Welcome to Intersect’s Development Update #72.  This week, voting is officially underway for the 39 Treasury Withdrawal actions submitted on-chain. Thank you to the many DReps who have already participated. We’re also reminding members to check their renewal status to ensure uninterrupted access to participation rights, particularly as governance activities are on the horizon.

We welcome USDM/Moneta as a new Enterprise Member, spotlight Nucast’s work in decentralized streaming, and highlight the second session of Web3 in Focus. Plus, don’t miss upcoming events like Rare Evo and our July Town Hall. As always, there has been continued progress across working groups, open source, and governance tooling.

Let’s get into it.

Treasury Withdrawal governance actions: voting underway

Following last week’s milestone submission of 39 Treasury Withdrawal governance actions, voting is now underway. These proposals represent funding requests from previously approved Budget Info Actions and now await final decisions from both DReps and the Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC).

At time of publication, proposals are seeing between 25% to more than 50% of active DRep stake participating in the first epoch of voting, showing strong early signals. A big thank you to all DReps who have already engaged. However, each proposal still requires a 67% DRep supermajority and support from at least 5 of the 7 ICC members (adjusted for abstentions) to pass.

Voting remains open until the end of Epoch 576 (August 17, 2025). Members are encouraged to check how their DRep is voting and, if necessary, consider redelegating to one that aligns with their values.

You can track the status of each proposal via: Govtool & adastat.

Intersect’s proposal

2024 was Intersect’s first full year of operations, and with our members, we helped Cardano achieve some significant milestones. Together, we supported the Chang and Plomin upgrades, stewarded the Cardano node and core repositories, coordinated over 180 contracts and more than 300 milestones, and facilitated 64 constitutional workshops in 51 countries, work that helped bring the Cardano Constitution on-chain.

There’s always more to learn and ways we can improve, but this progress demonstrates what we can achieve when the community and contributors work together in the same direction. We hope many of you can support Intersect’s proposal.

An important highlight:

While our proposal requests 15.75m ada, it is budgeted against a USD value of $7.875m. This means we expect to return a significant amount to the Treasury, a commitment we have made in writing within our proposal to ensure value flows back to the ecosystem.

Deep Dive: Treasury withdrawals, smart contracts, and Intersect’s role as administrator

As voting continues on the current round of Treasury Withdrawal governance actions, we’ve seen renewed questions around how the process works, the role of Intersect as an Administrator and MBO, and how accountability is enforced. Here's a summary to help clarify key points.

Why do vendors request funding in ada?
All requests are denominated in ada to ensure compliance with the Constitution. This supports transparency, auditability, and the use of smart contract tooling, which is explicitly designed to manage native assets on-chain.

What is Intersect’s role in this process?
Intersect was appointed by proposing vendors as the administrator for this round. As both an Administrator and a Member-Based Organization (MBO), Intersect supports decentralized governance without taking a decision-making role. Final approval remains with DReps and the Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC).

How is accountability ensured?
Each proposal has already passed through a Budget Info Action and now requires both a 67% DRep supermajority and ICC support. Once approved, funding is tied to clearly defined milestones. Vendors must deliver work, provide reports, and maintain proof of progress as funds are released. This process is overseen by Intersect with checks and balances via a newly established external Oversight Committee, ensuring independent checks and community trust.

What happens if a milestone isn’t completed?
If a milestone isn’t met on time or to the quality expected, related funding can be paused until the vendor is able to complete their milestone or provide a thorough report on their progress. On completion, Intersect would resume the paused milestone and the vendor will be able to claim their milestone payment. In the case where the vendor is unable to fulfill the milestone, then any unclaimed or surplus ada is returned to the Treasury, preserving resources for future use. 

How do smart contracts support this process?
A new smart contract framework and admin tooling now support the governance process. These systems bring transparency, automation, and security to treasury operations - from proposal submission to milestone tracking and fund release.

Why does this process matter?
Reliable funding mechanisms are crucial for delivering services in a coordinated manner across the ecosystem. Whether it's network upgrades or ecosystem tooling, having structured, auditable, and decentralized workflows ensures Cardano’s long-term resilience. Intersect’s role is to support the infrastructure-building processes, enabling secure administration, and serving the community as it grows.

For more details, see the Intersect Administration FAQs or explore recent blogs on smart contract tooling, Oversight Committee, and voting status.


Friendly reminder: Check your membership renewal status

As Intersect continues to support the Cardano ecosystem and its governance journey, now is a good time to check your membership status and ensure it’s up to date.

Letting your membership lapse, even temporarily, may affect your eligibility for certain participation rights. For example, some internal governance activities require continuous membership for a set period in advance, such as 90 days for committee involvement and 180 days for board-related participation. While upcoming elections haven’t yet been formally communicated, staying current now ensures you're prepared when the time comes!

