Cardano Foundation Quarterly: Q2 2025

Reflecting on a quarter of community engagement, enterprise outreach, and ecosystem development

After an exciting second quarter, we’re eager to share an update on our ongoing efforts. They mirror the stability of Cardano’s infrastructure, centering on three core areas of execution: technology, governance, and adoption.

We work to foster robust ecosystem participation, enable enterprise integration, and enhance operational resilience, all the while improving trust and usability, ensuring long-term sustainability, and fueling continuous innovation within the Cardano ecosystem. This review showcases how we apply these strategic pillars, engaging in activities that advance the long-term vision of Cardano.

Driving real-world applications and growth

This quarter began with a significant step forward in digital identity solutions. In April, the Foundation launched Veridian, a next-generation platform for privacy-preserving, interoperable credential verification. This open-source solution, complete with iOS and Android wallet applications, empowers self-sovereign identity through decentralized identifiers (KERI) and verifiable credentials (ACDC). Its design prioritizes enterprise readiness, offering transparency, interoperability, and scalability across sectors like healthcare, finance, academia, and supply chain. Sandbox environments, hosted in Switzerland, facilitate pilot testing that showcases Veridian’s practical applications.

The Foundation’s commitment to decentralized trust extended to the Internet Identity Workshop in April, where we sponsored Wi-Fi to foster collaboration among attendees focused on user-controlled identity systems. Foundation staff, including Thomas Mayfield (Head of Decentralized Trust and Identity Solutions), engaged in discussions on open standards and the Veridian platform. Mayfield also presented Veridian at Identity Week, highlighting our commitment to secure, privacy-preserving identity solutions. A report, published in collaboration with Key State Capital and GLEIF, further highlighted how Veridian contributes to the progression of verifiable smart contracts.

Also in April, a strategic collaboration with Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC‑Rio), a leading Brazilian university, further amplified our global reach. This partnership supports PUC‑Rio’s Ledger Labs and establishes Ada Labs for Blockchain Applications (A.L.B.A), focusing on blockchain economics, DeFi, DAO governance, and digital assets. Initial priorities include developing blockchain‑based solutions for the renewable energy sector. This marks the Foundation’s second major partnership in Brazil this year, showcasing Cardano's versatile applications.

Later that month, the Foundation participated in Paris Blockchain Week, where CEO Frederik Gregaard delivered a keynote, "Decentralized Intelligence: AI, Blockchain & the New Economy," representing the Foundation at the Carrousel du Louvre. Joined by team members Pierre Kaklamanos (Ecosystem Development Manager), Sandro Tarchini (Global Head of Business Development), Jide Fashola (Global Financial Infrastructure Lead), Andrea Derman (Business Development Manager), and Alexandre Maaza (Sustainability & Innovation Lead), they engaged with global leaders discussing digital infrastructure’s evolution in a decentralized, intelligence-driven world.

Expanding reach and empowering innovation

Into May, the Cardano Foundation attended GITEX Europe, driving forward critical discussions and exploring strategic opportunities in digital identity, data transparency, AI integration, and blockchain-enabled education. Team members highlighted how Cardano’s technology supports secure, sustainable, and scalable real-world solutions. The Foundation also participated in the Point Zero Forum, with Gregaard joining a panel on the intersection of AI and blockchain, while Veridian received its introduction to global leaders. These engagements underscore our focus on driving practical blockchain adoption.

May also saw a significant enhancement to our educational resources. The Cardano Foundation unveiled a complete redesign of the Cardano Academy website, featuring a cleaner layout, an improved user experience, and expanded educational content. The new enterprise-focused Blockchain Fundamentals course launched soon after, simplifying core blockchain concepts for beginners and business professionals.

Toward the end of May, Maaza spoke at Corporate Innovation Day, hosted by Decentral House. This event convened leaders from across the blockchain space, exploring how open protocols drive real-world innovation, with Maaza presenting Cardano’s perspective on decentralized infrastructure’s transformative potential.

As June arrived, the Foundation's global presence expanded further. We proudly participated in the Crypto Valley Conference as a Platinum Sponsor. At the event, Gregaard delivered a keynote titled Decentralized Intelligence: AI, Blockchain & the New Economy, exploring the intersection of blockchain and AI. Sandro Knöpfel (Global Business Development Lead) of the Foundation also introduced Veridian at the event, highlighting how decentralized identity and public blockchain can support secure, scalable digital infrastructure across industries.

This month also saw the launch of Originate, an open-source traceability infrastructure that helps enterprises verify product authenticity and meet industry certifications. Built on Cardano, Originate offers real-time transparency and mobile-enabled authentication.

