Welcome to Intersect update #117
The Cardano ecosystem continues to move forward on multiple fronts: the van Rossem hard fork inches closer to ratification, with DRep support already clearing the 60% threshold and SPO adoption at 86% on the latest node version. The Constitutional Committee election voting phase is set to open on June 28 following a revised timeline to accommodate candidate credential verification. Add to this the public launch of the Leios "Musashi Dojo" testnet, a new monthly DRep collaboration call, and a wave of Cardano Foundation announcements - and it's been a week that reflects both the resilience and the relentless forward motion of the Cardano community. 

Contributors: Bosko M, Ian H, Neil B, Larisa M, Intersect

SecondFi incident

Thoughts remain with those affected by the security incident affecting the SecondFi wallet application this week. We recognise the disruption and uncertainty incidents such as this can cause for users and the wider community.

While investigations and remediation efforts remain ongoing, it is important to distinguish between an application-level incident and the Cardano protocol itself. Based on information available so far, the Cardano network has continued to operate normally, with no identified issues affecting consensus, ledger integrity, or the blockchain protocol.

For community members seeking updates or guidance, the authoritative sources remain SecondFi and EMURGO, who are responsible for the affected application and its remediation.

As with any security incident, please remain vigilant against phishing attempts, fake recovery services, and impersonation accounts.

For official updates and guidance:

On X: SecondFi: @SecondFiapp EMURGO: @emurgo_io
Intersect’s statement on the ecosystem response and protocol-level considerations: article on X.

van Rossem hard fork update

SPO adoption has been strong to date, with 86% of block production being made on node version 11 in Epoch 639. Exchange readiness is reported to be around 77.37% by liquidity.

At the time of writing, voting progress currently stands at:

DRep: 62.55% (60% required)
SPO: 30.95% (51% required)
CC: 1 Constitutional, 6 yet to vote (5 required)

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.

Leios testnet

On June 23, Input Output announced the public release of the Leios testnet, named the “Musashi Dojo”. The announcement arrived with promotional materials featuring Carlos Lopez de Lara - Product Manager for Leios, the launch of “BLOCK//45” - a new show for Cardano news, and a website at musashi.network.

The community is encouraged to explore the documentation and begin participating by running nodes, and stake pools, reporting feedback through the official channels, including the musashi-testnet channel over on IOGs Technical Community Discord.

Contributors: Ian H, Intersect 

Constitutional Committee elections 2026 update

Registrations for the Constitutional Committee elections 2026, facilitated by Intersect, closed on June 21 at 9:45 PM UTC. A late rush of applicants resulted in a total of ten candidates.

The voting phase timeline was revised this week to allow time for verification of the recently registered candidates’ cold credentials. This process ensures the legitimacy and technical capability of all candidates ahead of the voting phase.

Voting will now begin on June 28 at 9:45 PM UTC. In the meantime, DReps and other ada holders are encouraged to log in and ask candidates questions on the Hydra Voting platform.

For more information, see the Intersect blog.

Recently closed governance actions

Live governance actions*

Cardano Budget Process 2026, facilitated by Intersect

Intersect submitted treasury withdrawal proposals for the 11 successful proposals that met the required 67% participating stake threshold during the Hydra Voting phase. A reminder that full audited results of that phase are available on the Intersect Knowledge Base.

The on-chain treasury withdrawals were submitted on June 23, 2026 and have a governance action expiry date of July 23, 2026 at 9:45PM UTC (Epoch 645).

Smart contract cancellation and funds returned to treasury

The remaining milestones of IOG’s project, “Catalyst 2025 Proposal by Input Output: Advancing Decentralised Community Innovation Funding & Infrastructure,” have been canceled, and the funds have been returned to the treasury.

This decision was taken mutually with IOG following the transfer of Catalyst administration from IOG to the Cardano Foundation.

These canceled milestones return 2.06m ada to the treasury.

The transaction of this cancellation can be seen on Cexplorer.

Contributors: Larisa M, Intersect, Ian H, Intersect 

Launched this week: A space for DReps to think together

A highlight of the week worth talking about has been the kick off of a new DRep call, modelled on the success of the regular monthly SPO calls, DReps asked for their own space to get together once a month. Jointly hosted by Tweag.io and Intersectmbo.org, this first call brought together 16 representatives with around 100m ada in delegated voting power.

The discussion moved through current governance actions into the realities of being a DRep. Participants explored their own challenges, such as workload, numbers of gov actions on chain and the need for specialist knowledge in some cases. Topics covered also included DRep sustainability, incentives and power distribution.

One recurring theme though was collaboration, and that while discussions take place across many channels, there are few opportunities for DReps to share experiences or resources, and even float perspectives without fear of retaliation. This call aims to provide just that - and we encourage any DReps to join us, no matter how big or small, to work through existing challenges.

