Core Infrastructure Roadmap Items

For Core/Research Roadmap Proposal 2025 DRep/CC socialization

1

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Implementation Timeline (TBC with item champ)

LSM-2: LSM Integration

Dependency (any) completed

Description of dependencies (if any)

Q1 2025

Project bootstrap

Description

Q2 2025

Deliverable 3

Description

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Q4 2025

Deliverable 2

Description

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Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Mainnet Integration

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(in case final milestone not expected by EOY 2025

Problem Statement: (Addresses risk)

Description: What is the item description?

Benefit: If implemented, what would the benefit be to the audience (dRep or Cardano Community?)

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Dependencies: What projects need to be done/at what stage for this proposal to begin?

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2025 Deliverable: What is expected to be delivered in 2025, keeping in mind some projects are multi-year?

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System Readiness Level (Highlight the current state and target SRL of this proposal)

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): what is the expected FTE (full-time equivalent) manpower required to work on this proposal for budget proposal 2025?

More Information: (link to Knowledge Base/proposal spreadsheet here)

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CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

Template for proposal

2

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Implementation Timeline

LSM - Reduce Node Memory

Problem Statement: (Addresses risk) SPO node memory use exceeds available resources or increases SPO and other operator costs to unacceptable levels.

Description: This is a proposal to move the UTxO set and other data structures on disk to reduce the memory required to run a node. It’s broken into 3 phases, to move UTxO on-disk using LMDB which is currently in progress, This phase cannot be used on relays or block producing nodes. Phase 2 is to migrate LMDB to the custom LSM library developed by well-typed. Phase 3 is to identify other parts of ledger state that can be migrated to reduce memory further.

Benefit: If implemented, this will enable Cardano to reach Bitcoin scale in terms of the number of users & wallets and the size of the UTxO set. At the same time SPOs nodes and full node wallets will be able to function on commodity hardware, including cheap cloud instances.

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Dependencies: Completion of LSM libraries by supplier Well-Typed

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2025 Deliverable: The integration of the new backend with the existing consensus layer of the node;

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System Readiness Level

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Estimated Effort: 6 FTE

More Information: Knowledge Base

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LMDB UTxO on disk implementation

On-disk backend for edge nodes

ped.

Q4 2024

LSM Migration

Allows SPOs to move UTxO on disk with fast SSDs

Q2 2025

Other Structures

Identify other large structures in ledger that could move on-disk, such as delegation maps to reduce memory further

Q4 2025

Product Committee Goal

CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

3

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Implementation Timeline

OBL-1: Ouroboros Leios

Multi-node simulations�Interactive web-based simulators, community tools, preliminary techno-economic analyses

Q1 2025

Leios specification

Formal definition of Leios, conformance tests, validation of simulations

Q2 2025

Q4 2025

Cardano Improvement Proposal

Specification, techno-economic analyses, simulation results

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Problem Statement: The Cardano mainnet occasionally experiences congestion where a “backlog” of transactions accumulate, waiting a long time to be included in the next blocks. Sometimes the block utilization peaks above 90% for an extended period of time. Emerging use cases and application deployments promise to accelerate the need for high throughput on Cardano.

Description: Whereas in a classical blockchain the block bodies directly contain transactions, in Leios the block bodies can also contain references to Endorser Blocks which themselves contain references to so-called Input Blocks containing the actual transactions. Those references are certified through a voting mechanism that guarantees a majority of validators agree on the content of Endorser Blocks.

Benefit: Increase transaction throughput on Cardano mainnet by orders of magnitude. Dapps/Dexes can batch transactions into Input Blocks. Fine-grained rewards for SPOs.

Dependencies: None.

2025 Deliverable: Implement multi-node simulations that are formally verified to be faithful to the Leios protocol; develop and release to the community the analysis and visualization tools to quantify Leios behavior and performance; estimate Leios techno-economics and quantify Leios throughput.

System Readiness Level

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): “medium”

CPS/CIP Link: CPS-????

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

Prototype implementation

SRL 6 prototype implementation in a realistic environment

Go/No-Go Decision

Determine whether to advance Leios to higher-level SRLs and to begin implementation for production.

4

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MTH-1: Mithril

Decentralized Signature diffusion Prototype

CIP-0137

Q1 2025

Decentralized Signature diffusion mainnet

CIP-0137

Q2 2025

Incentive Model

Developing an incentive model to ensure protocol sustainability

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Q4 2025

Decentralized Signer registration Prototype

Remove the need for a centralized entitled to manage the protocol

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Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Mithril V1 mainnet

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(in case final milestone not expected by EOY 2025

Problem Statement: Accessing the Cardano blockchain securely requires running a resource-intensive full node, which not all users can afford or prefer to do. This limits accessibility and decentralization, pushing many users to rely on centralized intermediaries to interact with the blockchain.

Description: Mithril enables secure, decentralized access to blockchain data without requiring a full node. It is a protocol that works alongside the Cardano blockchain, executed by stake pool operators

Benefit:

• Faster bootstrapping and sync times for full node applications,
• Secure and efficient access for light clients such as light wallets and mobile apps,
• Enhanced L2 protocols (like Hydra, partner chains, and bridges),
• and enabling Cardano through scaling protocols such as Peras and Leios.

