Last week Marek (@stakenuts) joined Cardano over Coffee (@coc_space) to answer the community's questions about moving Blockfrost into a not-for-profit the ecosystem owns: → Why now? → What changes for builders? → How does it stays sustainable? → Why the access layer has to be decentralized? The vote is live 👇 momentum.cardano.iog.io/prop…

Cardano Upgrades just crossed the DRep approval threshold. Upgrades include: 1. CIP-159 Account Address Enhancement 2. Multi-Asset Treasury CIP 3. Native Babel Fees

Great session with the team yesterday on the Cardano Upgrades proposal — three workstreams that unlock real utility: 1️⃣ Enhanced Account Addresses — semi-Ethereum-like accounts, opening the door to microfees and new use cases 2️⃣ Multi-Asset Treasury — project funding in stable currencies for better budgeting and planning 3️⃣ Babel Fees — bridge to Cardano and transact in your native currency, seamlessly Listen to the full session here 👇 @IOGroup

Babel Fees could bring 2.5M+ additional monthly transactions to Cardano. Pay fees in any token. Lower the barrier. Grow the chain. Vote for Cardano Upgrades 🗳️ iog.io/news/three-cardano-ca… @IOGroup

Back and bringing you more proposers sharing proposals! Let's learn more about the IO Cardano Upgrades proposal today! nitter.net/i/spaces/1OGwblraDDNKB

In 30 mins from now I'll be discussing Cardano Upgrades: - Enhanced Account Addresses - Multi-Asset Treasury - Babel Fees Come join and listen to the discussion, hosted by Christina Gianelloni from BlinkLabs - Enchances Account Addresses In 30 mins from now I'll be discussing Cardano Upgrades:Tr

Security, stability, and growth are connected. As Cardano enters its next phase, Ensurable Systems outlines three practical proposals to strengthen infrastructure, improve assurance, and support long-term resilience. Read more: bit.ly/ESSTAG

It increasingly feels like Cardano is absorbing parts of Ethereum’s model. In other words, it continues refining its own structural strengths while integrating key aspects of Ethereum’s design. 1. CNT's limitations are addressed by CIP-113's proposed programmable token model, which draws on ERC-20 and ERC-3643. 2. EUTxO's constraints would be addressed via CIP-159, aligning more closely with Ethereum's account model. As a result, Cardano can preserve its architectural advantages while also leveraging Ethereum’s strengths. I think from a builder’s perspective, it’s becoming a very compelling choice.

2/ CIP-159 Account Address Enhancement (₳7.07M) The minUTxOValue floor blocks wallets from charging fees under ~1 ADA. The average tx fee is ~0.39 ADA — the maths don't work. Lift it and you unlock micro-fees, cheaper batchers, and the account primitives L2s like Midgard need

This is the proposal Cardano needs. → CIP-159: micro-fees below 1 ADA - wallets and DEXs can finally compete on price → CPS-23: multi-asset treasury - stablecoins held alongside ADA, funding insulated from volatility → Babel Fees: pay transaction fees in any native asset (USDCx, BTC, $LILY) - no ADA detour for new users ₳ 13.1M total, milestone-gated, Q3 2026 → Q2 2027. Three of the most-needed capabilities, bundled, with proper governance gates. Vote yes by May 24. This is how a chain matures. iog.io/news/three-cardano-ca… #Cardano #CIP159 #BabelFees

Most chain upgrades are invisible to users. These three aren't. Cardano Upgrades is adding micro-fee support for wallets and DeFi apps, a mechanism for the treasury to hold stable-value assets, and the ability to pay transaction fees in any native asset. Three new reasons for developers to build here — and for more adoption to follow! @IOGroup Read the plan and vote to make it happen ↓ iog.io/news/three-cardano-ca…

The team at @ensurablesys have shared their view. DReps: this is one to review closely. IO: Cardano Upgrades targets: • Wallet economics • Treasury stability • Onboarding friction Through CIP-159, Multi-Asset Treasury, and Babel Fees. The proposal outlines scope, milestones, and delivery approach. Read the full rationale: ensurable.systems/f/why-were…

4/ Babel Fees (₳3.68M) Bridge in BTC. Hold USDC. Transact immediately. Providers compete to fulfil your tx by adding ADA. SPOs still get paid in ADA. You never touch a DEX. The global fee abstraction TAM is $1–2B/year. Cardano is uniquely placed to capture it.