This DRep monthly call will continue on the last Wednesday of the month, 3pm UTC - for now in Zoom, but open to take place where it is felt most useful to those attending.

If you are a DRep and would like to come along to the next call you can sign up on the Intersect luma event calendar. We can't wait for the next one!

The Cardano Foundation (CF) this week announced a number of initiatives across the areas of ecosystem growth and global engagement.

Legal Context Protocol

On June 24, it was announced that the CF has joined the American Arbitration Association, Google, IBM, Circle, Wayfair and others to launch the Legal Context Protocol - an open standard that makes legal terms, consent, and dispute resolution discoverable and verifiable when AI agents transact on behalf of people and organizations. Full press release.

SENAI São Paulo partnership

On June 25, a partnership was announced with SENAI São Paulo, one of Brazil's largest industrial education and technology networks, to advance blockchain education and enterprise applications across the Brazilian industry. The first workshop ran this month, where educators covered blockchain fundamentals, metadata standards, smart contracts, and industrial use cases. This was the first step towards building what they need to teach blockchain across SENAI São Paulo's network. Full blog here.

Project Catalyst update

A Cardano Forum post today revealed the launch of a new Catalyst pilot fund in August 2026, with a total grant pool of two million ada. A key goal of the pilot is to connect ecosystem innovation with some of the most recent Cardano integrations, such as USDCx, Pyth, or Dune.

Contributors:  Abhik N, Intersect, Ian H, Intersect, Rosie G, Intersect 

Intersect Insight & Connect | Q2 Highlights & Full Report

Tune in for Intersect Insight | Q2 Highlights and Full Report, our quarterly community-facing update where Intersect Board members and leadership will share key updates, achievements, milestones, and progress made during Q2. The session will also include updates from each Intersect committee, highlighting their Q2 achievements and what members can look forward to in Q3.

Following Insight, we’ll continue by jumping straight in to Intersect Connect in the Virtual Hub of the Intersect members area, featuring an Ask the Board session where members can ask questions directly to the Board on governance-related topics.

Watch live here: https://youtube.com/live/9hpz8OCLsCs?feature=share

Enterprise Spotlight: Dora Hacks

Dora Hacks, an Intersect enterprise member, continues to support builders and hackathon organizers through a suite of tools designed to streamline every aspect of an event.

Through the use of BUIDL AI, organizers can plan and kickstart their hackathon ten times faster. Platforms that make judging and AI judging simple, accurate, and efficient. Organizers receive instant, real-time notifications from the beginning of the hackathon to the end. Their own knowledge base consolidates all the information needed to plan and host a glitch-free hackathon.

The Hackathon Helper feature acts as your own personal co-organizer and provides 24/7 support and world-class hackathon know-how. Upgrades available unlock DoraHacks Premium for bigger, better, and autonomous hackathons.

DoraHacks is a proud Intersect Enterprise Member and is ready to serve the Cardano community with any hackathon organization needs with a user-friendly interface and the power of AI.

Attention, all graduates!

We have recently updated our careers page with some exciting opportunities to join Intersect on our journey as we continue evolving.

Alongside several experienced hires, we're particularly excited to be introducing an opportunity for graduates to express interest in a Graduate Technical Associate role here at Intersect, As we evolve, we're keen to invest in the next generation of talent by creating opportunities for technically curious graduates to begin their careers in the blockchain industry.

Working alongside our Cardano Tech team, this role offers broad exposure across technical operations, ecosystem initiatives, governance support and cross-functional delivery, making it an ideal opportunity for graduates with a passion for blockchain, distributed systems and emerging technologies who are looking to make a meaningful impact from day one. We're particularly interested in graduates with degrees or significant academic focus in areas such as:

• Blockchain Technologies
• Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT)
• Computer Science
• Cyber Security
• Software Engineering
• Distributed Systems
• Cryptography
• Information Security

Equivalent experience or research in blockchain technologies is equally welcome.

If you believe you, or someone you know, may be a great fit, we'd love for you to apply or share the application link above. As always, referrals from our community are hugely appreciated.

You can explore all of our current vacancies on our careers page.

What’s on next week:

Intersect Insights - hear from the team

Streaming LIVE on YouTube and IntersectMBO X account. See details above.

Thursday July 2, 2026 at 1PM UTC

Intersect Connect - connect with members and team

Following Intersect Insight, a LIVE event in the Intersect Virtual Hub where members can connect and interact with fellow members and Intersect staff. Bring your curiosity and your questions!

How to join the Virtual Hub guide on X

Thursday July 2, 2026 at 2PM UTC

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.

Monthly SPO call
The monthly SPO call takes place next Thursday in the “IOGs Technical Community” Discord channel.
Thursday July 2, 2026 at 3PM UTC

van Rossem hard fork
Ratification of the hard fork is close at hand. The Hard Fork Working Group meets every Tuesday and Thursday. 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.