Dependencies:

• Cardano’s network layer (Networking team)
• Mini-protocols for Mithril communication (TxPipe and Cardano Node teams)

2025 Deliverable:

• Decentralized signature diffusion
• Decentralized Signer registration
• Incentive Model

System Readiness Level

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 6.5FTE

More Information: https://mithril.network/doc/

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CPS/CIP Link: CIP-0137

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

5

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Implementation Timeline

BAB-1: Babel Fees

Dependency (any) completed

Work on currently planned preceding hardforks

Q1 2025

Project bootstrap

- Production-ready Agda spec with completed proofs + integration of other planned changes�- Ledger implementation

Q2 2025

Deliverable 3

Mainnet Integration

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Q4 2025

Deliverable 2

- Iteration on bootstrap deliverables�- Integration with the rest of the node

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Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Mainnet Integration

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(in case final milestone not expected by EOY 2025

Problem Statement: Users who do not hold Ada are not able to easily interact with the Cardano blockchain at this time because they cannot pay transaction fees, supply min-UTxO Ada for each UTxO, or provide collateral for engagement with scripts. Support is needed to allow such users to seamlessly use non-Ada tokens for those purposes.

Description: We propose implementing Nested Transactions, a change to the current ledger design to support a specific kind of transaction batching. This design supports swap intents, by allowing individual transactions in a batch to be unbalanced, but the full batch itself must be balanced. We interpret Babel fees as swap intent. We include several related ledger changes for the purpose of demonstrating the extensibility of this framework to support additional kinds of intents, inclusion of which in the production implementation is optional.

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Benefit: If implemented, this feature will (1) bring in Ada-less users, (2) make multi-user, multi-UTxO asset swaps cheaper, faster, and with less contention (3) be a step towards supporting arbitrary intents

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Dependencies: (1) finish work on currently planned preceding hardforks (2) finalize any other features planned for the HF which will include Nested Transactions

2025 Deliverable: Integration of this feature into mainnet

System Readiness Level: prototype is available with test cases, proofs and Agda formal specification

Estimated Effort (for 2025): what is the expected FTE (full-time equivalent) manpower required to work on this proposal for budget proposal 2025?

More Information: link

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CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

6

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Implementation Timeline

OBP-1: Ouroboros Peras

SRL 6

System/subsystem model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment

Q1 2025

SRL 7

System prototype demonstration in the target environment

Q2 2025

SRL 9

Actual system proven through successful mission operations

Q4 2025

SRL 8

Actual system completed and qualified through test and demonstration

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Mainnet Integration

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Problem Statement: Existing and emerging Cardano use cases would greatly benefit from faster "settlement" or "finality" of transactions. Moreover, use cases like Partner Chains are hampered or blocked by not having transaction settlement within minutes of including of a transaction in a block.

Description: Peras modifies the chain-selection rule to include the “boosting” of the dominant chain's blocks by a quorum of votes from periodic randomly-selected voting committees. It modifies the chain-selection rule, the CDDL of the block body, and the creation, transport, and verification of votes and the certificates that witness a quorum of votes. It adds several new protocol parameters.

Benefit: Peras reduces settlement time in the face of adversarial activity by orders of magnitude without weakening the security. It is compatible with Leios and Genesis, and does burden node resources.

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Dependencies: None

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2025 Deliverable: Initially, a concrete plan to add Peras support to the Cardano node. Depending on the result of that plan, some part of implementation may also be done.

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System Readiness Level

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 5 FTE

More Information: Knowledge Base

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CPS/CIP Link: CPS-0017, CIP-????

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

7

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Implementation Timeline

HYD-1: Hydra

Community support

Description of dependencies (if any)

Q1 2025

V1 delivered + audit start

Audit on-chain code

Q2 2025

Continued work

Feasibility/prototyping + community support

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Q4 2025

Feasibility work

Light node work, interoperability protocol between Hydra heads, Midgard and other eUTxO L2s

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Extension + interoperability

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Mobile + browser node, interoperability, experimental features

Problem Statement: The decentralization and security of Cardano relies on tradeoffs that introduce friction points for developers and users, like throughput restrictions, finality time, transaction costs and growing storage requirements for SPOs.

Description: Hydra is a L2 scaling solution, an isomorphic multi-party state channel. This enables a fixed set of people to create an off-chain ledger with custom parameters, execute transactions and smart contracts, and only settle agreed upon states, to L1, incrementally and upon closure.

Benefit: Hydra heads allow effectively unlimited scaling, and the reduction/removal of friction points that currently restrict adoption, like transaction fees, settlement times etc. Hydra heads benefit from the properties of the Cardano ledger, while allowing customization to application specific requirements.

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Dependencies: We’re good to go.

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2025 Deliverable: Hydra head version 1 + audit, ecosystem development support for Gummiworm, Hydrozoa, and other applications to drive adoption, including business development.

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System Readiness Level: Currently SRL 6

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 8 FTE

More Information: https://Hydra.Family/

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CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

8

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SPI-1: Revised Stake Pool Incentive Scheme

Implementation Timeline

Problem Statement: Smaller stake pool operators, especially those with single pools, are unable to compete with larger, especially multi-pool operations. This reduces diversity and choice, making it harder for new pools to enter the Cardano ecosystem.

