Cardano’s 2027 budget proposal would let funding stewards seek grants too

Cardano's proposed 2027 budget process would allow three institutions to shape how funding requests are assessed while remaining eligible to apply for grants themselves, according to a framework published by Intersect on Oct. 28.

The Cardano Ecosystem Budget Process, or CEBP, would assign stewardship roles to Intersect, PRAGMA, and the Cardano Foundation across six spending domains. Each steward would develop domain strategy, recommend budget caps, and define how applications are collected and assessed. Delegated representatives, or DReps, would retain final approval over all budget distributions and treasury withdrawals.

The stewards' influence would come through the assessment process that shapes those votes. A steward could submit proposals itself or support others in bringing them to an on-chain vote. The framework allows stewards to receive funding from their own domain, provided that funding is transparently declared and accompanied by safeguards, though any award still requires DRep approval.

An unspecified seventh domain called Open Contributions would have no steward. Any proposer could approach DReps directly without going through a steward. The framework leaves that route's allocation unspecified, along with common procedures for assessing steward-related funding and details on conflict resolution.

Intersect presented the approach as a response to DReps facing numerous hard-to-compare requests without sufficient expert guidance. Common presentation standards and domain expertise could simplify those decisions.

Intersect said feedback remained open ahead of a tentative Nov. 10 submission of the overall concept. The process would run as a trial in 2027 only if DReps approve. Intersect said direct on-chain enforcement of the framework is unavailable and would rely on DReps making a social commitment to follow the process. DReps would retain the ability to reject a domain plan or move to another model.

The framework sets a goal of at least 51% DRep support for the concept and at least 60% DRep support for each domain's stewardship mandate. On Oct. 17, Intersect reported 25 vendor smart contracts worth 204,639,279 ADA from the 2026 budget cycle.