build and innovate within the ecosystem.

Meanwhile, readiness actions continue for SPOs, exchanges, Apps and developers in preparation for the van Rossem hard fork. Upgrades often attract attention only for the features they introduce, but this work also showcased the coordination that exists across the ecosystem. SPOs, exchanges, wallet providers, infrastructure operators and developers all play a role in ensuring the network is ready for change, and are working together to ensure a smooth transition.

The Civics Committee also approved to move forward with work on development of a Constitutional Amendment Process, moving it into public testing as soon as possible. As Cardano's governance framework continues to change and mature, increasing attention must also turn towards the mechanisms that will be needed to allow communities to refine and evolve that framework over time.

Taken together, our developments point towards an ecosystem that is increasingly defined not simply by technology, but by engagement. Whether through voting, building, reviewing, testing or operating infrastructure, even when there are challenges, Cardano continues to move forward because people choose to take part.

Contributors:  Ian H, Abhik N, Intersect.

MCC Open Office Hours

The Membership & Community Committee (MCC) will host its next open office hours X Space next Monday June 22 at 12:00 PM UTC.

The session provides an opportunity for Intersect members and the wider Cardano community to engage directly with MCC representatives, discuss membership-related topics, share feedback, and learn more about ongoing committee initiatives.

Community members are encouraged to join the conversation and contribute ideas that can help strengthen member engagement and participation across the ecosystem.

Head on over here to set a reminder or join: X Space

DRep monthly call

Next week Intersect is partnering with Tweag to co-host the first ever DRep monthly call. Hoping to emulate the success of the SPO monthly call that has been a staple of the SPO community for years, this call seeks to bring DReps from across the ecosystem together for the latest developments and discussions.

Wednesday, June 24, 2026 at 15:00 - 16:00 UTC
Sign up on Luma

Intersect Virtual Hub

Reminder that the Intersect Virtual Hub is open 24/7 for members to use and organize their own meetings and events. If you would like to utilize the screen sharing features for presentations, an Intersect staff moderator can assist.
How to join the Virtual Hub guide on X.

van Rossem hard fork

The van Rossem hard fork has reached Cardano Mainnet. The Hard Fork Working Group meets every Tuesday and Thursday during the most critical phase. Subscribe to the Luma calendar.

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.

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