Description: Several proposals have been made to adjust the current stake pool incentives scheme. A particular concern is that of providing smoother incentives for smaller pools. This project will investigate this important issue, considering the merits of existing proposals, identifying possible improvements to the current scheme with costs/benefits, and outlining a development plan if successful.

Benefit: The community will benefit from greater diversity in the stake pool offering, with healthier small pools. Stake pools will benefit from fairer treatment.

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Dependencies: There are no direct dependencies

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2025 Deliverable: Design evaluation/discovery that can lead into further implementation if successful. Small changes to the existing incentives scheme, if appropriate

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System Readiness Level (Highlight the current state and target SRL of this proposal)

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 1 FTE for design evaluation and CIP; 0.5 FTEs for necessary research (including game theoretical analysis); 0.5 FTEs for any small-scale improvements

More Information: (link to Knowledge Base/proposal spreadsheet here)

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SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

CPS & CIP Evaluation

Produce Cardano Problem Statement to identify desired improvements, commission research, evaluate existing CIP definitions against requirements and expectations

Q1 2025

New CIPs/Design/Plan

Develop new CIPs and outline design. Implement small-scale improvements in ledger, as appropriate. Produce plan for further development, if successful

Q2 2025

Q4 2025

Q3 2025

Starting Point

Existing stake pool incentives scheme is in place

NOW

9

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Implementation Timeline

AGD-1: New Anti-Grinding Measure

Q1 2025

Q2 2025

Q4 2025

Q3 2025

Problem Statement: A grinding attack occurs when network leaders manipulate block additions to improve their chances of re-election as future leaders. The Ouroboros protocol includes anti-grinding measures, but these protections often impact settlement times and finality. Furthermore, grinding attacks are CPU-based, meaning their effectiveness escalates as CPU power becomes more accessible and affordable. This prompts the question: can we enhance settlement times and finality while maintaining robust defenses against the evolving threat of grinding attacks? (Adresses 2 CPS : CPS-0017 | Settlement Speed + New CPS | Countermeasures for CPU-Based Attacks)

Description: This initiative focuses on enhancing the Ouroboros Consensus Layer by increasing the difficulty for adversaries to execute grinding attacks, while imposing minimal overhead on honest participants in the Praos leader election process. Specifically, we will explore cryptographic alternatives for the η-nonce computation and provide updated recommendations for the security parameter K, currently set to 2160 blocks (approximately 12 hours).

Benefit: Significant reduction in time needed to finalise blocks on chain and/or requiring more resources to perform a grinding attack

2025 Deliverables: A “Proposed” CIP detailing the pros and cons of various cryptographic primitive alternatives. This includes the implementation and benchmarking of the selected cryptographic primitive, a structured "Recipe for Setting the Security Parameter 𝐾" an impact analysis on the Consensus & Ledger repository, and an updated formal specification in Agda of the consensus layer.

Estimated Effort (for Q1-Q3 2025): 4FTE

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Specification / Design�- Initial CIP Draft - Spec + Design

- Cryptographic Primitive Evaluation and Selection Phase

(SRL 2)

Proof of Concepts�- Formal Specification

- Implementation and benchmarking of the selected Cryptographic Primitive

(SRL 3)

Recommendations�- Simulation

- Impact Analyse on Consensus & Ledger Repository

- Recipe for Setting the Parameter K

- Finalizing CIP - Proposed Status

(SRL 4)

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Ready To Implement

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Starting at SRL 1

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System Readiness Level: SRL 1 ->SRL 4

CPS/CIP Link: CPS-0017

10

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PCM-1: Tiered Pricing Model

Implementation Timeline

Problem Statement: The Cardano network faces congestion issues during peak times, leading to unpredictable transaction delays. Approximately 20% of the time, users experience delays that disrupt critical, time-sensitive transactions, often causing frustration and financial risk.

Description: This Tiered Pricing Model introduces a prioritization mechanism for Cardano transactions. Users can select from three transaction channels—Standard, Priority, and Assured—each offering different fee levels and block inclusion expectations. This flexible system, powered by AI-based congestion predictions, allows users to choose the urgency and cost of their transactions to meet their specific needs.

Benefit for End Users and the Ecosystem:

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Dependencies: None

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2025 Deliverable:

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System Readiness Level

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 8 FTEs

More Information: Key Priorities for 2025 Roadmap, Tiered Pricing Model Paper, Cardano - Timeliness Constraints

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Q1 2025

Q2 2025

Q4 2025

Q3 2025

Testing Framework & Algorithm Prototyping

Set up a testing environment to evaluate transaction prioritization and prototype algorithms for fee-based selection.

• Predictable Timing and Costs: Users can better anticipate both transaction times and fees, enhancing reliability
• Flexible Prioritization: Higher fees for urgent transactions ensure timely inclusion
• Improved Experience: Users avoid delays and unexpected costs during congestion
• Ecosystem Growth: Increased network fees support ongoing Cardano development

Congestion Prediction AI & Data Collection

Develop AI models for predicting congestion and start collecting fee rate data to optimize inclusion times.

