June 2nd, 2025 Budget Comm Minutes
Last updated
Last updated
Name
Role
KrissBaird
Voting Member, IOG, Catalyst
Kristijan Kowalsky
Voting Member, Tweag
Rita Mistry
Voting Member, Cardano Foundation.
Shunsuke Murasaki
Voting Member, Mentor, Emurgo
Megan Hess
Voting Member, WADA
Jack Briggs
Interim Executive Director, Intersect
Dave Dionisio
Observer
Lloyd Duhon
Budget Secretary
Nicolas Cerny
Observer, Cardano Foundation Staff
Marc Gorman
Program Manager Budget Task Force
Transcript:
Updates on Valencia Discussions and Smart Contract Implementation: Report on legal and contracting progress, the pragmatic approach to smart contract rollout (including custodian use and pilot phase), and the new milestone review process.
Strategy for Budget Info Action and DREP Engagement: Discussion on current voting progress, challenges in DREP participation, the upcoming poll on treasury withdrawal options, and calls for external communication support.
Future Process Planning and Committee Operations: Exploration of leveraging existing tools (Catalyst's milestone module), planning for the 2026 retrospective, and updates on the ongoing chair election.
Topic
Discussion
Action Items
Chair Election Update
Lloyd Duhon provided an update on the chair application process, noting a previous issue with the application. The process is expected to be working by today (June 2nd) and will remain open until Wednesday, with voting opening thereafter. Members are encouraged to vote before next Monday's meeting.
Members interested in the chair seat to apply by Wednesday and vote before next Monday's meeting.
Valencia Meeting Insights (Contracting & Legal)
Mark Gorman provided an update from the Valencia meeting, which focused on finalizing legal and contracting details for Intersect's administrator role. Discussions included jurisdiction, tax implications, updating boilerplate contracts, and developing KYB/KYC and sanctions policies.
Milestone Review & Audit Processes
Discussions were held on defining the milestone review process, delivery assurance, and clarifying what constitutes an audit versus delivery assurance under the constitution. Updates were made to integrate this language into contracts.
Smart Contract Rollout Strategy
Mark Gorman and Jack Briggs clarified that the smart contract tool likely won't be fully ready for Day 1, necessitating an interim custodian-based approach. A pilot program for the smart contract will involve five initial proposals, alongside a bug bounty. Milestone zero payments will be made via traditional methods initially to avoid funding delays, with migration to smart contracts planned for 6-9 months.
Vendors to re-evaluate milestones for "milestone zero" payments.
Oversight Committee & Key Holders
Jack Briggs explained the concept of an oversight committee with five entities (including Intersect) to prevent unilateral decisions and reinforce decentralization. The core issue of liability for key holders (e.g., pausing payments) was a significant challenge, leading to a simplification of the smart contract framework.
Leveraging Catalyst's Milestone Module
Kriss Baird suggested using Catalyst's existing statement of milestones module as a short-term solution for public visibility of milestones, given its established framework. This could avoid duplication while the smart contract matures.
Kriss Baird to set up a meeting with Jack Briggs to explore leveraging Catalyst's milestone module. <br> Lloyd Duhon to be looped into the discussion regarding the milestone module.
Budget Info Action Support Comms
Jack Briggs requested outward communication support from Emergo, CF, IOG, and Catalyst via their X (Twitter) accounts to promote the budget info action, noting Intersect's limited reach. He offered to provide a one-pager with key messages and links.
Mark Gorman to provide the DREP data dashboard to the Budget Committee. <br> Jack Briggs to provide a "cheat sheet" with key messages and links for external communications. <br> All committee members and relevant entities (Emergo, CF, IOG, Catalyst) to promote the budget info action on X and other channels.
DREP Voting & Engagement Challenges
Discussion revolved around the challenge of getting DREPs off the sidelines to vote. Lloyd Duhon highlighted that only a small percentage of ADA voted on the previous NCL, indicating a need for broader DREP engagement beyond vocal X users.
Treasury Withdrawal Strategy Poll
Jack Briggs is waiting for Adam Dean's feedback to launch a poll on the treasury withdrawal strategy, aiming for it to be live this coming weekend. The poll presents five options for withdrawal distribution, with Intersect's recommendation being five withdrawals in 2025 followed by another five in early November.
DREP Engagement & Vote Whipping
Kristijan Kowalsky suggested a more coordinated approach to DREP engagement beyond general outreach, proposing a participation tracker to target specific DREPs. Jack Briggs confirmed Intersect has such a dashboard and process (used for NCL and Constitution votes) and offered to share it with the group, emphasizing the need for lobbying guidelines.
Mark Gorman to share the DREP voting dashboard with the Budget Committee. <br> Budget Committee to establish guidelines for DREP lobbying/outreach.
Off-chain vs. On-chain Processes
Lloyd Duhon reiterated the critical importance of respecting off-chain processes that lead to on-chain votes, as the limited capabilities of on-chain voting can cause friction if off-chain work is disregarded.
Future Budget Process & Retrospective
Jack Briggs encouraged the group to consider what the budget process should look like next time, questioning whether Intersect should continue its coordination role. Rita Mistry and Chris Baird are already working on a retrospective framework to gather feedback from DREPs.
Rita Mistry and Chris Baird to schedule a planning meeting with Lloyd Duhon to structure the 2026 retrospective in ClickUp.
Constitutional Argument for Treasury Withdrawal Info Action
Dave Dionisio inquired about a potential constitutional argument for a dedicated treasury withdrawal info action. Jack Briggs explained it exists as a future option but would add confusion and delay this cycle, preferring to proceed with direct withdrawal governance actions after the poll results.
Meeting Wrap-up & Next Steps
Lloyd Duhon thanked attendees and noted that policies discussed in Valencia will be reviewed in upcoming catch-up sessions (Wednesday and Friday). The chair application is working, and elections will begin soon.
Relevant Valencia policies to be prepared for review at Wednesday and Friday catch-up sessions.