Originate’s first major use case involves digitally certifying Georgian wine provenance, a key focus highlighted at the 46th World Congress of Vine and Wine in Chișinău. There, we co-hosted an official side event with Blazar Labs, showcasing how digital twins and blockchain technology enhance transparency in the wine industry, emphasizing Cardano’s role in global agricultural traceability.

We built on these important conversations during a live AMA featuring Foundation CEO Gregaard, Jeremy Firster (Global Enterprise Adoption Lead), and Mayfield. The session focused on Veridian and Originate, highlighting how Cardano creates a foundational layer of digital trust across industries.

Wrapping up a successful pilot program, June saw the first Venture Hub cohort welcomed to the Foundation’s Zurich office. Venture Hub offered expert mentorship and guidance with the intention to accelerate adoption, representing a strong step in empowering builders shaping the future of enterprise blockchain.

After three months, participants LW3, Iagon, and Andamio engaged in a full day of strategy, pitching, and collaboration. To further spotlight these ventures, the Foundation co-hosted a startup-focused event in Berlin alongside W3 Hub and Crypto Invest Berlin, where these founders showcased their real-world use cases.

Advancing policy, tools, and adoption

A major announcement in June confirmed the Cardano Summit 2025 will take place in November at Berlin’s Gasometer Schöneberg, focusing on connecting the Cardano ecosystem with global enterprise leaders. Additionally, the Techstars + Cardano Founder Catalyst program was announced in June, a 10-week, part-time, virtual pre-accelerator for early-stage Web3 and blockchain founders, launching in October 2025. This program will select 15–20 companies building on Cardano or developing cross-chain solutions, offering world-class startup education and mentorship.

In its role shaping policy, in June, the Foundation submitted its response to the European Data Protection Board’s (EDPB’s) consultation on their Guidelines 02/2025 on processing of personal data through blockchain technologies. We highlight the need to distinguish between blockchain infrastructure and its use, caution against an overly broad interpretation of personal data, and advocate for a technologically neutral and open approach to public, permissionless blockchains.

Also in June, the Foundation contributed to a joint response to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority’s Discussion Paper DP25/1 on regulating cryptoasset Activities, in particular Staking, where we argue for a proportionate, innovation-friendly framework that distinguishes between custodial and non-custodial models, supports native protocol staking, enables responsible DeFi development through self-regulation, and avoids imposing legacy financial rules on decentralized infrastructures.

Further, the Foundation submitted a response to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Crypto Task Force questionnaire. In our response, we advocate for a functional, risk-based taxonomy that avoids decentralization as a legal criterion, greater global interoperability through alignment with other regulatory regimes, a technology-neutral approach to tokenization to foster efficiency and transparency, and a proportionate, function-focused outsourcing model for engaging with public, permissionless infrastructures.

We also brought together thought leaders from the UNDP BOOST Network, UNDP Cities Network, and the Cardano ecosystem during a [Berlin Blockchain Week live stream. This session featured startup founders and innovators exploring how blockchain drives sustainable urban innovation. The same month, Kraken’s OTC desk introduced options trading for ada, a significant step in meeting institutional demand for advanced trading instruments. This move enables more sophisticated strategies around ada, reflecting growing maturity in the Cardano market.

Continuing our push for transparency and enterprise-grade tooling, the Foundation launched Reeve, a blockchain-based financial reporting tool that simplifies compliance and enhances transparency. It bridges enterprise systems with secure, verifiable, tamper-resistant records, ideal for audits and sustainability disclosures. Reeve’s capabilities were immediately demonstrated with the release of the 2024 Financial Insights Report, now fully verifiable on-chain via Reeve. This report highlights key progress across governance, education, and adoption, underscoring our commitment to open, accountable operations.

Finally, our collaboration with the University of Zurich (UZH) Blockchain Center expanded, with Bitget joining the effort by funding Summer School grants at UZH, empowering future innovators rooted in the Cardano ecosystem.

Technical progress and ecosystem support

Focusing on technical contributions, the Foundation released a new open-source governance voting tool. Designed for DReps, SPOs, and Constitutional Committee members, this tool simplifies participating in on-chain governance. It lets users create, sign, and submit governance votes with confidence, including multisig configurations. It also helps generate formatted PDFs for transparency and record-keeping. The GitHub repository can be found here.

Beyond the voting tool, the Foundation also continued to strengthen network resilience through the work of its Core Integration Team (CIT). This team provides dedicated support to exchanges, offering comprehensive technical guidance and proactive assistance. Using an in-house platform for real-time monitoring of operations, the team conducts thorough pre-upgrade testing and tracks hard fork readiness, ensuring uninterrupted service.

