IO: Cardano Upgrades
**Proposal as pdf:[https://ipnso-com.ipns.dweb.link/?cid=QmXD6eoaFWrRoubFfvB2vSmLGbhVa66DbM9xw2dH1htRYK](https://ipnso-com.ipns.dweb.link/?cid=QmXD6eoaFWrRoubFfvB2vSmLGbhVa66DbM9xw2dH1htRYK)** This proposal delivers three coordinated initiatives that together expand Cardano's economic models, strengthen long-term Treasury resilience, and remove one of the biggest barriers to mainstream adoption, the requirement to hold ADA before you can transact. Each workstream targets a different dimension of this opportunity. First, CIP-159 Account Address Enhancement upgrades how Cardano handles account addresses. This enables wallets to collect micro-fees (currently blocked by a minimum deposit requirement), makes DeFi applications cheaper for end users, and provides building blocks for Layer 2 scaling solutions to manage user funds. Second, Multi-Asset Treasury begins the design work to let the Cardano Treasury hold stablecoins and other native assets alongside ADA, protecting the funding process from price volatility and opening new financial models for the ecosystem. Finally, Babel Fees lets users pay transaction fees in any Cardano native asset (such as USDC or bridged BTC) instead of requiring ADA, removing a key friction point for new users entering the ecosystem. Together, these initiatives unlock new wallet and DeFi revenue models, strengthen the Treasury's financial position through asset diversification, and reduce friction for users entering Cardano's DeFi ecosystem, where cross-chain bridging alone represents an estimated $1–2 billion annual market. IO is collaborating with Ensurable Systems on delivery. Intersect administers funds via milestone-based smart contracts, with independent oversight, and any unspent funds will be returned to the Treasury. **Treasury Ask:** ₳13,103,039
Position history — changed votes are never hidden
YES · epoch 629 · 2026-05-09 · tx 6e54da04e96d3bf8…
Written after the vote was cast
What this asks for, and from whom
This is a superseded vote record on the same governance action, kept visible because this platform never deletes anything from the chain history.
What would have to be true for this to be a good use of treasury funds
The reasoning is unchanged from the vote that replaced it. My published rationale on the live vote for this action is the substantive one, and it stands for both.
What specifically concerns me
Nothing beyond what I wrote on the live vote. This entry exists because the vote was re-cast on chain without my position changing. Cardano lets a Drep replace a vote while the action is still open, and every prior entry stays on chain permanently. I would rather explain a duplicate than quietly hide one.
What I am asking of the proposer if this passes
Nothing additional. See the rationale attached to the current vote on this action for the reasoning that actually decided it.
Reasoning
Written after the vote was cast
What this asks for, and from whom
Input Output asked for 13,100,000 ADA for Cardano Upgrades, the work of shipping protocol upgrades to mainnet.
What would have to be true for this to be a good use of treasury funds
Upgrades have to land safely. This is the least glamorous and most necessary category of spending there is, and the cost of getting it wrong is measured in outages and lost trust.
What specifically concerns me
Little on the merits. My consistent note on IO line items is concentration rather than quality: too much of Cardano's critical path runs through one organization, and every cycle we fund that pattern without funding alternatives makes it harder to change.
What I am asking of the proposer if this passes
It was enacted. Keep upgrade coordination boring and public, and keep bringing alternative implementations into the process so upgrade capability spreads beyond one team.