Welcome to Intersect’s Development Update #87. This week marks the close of voting in the 2025 Committee Elections, with results expected on November 14. Alongside this, work continues to refine the 2026 Budget Process Framework in collaboration with ecosystem stakeholders, and progress is being made on the Executive Director recruitment.

As the community prepares for the Cardano Summit 2025 and the Annual Member Meeting, updates from across committees, events, and governance initiatives highlight the continued growth and coordination driving Cardano forward.

The voting phase for the committee elections has officially closed today. Over the past weeks, members have had the opportunity to cast their votes to elect representatives for the eight Intersect committees, each playing a vital role in shaping the future of our ecosystem. There’s been excellent engagement throughout this process. Two hundred ninety-three (293) members participated in the vote, reflecting a growing sense of ownership and collaboration in the community.

With the voting phase now complete, the audit phase begins, conducted by the DQuadrant team. This step is essential to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the results.

The official election results will be published on November 14, marking the start of a new chapter for the committees and the critical work ahead. Thank you to everyone who participated. Your involvement continues to strengthen your community and the foundations of decentralized governance.



Cardano Summit 2025 is on the horizon, and we’re excited to unite the global community once again. Intersect will be on-site with a dedicated booth, highlighting key developments, governance initiatives, and community-driven progress across the ecosystem.

We invite all Intersect members to stop by the booth, meet the team, engage in conversations, and explore how you can contribute to Cardano’s open-source and governance journey.

Join our interim executive director for a keynote on November 12th from 4:30 pm CET for an overview of what Intersect has been up to over this past year and what’s on the horizon.

For our Enterprise Members, we are offering on-site interview opportunities at the Intersect booth to showcase your organisation, products, and contributions to the Cardano ecosystem. If you are interested in participating, please email members@intersectmbo.org



Join Tex and Christian at the Cardano Summit next week to learn about the future of Intersect’s Open Source Office in their lunch and learn Masterclass on Day Zero. We’ll also discuss the Paid Open Source Model, Open Source Sustainability, and treating open source as public infrastructure in Cardano.

Not attending in person? The Cardano Summit 2025 will be live-streamed on Intersect’s official YouTube channel, so the global community can still be part of the experience. We look forward to seeing you,  whether at the booth or online!

As part of the ongoing feedback process for the 2026 Budget Process proposal, Intersect continues to engage directly with key ecosystem stakeholders to gather input on refining and improving the budget process.

If you want to play a direct role in shaping Cardano’s budget, this is your opportunity to get involved and share your perspective.

Session: Building a Better Budget: How Cardano’s 2026 Framework Strengthens Governance and Community Alignment

When: Tuesday, November 11 · 17:00 – 18:00
Where: 3rd Floor, Cardano Summit (Day 0)
Speakers: Kristijan Kowalsky, Lloyd Duhon, Simo Simovic, and Rita Mistry

Join us to learn more about how the 2026 Budget Framework is being shaped, and how your voice can help guide the next phase of Cardano’s governance evolution.

The member and DRep polls for the Executive Director recruitment process have now closed. A shortlist of candidates representing a diverse range of skills, experiences, and perspectives has been confirmed and will advance to the next stage of panel interviews.

These interviews will involve Intersect staff, the Governing Board, and the Steering Committee, ensuring a transparent and inclusive process that reflects both community input and organizational needs.

This phase marks an important milestone in Intersect’s transition toward appointing a permanent Executive Director, following several months of open consultation and participation across the membership.

Read the complete statement and follow future updates on the Knowledge Base.

This week, the Civics Committee reviewed ongoing governance initiatives and prepared for the upcoming Cardano Summit. The committee also hosted an X Space on CIP-149, highlighting the 5,000 ada grants available to wallets, SDKs, and governance tools implementing optional DRep compensation, an effort to increase developer awareness and adoption. Listen back here.

