The third session of the Cardano budget process open discussions commenced with a welcome to all participants. The session featured a special presentation from Lorenzo Bruno of the Product Committee, who provided an overview of the committee's work and strategic direction for 2025. The meeting began with a set of ground rules to ensure a productive and structured discussion, emphasizing a single speaker at a time, the use of a question prefix in the chat for inquiries, and a structured approach to follow-up questions. The session was scheduled for one hour, with a breakdown of ten minutes for opening remarks, up to twenty minutes for the presentation, forty-five minutes for audience questions, and five minutes for closing and next steps.
Lorenzo’s presentation covered the proposed goals for Cardano in 2025, structured around four broad topics: increasing usage, governance, business as usual, and long-term vision. The primary goal identified was to drive initiatives that bring developers and users to Cardano, supported by making it easier to build on Cardano, ensuring competitiveness, establishing clear funding mechanisms, and enhancing marketing and recognition efforts.
The governance section of the roadmap emphasized the importance of expanding participation, stabilizing governance systems, refining protocol tooling, and improving education and accessibility to governance mechanisms. The business-as-usual section focused on maintaining Cardano’s core infrastructure, supporting its community, and diversifying contributors to the ecosystem’s development. The long-term vision component proposed the development of a structured and open process for defining Cardano’s future beyond the age of Voltaire.
Following the presentation, a Q&A session was held. Key discussions included alignment with the Cardano 2.0 vision, integration of partner chains into the funding model, scalability considerations, and alternative funding sources beyond the treasury. The need for a structured funding ecosystem was highlighted, with suggestions for engaging venture capital, enterprise partnerships, and licensing opportunities to ensure financial sustainability.
The conversation also covered concerns about transparency and participation in governance, with an emphasis on maintaining open and accessible decision-making processes. The timeline for implementing these goals was discussed, with a focus on iterative refinement and ongoing adjustments based on community feedback. Participants were encouraged to engage with the working groups relevant to their interests to contribute to the development of detailed budget allocations and strategic initiatives.
Additional topics included discussions on the Cardano Development Coalition, a group of 20+ companies working to provide reliable and high-quality development contributions to the ecosystem. While some concerns were raised about transparency, assurances were given that the coalition aims to operate in an open and community-driven manner.
As the session wrapped up, upcoming meetings were announced, including an AMA session on Saturday, a technical steering committee presentation on Tuesday, and additional committee presentations throughout November and December. Resources for reviewing past discussions and accessing presentation materials were shared, reinforcing the commitment to transparency and community involvement in the budget process.
Participants were encouraged to continue engaging in the process, as the Cardano budget is a collaborative effort requiring input from all stakeholders. The session concluded with a commitment to further refining the budget process and ensuring that all voices in the ecosystem are heard and considered.