Wallet Integration & Testnet Launch

Integrate fee prediction features in wallets, and launch Standard and Priority channels on the testnet to gather initial feedback.

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Assured Channel Design & Community CIP

Finalize the Assured channel design, draft the CIP for tiered pricing, and collect community input to refine the proposal.

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Q1/Q2 2026

Mainnet Rollout of Tiered Pricing

Deploy Standard, Priority, and Assured channels on mainnet, fully integrated with wallets.

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SRL 9

SRL 1

• Testing framework for transaction prioritization; prototype fee-based selection algorithms.
• AI congestion prediction service; data collection for fees, load, and timing.
• Wallet integration for fee/timing predictions; testnet launch of Standard and Priority channels.
• Finalized Assured channel design.
• CPS & Revised CIPs: Cardano Problem Statement and updated/new CIPs.

11

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Implementation Timeline

TLM-1: Timeliness Market

Contractual process complete

Q1 2025

Project bootstrap

Finalise design assessing any potential for negative interactions with consensus.

Q2 2025

CIP discussion

Integration into node release; associated QA steps (if any)

Available in production.

Q4 2025

Deliverables

Amended code base (with property and/or unit tests) as PR; CIP completed;

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Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Problem Statement: The risk profiles of operating DeX, chain bridges and certain dApps is strongly influenced by time-to-chain for critical transactions (such as Oracles), this currently lacks appropriate predictability

Description: The proposed work would create a PoC of a small change to the cardano_node (and its client-to-node interface) that would permit a block producing node to ensure, even under extreme cardano load, the insertion of a transaction into the block about to be produced.

Benefit: The proposed work would enhance the cardano_node to have the appropriate API call to support such transaction insertion; This would permit the creation of (one more) “assured transaction timeliness markets” by others.

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Dependencies: There is no particular dependencies for this; the development would have to choose a suitable stage of cardano_node to base the work against.

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2025 Deliverable: This is estimated to be a 3 to 4 month activity that would deliver a validated design, a proof of concept node operating, and a CIP for its inclusion in the cardano node (captured as a PR)

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System Readiness Level (Highlight the current state and target SRL of this proposal)

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 0.5 to 0.8 of an engineering year; 3 to 4 months elapsed; team of 2 to 3

More Information: (link to Knowledge Base/proposal spreadsheet here)

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Discussion Document

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SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

12

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Implementation Timeline (TBC with item champ)

PUW-1: Proof of Useful Work

Dependency (any) completed

Description of dependencies (if any)

Q1 2025

Project bootstrap

Description

Q2 2025

Deliverable 3

Description

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Q4 2025

Deliverable 2

Description

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Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Mainnet Integration

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(in case final milestone not expected by EOY 2025

Problem Statement: AI model training and fine-tuning processes are largely opaque, with limited visibility into training datasets, feature engineering, and optimization techniques. While some organizations build in the open, most models lack comprehensive documentation about their training methodology and data sources, making it difficult to assess their reliability and biases.

Description: Use the training process of deep learning as “useful work” for validators to elect a block producer ensuring traceability of dataset and models trained, and obtained accuracy.

Benefit: Cardano blockchain becomes a solution for open and transparent training for AI. SPOs and their delegators get rewards through a Partner Chain running Minotaur consensus.

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Dependencies: Depends on Minotaur consensus (PoW in PoS) and Partner Chains for prototyping.

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2025 Deliverable: We expect to progress this to SRL4. Deliverables: research paper, simulations, formal specs, early prototype in Partner Chain framework.

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System Readiness Level (Highlight the current state and target SRL of this proposal)

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): This is in research phase, a new paper will be published before we progress it to R&D. 5 FTEs including a researcher, architect,, formal method engineer, prototyping and simulation engineer.

More Information: link

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CPS/CIP Link: (inc link here)

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

13

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Implementation Timeline

NAR-1: Node Architecture Refresh

Discovery & Infrastructure

Analysis of node components, building coalition, design of microservice framework

Q1 2025

Initial components

Create and test prototype components allowing read-only observation of the Cardano chain

Q2 2025

PoC

Demonstrate a new modular node with partial functionality interacting with an existing testnet. Architectural and roadmap reports distributed.

Q4 2025

Integration

Work with existing node teams to bring deeper functionality into the component architecture

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Next step?

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Continue to develop components with a view to a usable full node

Problem Statement: The current Cardano node, while successful, has a centralised codebase with limited understanding and input from the community, and is perceived to be difficult to extend and integrate with. Looking forward to Leios we will also require greater horizontal scalability.

Description: Discovery and proof-of-concept phase to re-architect the Cardano node in a modular, event-based model to achieve greater scalability in accessibility, extensibility and throughput.

Benefit: A modular architecture will allow the node to be split into smaller, more understandable components, which can be developed by independent teams in any suitable language, and released with their own cadence. The message interfaces between components will be clear, simple and language-independent, making it easier to add new functionality and to integrate applications. Components will be packaged in standard ways making it easier and more flexible to deploy and scale.

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Dependencies: None

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2025 Deliverable: Proof of concept of a modular node with limited functionality; architecture and roadmap reports; a well-functioning coalition of development partners.