Within the working groups, progress continued across several fronts. The Constitutional Amendment Process (CAP) Working Group is drafting its requirements document, which will form the foundation for a community-driven amendment framework to be showcased during the Day Zero workshop at the Cardano Summit (10:00–11:00, Berlin). The Governance Health Working Group has finalised its KPI framework (v1.0) and discussed how “Always Abstain” delegations should be reflected in participation metrics. Meanwhile, the Governance Education Working Group completed its charter and milestones and began cataloguing governance resources using a new filtering framework to support upcoming validation workshops.

Civics closed the week with steady progress across governance education, participation metrics, and constitutional development. Follow Civics on X for future discussions and updates.

Cardano marketing pulse, survey insights now live

The Growth and Marketing Committee (GMC) has published the results of its first ecosystem-wide marketing survey, a snapshot of how builders, founders, and advocates view Cardano’s current positioning and future priorities.

The findings highlight the need for greater alignment, support for builders, and a renewed focus on DeFi liquidity and storytelling as we head toward the 2026 budget cycle. This work marks the first step toward a Marketing White Paper for 2026, aligning short-term activity with Cardano’s longer-term 2030 vision. Read the survey summary here.

Join us for the Annual Membership Meeting!

Mark your calendars, the Annual Member Meeting is happening on November 29! This year’s event will be entirely virtual, bringing the global community together to celebrate what we’ve achieved and look ahead to what’s next.

To allow our global membership to participate and connect, we have partnered with Clay Nation, which has created an incredible virtual environment where members can meet, discuss, connect, and celebrate together our shared 2025 achievements. If you’d like a sneak peek, join next week’s Town Hall to explore it in advance.

While the main event will be virtual, we’re also planning a few in-person satellite gatherings around the world.

• Nairobi - Register here
• Japan - Register here
• Sri Lanka - Register here
• London - Register here

Intersect members can now create their very own @claymates avatar and mint it as an NFT! The two avatars above are some early creations from @Josi_sndnc and @SCATDAO! Thank you for sharing them! With so many possibilities, why not create yours, then share the results with us on our X channel!

How to get started:

1. Go to your account in the members area and click “Create your own avatar.”
2. Choose carefully from the available options; once your avatar is created, it can’t be changed.
3. Head to the Badges section to download the image or mint it as an NFT.

We can’t wait to see the avatars you create, and to come together, virtually and in person, to celebrate another great year with the community!

As we approach the end of the year, we want to thank you for being part of Intersect and invite you to take part in our annual member survey. Your feedback is essential in helping us understand what’s working well, what could be improved, and how we can make Intersect even more valuable for our members. - [Complete the survey here]

We understand that your time is valuable, and the survey does take some time to complete. As a thank you for completing it, you’ll receive a participation badge in the Intersect Members area and will be able to claim a free membership renewal for next year.

You have until Friday, 14 November, to complete the survey, so don’t miss the chance to share your views and help shape the direction of Intersect.

The Cardano in Oceania team has secured some tickets for the Cardano community to attend this year’s Australian Crypto Convention (the Southern Hemisphere’s largest crypto event) in Sydney on November 22-23. 

Peter Horsfall will be speaking at the convention to provide an update on Cardano’s progress since last year’s event, where Charles Hoskinson was interviewed and the team hosted an Intersect booth. 

If you can make it to Sydney and would like a ticket, please contact Phil Lewis on X at @phillewisit or via email at phil.lewis@vaka.consulting. Ticket numbers are limited, be quick.

Town Hall November
Mark your calendars, the next Intersect Town Hall will be held on Wednesday, November 26, at 12:00 UTC and streamed live on YouTube, X, and LinkedIn.

Cardano Hackathon Asia 2025,  Bengaluru is here!

Get ready! Cardano Hackathon Asia 2025 is happening on November 29-30  at The Den, Bengaluru. Developers, builders, and innovators from across Asia will come together to build on Cardano, compete, collaborate, and bring real-world utility to Web3.

Venue: The Den, Bengaluru
Dates: November 29–30, 2025
Prize Pool: $65,000
More details & registration: Hackathon Link

This hackathon aims to empower developers, foster innovation, and accelerate Cardano’s adoption across Asia.



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.