The CIT also facilitates timely communication, shares protocol knowledge, and guides exchanges on their role in Delegated Representative (DRep) functions. Survey feedback from 11 exchanges showed strong support for the CIT, with requests to enhance documentation and Rosetta governance integration.

Bolstering developer resources and community engagement

Into May, the Cardano Foundation further supported innovation by introducing the Rackton Challenge — a story-driven puzzle series designed to engage developers in building coding challenges around wallets, smart contracts, and governance. This initiative encourages hands-on exploration of Cardano’s technical stack.

Also in May, the Cardano Foundation partnered with Masumi and NMKR to host a 24-hour hackathon at W3 Hub during Berlin Blockchain Week. This event welcomed participants to explore ideas across Web3, AI, and NFTs, fostering creativity and hands-on innovation. Carrying this momentum into June, we saw significant advancements for developers and institutional access, highlighted by the Foundation's sponsorship of Buidler Fest Vietnam, where developers gathered to collaborate and learn.

Aiken, a native smart contract language for Cardano, gained official GitHub recognition the same month, boosting developer enablement. The update makes Aiken visible to over 100 million developers, and its rapid adoption, now used across 439 projects, marks a milestone in Cardano’s developer growth and tooling maturity. Complementing this focus on developer empowerment, we also distributed 2,000 free copies of the on-chain book I Can Aiken via Book.io.

Beyond these specific milestones, our commitment to supporting developers and the wider community remains steadfast. The Foundation's community team continues its dedicated engagement through Cardano Developer Office Hours. This ongoing initiative provides a consistent platform for insights and interaction, fostering continuous learning and collaboration within the developer community.

The evolution of decentralized governance

The second quarter began with crucial insights surrounding Cardano’s decentralized governance model. The Foundation published 14 flow charts illustrating the lifecycle of various governance actions, such as hard-fork initiation and treasury withdrawals. These visuals boost transparency and community engagement, mapping each voting path and clarifying approval conditions.

Foundation CTO Giorgio Zinetti also published a post examining the Net Change Limit (NCL) parameter, a constitutional cap on annual treasury withdrawals designed to balance token supply and ecosystem funding. Soon after, the Foundation completed its constitutional assessment of two active NCL governance proposals. Both complied with the Cardano Constitution, reflecting the Foundation’s role in upholding decentralized governance standards.

The Foundation further updated its role as a DRep under Intersect’s budget process, introducing a structured evaluation framework for proposals. These frameworks assess alignment with Cardano’s 2025 Vision & Roadmap, committee feedback, financial viability, and clear delivery plans.

In May, we introduced a new delegation strategy aimed at empowering developers and builders within its governance framework. This initiative enables the Foundation to delegate stake to developer-led stake pools, boosting their profile in on-chain governance, including treasury proposals and voting on protocol upgrades.

Gregaard and Zinetti hosted a live session to further discuss this new strategy and answer community questions. Later that month, the Cardano Foundation announced it would not seek a seat in the Constitutional Committee (CC) elections organized by Intersect, expressing full confidence in the new candidates stepping forward.

As an interim CC member, we deemed the governance action for the “Cardano Blockchain Ecosystem Budget – 275M ADA administered by Intersect” constitutional and, as a DRep, voted YES to enable 2025 ecosystem funding across 39 proposals. The Cardano Foundation also announced the successful completion of Node 8.9.0 testing on SanchoNet, a governance testnet. This update includes new on-chain governance actions and improved voting mechanisms, moving Cardano closer to full on-chain governance in the Voltaire era.

The Foundation also shared its voting methodology for selecting candidates to fill 7 seats on the Constitutional Committee (CC) from a pool of 19, with the CC upholding the Cardano Constitution under CIP-1694.

Rounding out the quarter's on-chain activities, we spotlighted CanadaStakes [CAN1], a bare-metal stake pool, for its contributions to decentralization, education, and ecosystem support. The Foundation also showcased Cardano France [FRADA], a community-operated stake pool, for its performance and ecosystem contributions.

A commitment to Cardano’s future

The second quarter marked substantial progress for the Foundation's implementation plan across technology, governance, and adoption. We continue to drive real-world utility and ecosystem expansion with innovative identity and traceability solutions like Veridian and Originate. Alongside this, fostering developer growth through events such as Buidler Fest makes Cardano more accessible and powerful for everyone.

We also contribute to strengthening decentralized governance, with key advancements in treasury management and community participation that support Cardano's robust and transparent evolution. These concerted efforts actively contribute to Cardano's growing maturity as a public digital infrastructure, driving operational resilience, fostering enterprise integration, and empowering continuous innovation. We remain dedicated to our strategic pillars, building a sustainable and impactful blockchain future for all participants.