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System Readiness Level

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 5 FTE

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CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

14

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Implementation Timeline

PSA-1: Static Analyzer

Proof-of-Concept delivered

Dependency on Stan and HLS solved

Q1 2025

Delivery of first antipattern checks

5 antipatterns that only targets on-chain code in Plinth

Q2 2025

Stable Release

Implementation of the Plinth CWE anti patterns in the tool; release of a stable release

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Q4 2025

Plinth Common Weaknesses

Review of public audits; interview with developers and auditors

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Problem Statement: Blockchain smart contract bugs can lead to major financial losses. Traditional reviews are slow and require expertise, often missing critical issues. A one-click static analyzer for Plinth can potentially detect 80% of common security flaws and performance issues instantly, no expertise needed, strengthening security and trust across the ecosystem.

Description: The Plinth static analyzer is a tool designed to evaluate Plinth smart contracts for common errors, performance inefficiencies, and potential anti-patterns. It inspects code statically, offering suggestions for improvements and generating detailed reports, both in HTML and terminal formats. Configurable through CLI and TOML, it helps developers optimize Plinth contracts by identifying bugs and performance bottlenecks early, ensuring high code quality and adherence to best practices within the Plutus ecosystem.

Benefit:

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Dependencies: https://github.com/kowainik/stan

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2025 Deliverable: Proof of concept; List of coding rules and antipatterns (documentation); Stable release

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System Readiness Level

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 2.5 FTE

More Information: Key Priorities for 2025 Roadmap, Market Research

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• Cost Savings: Reduces financial loss by catching critical bugs early.
• Productivity Increase: One-click automation streamlines contract audits.
• Quality Improvement: Detects 80% of common bugs and vulnerabilities automatically.
• Full Automation: 100% automated analysis, requiring zero expertise.

SRL 9

SRL 1

15

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Implementation Timeline

PPT-1: Property Based Testing Tool

Dependency completed

Quickcheck, Quickcheck-dynamic, emulators, Contract model, Threat model, Tasty

Q1 2025

CLI tool

Integration of the libraries into a CLI tool; standard input and outputs; completed threat models based on common weaknesses

Q2 2025

Documentation and Tutorials

Q4 2025

VSCode integration

Integration of the tool into VSCode extension to display results, and command usage

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Stable Release

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Feedback; patches & new features

Problem Statement: Cardano lacks any property-based testing (PBT) tools, leaving smart contracts vulnerable to undetected edge cases and potential security flaws. Our proposal will bring a PBT tool for Plinth, setting a new standard for automated testing, enhancing contract reliability, and bridging a critical gap in Cardano’s security infrastructure.

Description: The Plinth Property-Based Testing Tool is designed to perform property-based testing on Plinth smart contracts. By automatically generating a wide range of inputs and actions to test against the specified properties of a contract, it ensures that the contract behaves as expected. This tool helps developers identify edge cases, validate assumptions, improve contract robustness, and check against known vulnerabilities. It integrates seamlessly into the Plinth development workflow, enabling more rigorous and automated testing, ultimately enhancing the reliability and security of Plinth scripts.

Benefit:

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Dependencies: Quickcheck library/Emulation libraries

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2025 Deliverable: CLI tool, VSCode, Documentation.

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System Readiness Level

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 4 FTE

More Information: Key Priorities for 2025 Roadmap, Market Research

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• Reduced Financial Losses: Prevents costly bugs and exploits.
• Increased Confidence: Builds trust in Cardano’s smart contracts.
• Enhanced Code Quality: Boosts contract robustness.

SRL 9

SRL 1

Template; Tutorial examples; User documentation

16

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Implementation Timeline

PMC-1: Automatic Formal Verification

Problem Statement: DApps in Cardano, expressed as several smart contracts interactions, lack accessible formal verification tools, posing security risks that can lead to severe economic loss. Current testing tools fall short in capturing all possible execution scenarios, leaving vulnerabilities open to exploitation. As for existing formal verification tools, they rely on the manual use of proof assistants that require high level of expertise.

Description: This proposal is an automated formal verification tool to prove that DApps do not exhibit any security vulnerabilities and behave as expected across all scenarios. It will offer the possibility to automatically generate properties showing absence of common security vulnerabilities and deadlocks. For specific business logic, users are only required to annotate their smart contracts with the expected requirements. It will automatically and mathematically prove the correctness of the DApp against all possible blockchain events or return a set of blockchain events leading to a requirement violation or an exploited vulnerability. Although aimed at Plinth in 2025, the tool’s core is adaptable to any other smart contract languages by the simple addition of a translator module.