1/ Right now on Cardano: • Wallets can't profitably charge fees • The Treasury swings with ADA's price • New users must buy ADA to do anything IO: Cardano Upgrades fixes all 3 for ₳13.1M. We're proud to be @IOGroup's delivery partner. DReps — vote Yes by May 24.

I voted YES on IO: Cardano Upgrades I believe that in order to get Cardano to a competitive position we need these essential upgrades to support Leios and scaling. The account improvements, multi-asset treasury, and Babel Fees will make the network more usable for everyone

Being able to pay gas fees with $BTC on Cardano might not seem like a big deal at first, but compared to other chains, the approach is fundamentally different. If you look at Ethereum, paying gas with tokens usually involves something like a paymaster contract. That means the dApp has to integrate specific contracts and infrastructure to support it. This adds complexity, creates dependencies on certain implementations, and introduces potential risks like contract vulnerabilities or funds being exposed. Most chains handle token-based gas payments this way. Cardano, on the other hand, is designed to support this at the protocol level through mechanisms like Babel fees. There’s no need to deploy special contracts or integrate additional infrastructure. It can handled at the tx construction stage, and you can pay fees in tokens other than $ADA without relying on specific operators or contracts. As a result, Bitcoin holders could potentially pay gas in $BTC on Cardano, without needing to hold or top up $ADA, and manage their assets in a much more seamless way. Take it a step further, and BTC holders might end up using DeFi on Cardano without even realizing it, that’s how seamless the UX could get. This isn’t just a feature difference. It’s a fundamentally different design approach. I think this is one of the reasons why Cardano is well suited for Bitcoin DeFi.

Top 2 Pogun — largest near-term demand impact by far. The credit market demand could offset some of the Treasury’s sell pressure. And it’s a loan. Cardano Upgrades — CIP-159 is critical for microfees which enable better business models.

Hydra is Cardano’s sharpest weapon in competing with other ecosystems - especially in today’s rapidly growing markets for real time and high frequency applications. Today, most developers building: • DeFi • Gaming • Prediction Markets • AI Agent Payments • Consumer Payment Systems automatically remove Cardano from their shortlist before even seriously evaluating the technology. Not because Cardano lacks vision. But because modern dApps demand highly optimized user experiences: - Sub-second finality - Near-zero fees - High throughput - Real-time interaction And this is exactly why Hydra matters. After nearly two years of researching, building, and experimenting with Hydra alongside my team, I truly believe Hydra is one of the most important technologies for Cardano’s future. Not because it is “just another scaling solution.” But because Hydra has the potential to completely redefine what can actually be built on Cardano. Hydra is not just a TPS story. Hydra is the key to unlocking entirely new categories of applications for Cardano - applications that are extremely difficult to build competitively on L1 alone. (We already have a fully functional product currently in testing, and we hope to demonstrate this to the community very soon.) 🙌 That is why I want people to support this proposal from the Hydra team at IOG. Because this proposal is not simply about funding infrastructure. It is about creating a real path for Cardano toward: • A production-ready L2 ecosystem • Attracting developers • Expanding consumer-facing applications • And generating measurable on-chain economic activity As a builder actively developing on Hydra, I can say this very clearly: Hydra is entering the stage where builders are beginning to ship real products. This is an extremely important moment. If Cardano wants to compete for the next generation of applications, we cannot afford to simply wait for scaling narratives until 2027. We need real usage, real users, and real feedback loops starting now. That is why I believe supporting the next phase of Hydra is critically important for the long-term growth of the Cardano ecosystem ! @sharan_konerira

Exactly. For those asking (rightly so) — what about the other attempts at Babel Fees and why is this one in Cardano Upgrades different? It's built on the upcoming (and highly anticipated) new ledger primitive Nested Transactions, which is a game changer. It enables: → Seamless UX → An open, permissionless protocol → Scalability Setting Cardano up for the long term. Setting Cardano up for the long term

Application-layer solutions and protocol-level implementations solve the same problem in very different ways. An application-layer solution proves that something is possible, but it does not guarantee that it is usable, scalable, or widely adoptable. Protocol-level support is about standardization, interoperability, and UX, things that individual dApps cannot solve on their own.