You can review and renew your membership via the members' area. And if you've already renewed, thank you for your continued commitment!

Welcome USDM/Moneta!

We’re excited to have USDM/Moneta (by W3i Global) join us as a new Enterprise Member at Intersect.

Their work in stablecoin innovation and real-world asset integration brings valuable depth to the Cardano ecosystem.

Looking forward to collaborating on the future of decentralized finance!

Join us on July 31 at noon UTC for Intersect’s next Town Hall, a live session packed with updates on Governance and Treasury, Open Source initiatives, Rare Evo preparations, and more.

From builders to community voices, everyone’s welcome to tune in and stay connected to the momentum driving Cardano forward. Watch it live on YouTube here - July Townhall.



Enterprise Forum: Web3 in Focus - session 2

The second session of our Enterprise Forum: Web3 in Focus series is now live. This ongoing series brings together innovators and industry leaders to explore how blockchain infrastructure is evolving and what it means for the future of enterprise adoption.

Session 2 dives deeper into the tools, platforms, and real-world use cases being built across the Cardano ecosystem and beyond. It’s a must-watch for anyone interested in how Web3 is transforming business and governance at scale.

Watch live on YouTube: Web3 in Focus – Session 2

If you missed Session 1, you can still catch up and hear insights from the foundational conversation that kicked off the series: Watch the replay: Web3 in Focus – Session 1

Rare Evo

The Intersect team is heading to Rare Dev & Governance Day on August 7 at Topgolf, Las Vegas! Join us for a full day of lightning talks, workshops, and governance discussions—plus some networking and golf to wrap it all up. It all kicks off with a relaxed social evening on August 6. Register here: https://lu.ma/52rggq6i


Enterprise membership spotlight: Nucast

Nucast is pioneering decentralized video streaming and content ownership on the Cardano blockchain. Through its NFT-powered platform, users gain not only access but also ownership of the content itself via “FilmNFTs,” a concept that transcends traditional media licensing.

Earlier this year, Nucast helped lead the CardanoCodex Hackathon series across India, activating over 5,000 developers. From NFT-based ticketing to on-chain voting for live events, their tools are already enabling real-world adoption.

Nucast’s work aligns with Intersect’s mission to support scalable, creator-first infrastructure on the Cardano blockchain. Their collaborations with the Cardano Foundation, EMURGO, and others demonstrate their commitment to expanding both technical innovation and developer reach across emerging markets.

The governance tools working group continues to meet weekly to accommodate participants from different time zones. The Cardano Govtool Consortium, supported by the working group, continues to provide context and address questions regarding the budget information action submitted on-chain last week. There is currently positive support for the info action with 1.79B ‘Yes’ votes (equal to over 37%). The governance action will expire next Saturday, August 2nd.

Questions that have been asked so far about the info action are being collected here.

Since the end of June, the contracts to maintain Govtool have expired. Still, the builders who have submitted the info action continue to ensure Govtool remains up and running and address any priority zero issues. This week, they have been focusing on fixing a critical issue related to displaying governance actions on the live voting page. A fix should be released by EoW.

Alongside continuing the maintenance work, efforts to refine the next steps continue. You are welcome to participate in the discussions here.

Our newest project spotlight has arrived! Please take a few minutes to learn more about Socious and its impact within the Cardano ecosystem. Watch Here: Project Spotlight: Socious 

The ‘Open Source Cowboys Podcast’ has returned and will carry forward on a monthly cadence. At the end of July, we feature a session with Pat Sheridan from Modus Create and Tweag. Check in with Christian and Pat as they dig into: 1) Open Source Program Offices, 2) Inflection Point for Cardano for market adoption, 3) Functional programming at scale, 4) AI's role in developer onboarding. This month’s podcast drops on July 31. Get a preview here. 

Are you looking to stay further up-to-date with open source at Intersect? Make sure that you are following @IntersectOSO on X (formerly Twitter) and subscribed to @OSOIntersectMBO on YouTube.

And finally, we’re hiring: People & Culture Lead

Intersect is seeking a People & Culture Lead to help us build a thriving, values-driven team and enhance our capacity to serve Cardano’s community.

This role will focus on the upcoming transition of consultants through open recruitment, nurturing our culture, supporting career progression and professional development, and helping our staff do their best work. You’ll work closely with leadership to design people practices that align with Intersect’s mission and our servant-leadership ethos, empowering our members rather than directing them.

• HR experience with a passion for culture building
• Skilled in recruitment, career development, and team wellbeing
• Significant advantage: understanding of Cardano and decentralized communities

Apply now and help shape the future of Intersect.

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. Additionally, visit the Intersect website for the latest news, updates, and roadmap information.

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

Your voice helps shape the future of Cardano governance.