Benefits:

• Verification automation: Automatic generation of security requirements and automatic verification
• Higher Code Quality: Guarantees contracts perform as intended.
• Comprehensive Scenario Coverage: Reduces missed vulnerabilities, costly bugs and exploits

Dependencies: Lean4, Z3 (or other SMT solvers, e.g., CVC5, Alt-Ergo)

2025 Deliverables:

• Core Reasoning framework: Plinth-Lean4 formalization, complex optimizations, Lean to SMT translators; Counterexample generator
• Blockchain formalization: State transition system, blockchain events, plutus-ledger API, ledger state and rules
• Universal Annotation language: Formal specification describing syntax and semantics with temporal operators
• Plinth Bridge: Transpiler of Plinth and annotations to Lean4; Generation of common vulnerability properties; Lean4 to Plinth for counterexample representation at source code level

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System Readiness Level

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Estimated Effort (for 2025): 5.5FTE

​

More Information: Key Priorities for 2025 Roadmap, Open source repository , Market Research

​

​

​

​

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Risk reduction (2024)

PoC of key components (Plinth formalization, optimization, call to SMT solvers)

Q1 2025

Reasoning core

Optimization rules for all main types and operations; Formalization of main Plinth libraries; Call to SMT solver;

Q2 2025

Annotation language

A universal annotation language for the expression of properties; translation to Lean 4

Q4 2025

Plinth bridge

Specification and implementation of the Plinth to Lean4 automatic transpilation; Lean4 to Plinth CEX display;

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Future work (2026)

UPLC formalization with CEK machine; VSCode extension; Further optimizations

Blockchain

formalization

State transition system; Plutus-ledger-api, ledger state; blockchain events;

SRL 9

SRL 1

17

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline (TBC with item champ)

PTM-1: Transaction Monitoring System

Research completed

Graph-based anomaly detection

Execution of Smart contract out of specification

Q1 2025

PoC

Data collection on the different Cardano blockchains

Implementation of out-of-spec detection and graph-based fraud detection

Q2 2025

Alpha version release

Improvement of the prototype’s accuracy

Improvement of the prototype’s scalability

​

Q4 2025

Alert mechanisms & Dashboards

Front-end development for the data representation and alert mechanisms

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Real-world experimentation

​

Development for Mainnet analysis

Collaboration with mainnet Dapps

Problem Statement: Cardano lacks a real-time transaction monitoring system to detect fraud and analyze on-chain activity. Without proactive oversight, node operators and businesses have limited ability to respond to security threats or monitor network health. This system will fill that gap, providing real-time alerts, transaction classification, and actionable insights.

Description: The Transaction Monitoring System is a real-time fraud detection tool powered by machine learning algorithms. It continuously monitors blockchain transactions, identifying unusual patterns and flagging potentially fraudulent activities instantly. By analyzing transaction data in real time, it provides immediate alerts, enabling swift responses to security threats. This system helps enhance financial safety within the blockchain ecosystem, ensuring secure and reliable operations by proactively mitigating risks associated with fraud.

Benefit:

​

​

Dependencies: No

​

2025 Deliverable:

• State-of-the art on fraud/anomaly detection and executable specification
• Alpha version of the backend with a frontend for data visualization and alert mechanism

​

System Readiness Level

​

​

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025): 5 FTE

More Information: Key Priorities for 2025 Roadmap, Market Research

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​

​

​

​

​

• Security: Real-time fraud detection
• Visibility: Continuous monitoring of on-chain health
• Insights: Transaction stats and classifications for strategy

SRL 9

SRL 1

18

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline

OCG-2: Governance Improvements

CPS and CIPs

Produce Cardano Problem Statement, plus initial CIP definitions. Identify requirements with Civics Committee

Q1 2025

Design

Detailed design documents, including changes to the ledger formal specifications, start implementation in ledger

Q2 2025

Test Deployment

Integration into node and deployment to test environments, such as SanchoNet/Preview for community testing

​

Q4 2025

Ledger Integration

Implement and test changes to ledger code base, demonstrate conformance to formal specification.

​

Q3 2025

Mainnet Deployment

​

Final integration and deployment via a hard fork (TBD)

Problem Statement: As experience grows with Cardano on-chain Governance following Chang#2, improvements will need to be made to increase the effectiveness of the governance system, address social governance priorities, and to address any shortcomings that are identified in practice. This will maintain a healthy open governance system.

Description: The Civics Committee and other parties have identified a number of improvements that could be made to on-chain governance and related social governance procedures. These include a reward scheme for DReps, ways to record budget information on-chain, improvements to submissions, extensions to automate additional guardrails, and tracking governance action dependencies. This project will identify key concerns and focus effort on addressing these in a timely manner.

Benefit: The community will benefit from a governance system that evolves to meet its needs.

Dependencies: Following Chang#2, a CPS needs to be written to identify key community concerns, supported by one or more CIPs to address specific technical issues that arise from the CPS.

​

2025 Deliverable: Deployment of the new governance features to a public test environment, such as SanchoNet. Identification of future governance enhancements.

​

System Readiness Level (Highlight the current state and target SRL of this proposal)

​

​

​

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025): 0.5 FTE (CPS/CIPs), 1.5 FTEs (Design); 6 FTEs (Ledger Integration/deployment)

More Information: (link to Knowledge Base/proposal spreadsheet here)

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​

​

​

​

​

​

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

Starting Point

Fully deploy CIP-1694 on mainnet via Chang#2

NOW

19

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline (TBC with item champ)

DBS-1: DB-Sync Developments

Dependency (any) completed

Description of dependencies (if any)

Q1 2025

Project bootstrap

Description

Q2 2025

Deliverable 3

Description

​

Q4 2025

Deliverable 2

Description

​

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Mainnet Integration

​

(in case final milestone not expected by EOY 2025

Problem Statement: (Addresses risk)

Description: What is the item description?

