Intersect is a member-based organization that advances Cardano’s development and supports its on-chain governance. This year, we’ve focused on supporting the rollout of Cardano’s on-chain governance, creating a shared product roadmap, and facilitating an annual budget process. With over 2,000 paid members of Intersect making contributions and recommendations, 2024 has been a landmark year for Cardano, demanding broad collective input to get things right. 

This blog post aims to demystify the budget process, clarify our current consultation phase, and highlight the crucial role you—the community—play in shaping Cardano’s future.

Intersect’s role

Intersect’s role in the budget process is to facilitate a budget proposal for the Cardano community to consider in early 2025—a proposal driven and drafted by our members, including elected members across our seven core committees. The Intersect Budget committee coordinates and compiles inputs from other committees, ultimately shaping a proposed budget for on-chain consideration. 

For the first time, the Cardano ecosystem will collectively decide which initiatives the treasury should fund in 2025 and beyond, including core infrastructure improvements, research and development, community grants, marketing, and more. Determining how to use Cardano’s treasury and manage its finances will, inevitably, spark debate.

Throughout 2024, Intersect has been managing several suppliers developing Cardano’s core infrastructure. Using seed capital provided by EMURGO and Input Output | Global, Intersect members have delivered over 80 milestones so far this year, with Intersect as the counterparty and providing oversight to the work. If approved on-chain, Intersect may continue facilitating future budgets, including managing contracts with suppliers to achieve budget goals, working closely with the product roadmap, overseeing milestones, and conducting technical reviews, scrutiny, and auditing. 

While decentralized decision-making is driven by on-chain community voting, Intersect’s role is to facilitate by providing the machinery and oversight required to manage the processes we need as a community.

Our principles

We approached the concept of an annual budget for Cardano by establishing a budget committee to gather input from our membership base and the broader Cardano community. 

Our approach aligns with our core values: keeping “Cardano first”, informing (not dictating), staying transparent, and practicing servant-leadership. In addition to these values, the budget committee has outlined the following principles for the budget process:

• Adhere to the current interim constitution (and the final version if/when ratified) and Cardano’s on-chain governance system.
• Act according to our membership’s and the wider Ada-holding community’s  interests and for Cardano’s betterment at all times.
• Facilitate and coordinate members without dictating outcomes or processes.
• Avoid becoming a gatekeeper to participation, funds, or processes; instead, we facilitate and coordinate with our members’ and the Cardano community’s implicit approval.

Understanding the budget process

At its core, the budget is a financial roadmap and plan for determining the resources required to move Cardano forward and allocating those resources to various projects and initiatives within the Cardano ecosystem - while ensuring transparency and accountability. Here’s an overview of the current process:

November and December 2024

• Consultation phase
  We are currently in the consultation phase, where we actively seek input from all community members. This phase is critical for gathering ideas, suggestions, and feedback on where funds should be allocated, how treasury management should be tackled, frequency in seeking on-chain approvals, and much more.
• Data collection and analysis: We collect quantitative and qualitative data through surveys and open forums, helping us understand community priorities. The Intersect budget committee compiles this data and works with other Intersect committees to refine or pivot draft proposals based on the ecosystem’s priorities.

Q1 2025

• Defining the budget
  Following the consultation phase, the budget committee will present a final version of Cardano’s 2025 budget for community review. Pending feedback, the proposal is expected to move on-chain for formal approval via the ICC and DReps.

On-chain process

The budget process outlined above captures the off-chain components to having a draft proposal ready for on-chain consideration. Cardano’s on-chain governance necessitates checks and balances before a budget becomes funded and active. 

Step 1: An info action will need to be submitted to determine the treasury net-change limit. This limit defines how much ada can be withdrawn from the treasury in a given period. DReps will vote to confirm this value.

Step 2: Once a draft proposal is ready, the proposed budget will be submitted as an info action to be voted on by the ICC and DReps (and must be aligned to the net-change-limit). A proposal will pass if 50%+ DRep active stake approves.

Step 3: If the proposal passes, corresponding treasury withdrawal action(s) can be submitted for a further vote by the ICC and DReps. 

Open questions

At the recent Cardano Summit in Dubai, the Budget committee presented the current status of the process and how people can get involved. The session provided valuable insights on overall budget value, fiscal policy, treasury management, voting with ada from the budget, off- and on-chain approvals (and how often they are sought), and other key considerations. Many of these are contentious with a scale of approaches that we can take as an ecosystem. 

All of these areas remain open in the consultation phase and are undetermined. Keep reading to find out how you can contribute your input and expertise to the process.

The Budget committee

The Budget committee serves as a steward of this process, following guidelines that include:

• Maintaining transparency: Keeping all budget-related discussions and recommendations open to the community.
• Ensuring inclusivity: Actively seeking diverse perspectives to inform budget allocations.
• Facilitating communication: Providing clear and regular updates on the budget process and how community input shapes outcomes.

Proposals and recommendations are made collectively, with the community’s voice guiding the direction. 

Your role in the consultation phase - get involved

Your participation during this consultation period is essential. Every idea and proposal you contribute is valuable. Whether you’re a core infrastructure developer, builder, researcher, educator, or an ada-holder, your perspective adds depth and diversity to our planning.

Ways to get involved

Take the survey
At the Cardano Summit, we launched a survey to gather your insights on which areas—core infrastructure, research and development, community grants, marketing—should receive the most attention and resources. The survey is open through November and will close on November 28.

Take the survey now

Join open AMA sessions with the budget committee
During November, the budget committee holds open sessions for members and non-members to discuss the plans and latest developments. These sessions provide an excellent opportunity to raise challenges, identify opportunities, and shape the draft budget for 2025.

Find sessions and RSVP 

Contact committee members
Following recent Intersect elections, our seven core committees have newly elected members. Reach out to learn more about each committee’s approach to the Cardano budget and join any open sessions they’re hosting.

Explore our committees

Resources

Developing Cardano’s first annual budget requires extensive input from across the ecosystem. From its outset, Cardano aimed for its treasury to fund long-term growth and sustainability. Currently valued at 1.58 billion ADA, the treasury is expected to generate ~₳350 million in 2025 based on current volumes and monetary policy.

Useful resources

• Original monetary policy
• Live treasury statistics (via Cexplorer)
• Recent article on treasury management via the Cardano Foundation

The Budget committee also publishes all minutes, actions, and materials via their dedicated knowledge base.

Conclusion and next steps

The development of Cardano's first annual budget is a significant milestone. This process is not just about numbers on a spreadsheet; it’s about setting a course for the future of our ecosystem and ensuring Cardano remains a fit-for-purpose, future-proof technology for global financial and social good. 

Over the coming weeks, we’ll continue to share updates and progress reports. Get involved today!