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- Cardano moved to full decentralization through CIP-1694 with enhanced voting power for ada holders.
- The DRep expansion, new voting tools, and the Critical Integration Budget pushed broader community control in 2025.
Cardano Foundation called 2025 a landmark year in its governance model as the platform moved fully into decentralized control. The change was built around CIP-1694, which has served as the reference point for this effort. The process relied on measured steps, focused collaboration, and targeted changes in participation mechanics.
The year began with the Plomin Hard Fork, which prepared the infrastructure for the new on-chain governance system. Ada holders gained real voting power over protocol parameters, treasury spending, future upgrades, and network direction. It was coordinated through the Intersect working group, and was named after community member Matthew Plomin.
In September, the Foundation ended its term on the Interim Constitutional Committee, maintaining a perfect voting record until then. Rather than continue, the Foundation stepped back to allow other groups to participate more directly, citing the need to grow shared responsibilities in the governance structure.
2025 was a monumental year for Cardano governance.
From the transition to decentralized governance to deeper collaboration across the ecosystem as an Enterprise Member of @IntersectMBO, the year marked true progress.
Read the full 2025 governance recap: https://t.co/4tWhBUFA1p
— Cardano Foundation (@Cardano_CF) December 3, 2025
Cardano Expands DRep Program and Voting Access
A significant development came through the Foundation’s DRep Delegation Program. The initial allocation involved 140 million ADA across seven Developer and Builder DReps. The aim was to give active participants in the network more decision-making power. Later in the year, an additional 220 million ADA was added to the program, allocated to eleven new DReps in the Adoption and Operations categories.
Lowering barriers to participation remained a focus in 2025. The Foundation developed an open-source voting tool and worked alongside Griffin AI to support a Proposal Examiner. This tool was created to evaluate proposals while keeping the final decision with the community.
Governance Action Flow Charts were published to simplify processes for newcomers. Updates to the Developer Portal included step-by-step instructions for submitting governance actions and details about committee roles. The Foundation also held public sessions at events, which helped spread awareness and encouraged direct participation.
Cardano Launches Critical Integration Budget
The foundation also completed its first full year as an enterprise member of Intersect. During 2025, team members took part in several committees covering topics such as technical guidance, budgeting, civic participation, oversight, and education. Their input extended to constitutional amendments, event planning, and the preparation of the strategy for 2030.
Late in the year, a new funding scheme was introduced called the Critical Integration Budget. It was developed through cooperation with Input Output, EMURGO, Intersect, and the Midnight Foundation. Its purpose is to provide funding to support necessary technical integration and infrastructure within Cardano.
While adjustments were ongoing, 2025 represented the first time decision-making was broadly shared. The Cadano Foundation added in a blog post,
“If 2025 has taught us anything, it is that the Cardano community tackles complex challenges with maturity, intelligence, unity and passion. The Cardano Foundation is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Cardano community as we continue to build a robust, decentralized future together.”