Benefit: If implemented, what would the benefit be to the audience (dRep or Cardano Community?)

​

Dependencies: What projects need to be done/at what stage for this proposal to begin?

​

2025 Deliverable: What is expected to be delivered in 2025, keeping in mind some projects are multi-year?

​

System Readiness Level (Highlight the current state and target SRL of this proposal)

​

​

​

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025): what is the expected FTE (full-time equivalent) manpower required to work on this proposal for budget proposal 2025?

More Information: (link to Knowledge Base/proposal spreadsheet here)

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

20

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline (TBC with item champ)

LAR-1: Ledger App Rewrite

Design and implementation

New UI design�Implementation of new UI

Q1 2025

Implementation and Release

Finalize implementation�External audit�Release

Q2 2025

Q4 2025

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Problem Statement: In 2018 when Ledger Cardano App was developed, there was no standard for embedded app UI. Over the years this changed and now Cardano is the only Ledger application with non-standard UI such as requiring double-click several times during the confirmation process. This is causing confusion among users and problems with testing because the design is not compatible with the testing suite.

Description: Work with Ledger team to design new UI according to the expectations. Implement new UI into the Cardano Ledger App. Pass the external audit process (costs for this shall be included in proposal). Support the Ledger team by the release process.

Benefit: Ledger wallet users will have better Cardano experience. Further app updates and releases will be faster due to testing suite compatibility.

​

Dependencies: None

​

2025 Deliverable: Full release to production

​

System Readiness Level (Highlight the current state and target SRL of this proposal)

​

​

​

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025): 0.6 FTE for 6 months + external audit 10-20k EUR

More Information: Proposal spreadsheet

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

21

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline

ARN-1: Rust Node (Amaru)

Full Phase 1 validation & Testnet

Ledger rules implemented

Q1 2025

Hard fork combinator integration

Integration of testnet feedbacks

Q2 2025

Feature Parity with Haskell node

Run on testnet flawlessly and start mainnet implementations

Q4 2025

Block forging and full Validation

Propagation of block

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Archive node & Historical validation

Produce configuration snapshot to bootstrap block producing and relay node

Problem Statement: Running a Cardano node today means you have one single point of failure: the Haskell node, Amaru wants to solve the client diversity problem. On top of that, running a node takes a lot of resources and you can’t run it easily on ARM setups. Experimenting with the node, interoperability and customisation is hard with the opacity of the current design.

Description: Amaru is an open-source project that aims to build a new fully interoperable block-producing node for improving the overall performance the Cardano blockchain. The Amaru node provides a simplified entry point for building things on Cardano by using a modular design and Rust as its main coding language. Amaru wants to bring diversity and operational resilience to the Cardano network, improve the overall performance with no compromise regarding security and focus on operator experience by having a modular design.

Benefits:

> Lower the total cost of ownership of running a Cardano node

> Modular architecture to customize the execution of the node and tailor it to the operator needs

> Documented features and architecture allowing builders to build efficiently around each component

​

Dependencies: None, but interfacing with projects will be key to insure interoperability

​

2025 Deliverables:

> Full phase 1 and phase 2 validation

> Hard fork combinator integration

> Block forging, full block validation and propagation

​

System Readiness Level:

​

CPS/CIP Link:

To be reviewed

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025):

6.5FTE: Funded by Catalyst, contributions and treasury withdrawal: not asking for budget from Intersect

Github

22

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline

PAC-1: Partner Chains

Problem Statement: Improving the scalability and interoperability of the network

Description: Partner Chains toolkit empowers Cardano SPOs to validate and produce blocks for specialized blockchains directly connected to Cardano. This enables SPOs to increase their earning potential while actively contributing to the expansion and diversification of the Cardao ecosystem. By introducing native cross-chain capabilities, Partner Chains extends Cardano features, scales out the network, and fosters seamless interoperability via hybrid DApps with other POS and POW networks, significantly boosting the connectivity and utility of the Cardano network.

Benefit: Unlock new revenue streams for Cardano SPOs and supercharge the ecosystem's growth by enabling scalable, cross-chain Partner Chain services that can connect to users and liquidity across L1s.

​

Dependencies: What projects need to be done/at what stage for this proposal to begin?

• Integration with Cardano network protocols - LibP2P.
• Minotaur multi chain staking design

​

2025 Deliverable: Midnight Mainnet Launch, Minotaur multi chain staking implemented across Cardano and Ethereum, FastBFT implementation in PC substrate node, cross chain communication design

​

System Readiness Level: Alpha release

​

​

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025): 3L (security and cross-chain workstreams)

More Information: (github:partner-chains)

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​

​

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​

​

​

Cardano Core Functions

Governance & rewards�Enhance SPO onboarding

Q1 2025

Extensibility

Support the launch of the first Partner Chain — Midnight

Q2 2025

Usability

Enabling Hybrid DApps to Cardano

​

Q4 2025

Interoperability

Mixed-resource consensus�ETH <> PC <> ADA

​

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Future Integrations

​

CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

Expand the edges of Cardano

​

23

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline (TBC with item champ)

HWW-2: HW Wallet Maintenance

Dependency (any) completed

Description of dependencies (if any)

Q1 2025

Project bootstrap

Description

Q2 2025

Deliverable 3

Description

​

Q4 2025

Deliverable 2

Description

​

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Mainnet Integration

​

(in case final milestone not expected by EOY 2025

Problem Statement: (Addresses risk)

Description: What is the item description?

Benefit: If implemented, what would the benefit be to the audience (dRep or Cardano Community?)

​

Dependencies: What projects need to be done/at what stage for this proposal to begin?

​

2025 Deliverable: What is expected to be delivered in 2025, keeping in mind some projects are multi-year?

​

System Readiness Level (Highlight the current state and target SRL of this proposal)

​

​

​

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025): what is the expected FTE (full-time equivalent) manpower required to work on this proposal for budget proposal 2025?

More Information: (link to Knowledge Base/proposal spreadsheet here)

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

24

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline (TBC with item champ)

CWG-1: Cardano Wallet/GraphQL

Dependency (any) completed

Description of dependencies (if any)

Q1 2025

Project bootstrap

Description

Q2 2025

Deliverable 3

Description

​

Q4 2025

Deliverable 2

Description

​

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Mainnet Integration

​

(in case final milestone not expected by EOY 2025

Problem Statement: (Addresses risk)

Description: What is the item description?

Benefit: If implemented, what would the benefit be to the audience (dRep or Cardano Community?)

​

Dependencies: What projects need to be done/at what stage for this proposal to begin?

​

2025 Deliverable: What is expected to be delivered in 2025, keeping in mind some projects are multi-year?

​

System Readiness Level (Highlight the current state and target SRL of this proposal)

​

​

​

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025): what is the expected FTE (full-time equivalent) manpower required to work on this proposal for budget proposal 2025?

More Information: (link to Knowledge Base/proposal spreadsheet here)

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

CPS/CIP Link:

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

25

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline

DJD-1: Decentralized Oracle

Research and Design

Decide on approach, write the specification

Q1 2025

Implementation

Write the Plutus code, backend infrastructure and tests

Q2 2025

Q4 2025

Deployment

Create documentation, deploy the system to testnets and mainnet

​

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Problem Statement: Most dapps need data from the outside world in order to function. Existing oracle solutions require trust in some centralized entity. The decentralized oracle provides vital data in an open, transparent, trustless, reliable and price-efficient manner.

Description: The decentralized oracle is a mechanism for publishing off–chain data such as price feeds so that it can be used by smart contracts. Operated by a network of data providers, the oracle can be used by any dapp, requiring only a small amount of work to integrate new data sources and use them in smart contracts.

Benefit: All who build on Cardano will have access to a high-quality design and implementation of the trustless oracle without charge. SPOs will have the chance to become oracle operators, giving them financial rewards and visibility. Users of dapps that consume oracle data will benefit from low fees and high trust.

​

Dependencies: Two preliminary designs will be produced by Jan 2025. A highly qualified team is in place to start working on this in 2025.

​

2025 Deliverable: The entire project will be finished in 2025. The product will be deployed to mainnet and used by (at least) the Djed stablecoin.

​

System Readiness Level

​

​

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025): 4.5 FTE

​

​

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

26

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved

Implementation Timeline

DJD-2: Decentralized Stablecoin

Finish current backlog

Finish the backlog items and deal with some technical debt

Q1 2025

Extract components

Publish the components that aren’t part of Djed separately. For example: chain index.

Q2 2025

Documentation and Roll-out

Publish documentation, gather initial operators, roll-out to testnet and mainnet.

​

Q4 2025

Build multi-operator

Add support for multiple operators to the transaction processing code

​

Q3 2025

Q1 2026

Problem Statement: Stable coins are crucial for the evolution of blockchain development, as they facilitate client interactions using familiar currencies, but crucially without the risk of exchange drift. Cardano currently lacks an open source, decentralized algorithmic stablecoin, preventing it from realizing its full potential as a first class blockchain .

Description: The Djed stablecoin has operated reliably on mainnet since its release in January ‘23, with its codebase establishing a good reputation (having multiple audits and zero incidents). This project will (1) publish the source-code of the Djed stablecoin and (2) add a feature to Djed to allow multiple operators to process stablecoin orders in a decentralized way

Benefit: App developers can inspect the source code as a best-practice example,and build integrations with other apps. Operators (eg. SPOs) will benefit from transaction fees and the Cardano community at large will be able to use a reliable, fully decentralized, algorithmic stablecoin.

​

Dependencies: DJD-2 will benefit greatly for a decentralized oracle (DJD-1), but is not strictly dependent on it. The catalyst project “secure upgrade mechanism” will also be beneficial but is not strictly required.

​

2025 Deliverable: The Djed source code, including a mechanism for independent operators to participate in the protocol.

​

System Readiness Level

​

​

​

Estimated Effort (for 2025): 5.5 FTE

​

SRL 1�Theoretical Research

SRL 9�Mainnet Integration

To be reviewed

27

© 2024. Intersect. All Rights Reserved