Budget: ₳5M Loan for Cardano's Global Listing Expansion - Powered by Snek
This proposal seeks a 5,000,000 ada budget loan from the Cardano Treasury to fund the Cardano Global Listing Expansion, a strategic initiative led by the Snek Foundation to list [SNEK](https://www.snek.com/) on top-tier centralized exchanges, retail brokers, and trading platforms. This proposal is the **first-ever loan-based treasury withdrawal** in Cardano governance, introducing a new model of accountability where funds are not given as grants but repaid with interest. As part of the governance process, a Board of Advisors will be appointed to ensure transparent execution and maximize ecosystem alignment. This board will include high-profile industry veterans like Tal Cohen (former CEO of Kraken), Phillip Pon (CEO of Emurgo), Fahmi Syed (President of Midnight Foundation), and Frederik Gregaard (CEO of Cardano Foundation), with additional top-tier names to be announced. *SNEK is the largest community token on Cardano, holding the highest market capitalization, over 42,000 wallets, and more than 2 billion ADA in all-time trading volume.* Over the past two years, the Snek Foundation has already invested over $4.5 million, entirely self-funded, to secure major exchange listings. Snek delivered the first, second, and third-ever Tier 1 listings for any Cardano native token, with Kraken, Crypto.com, and Kucoin, setting historic precedents for the ecosystem. With this proposal and with the support of our partners, we aim to unlock greater visibility, liquidity, and accessibility for the broader Cardano ecosystem by leveraging SNEK's proven momentum and market position. This loan will be repaid from Snek product revenues and business ventures with the final balance plus interest settled in three to five years, following a closing audit to confirm the loan has been repaid in full. Interest is set at 2.44% annualized (2.37% staking rate + 0.07%), compounded yearly. By structuring this as a repayable loan, the Snek Foundation is once again trailblazing for the ecosystem; demonstrating how treasury capital can be deployed responsibly while setting a precedent for future projects. The administrator of the budget funds will be Intersect.
Reasoning
Written after the vote was cast
What this asks for, and from whom
An Info Action for a 5,000,000 ADA loan supporting Cardano's global exchange listing expansion.
What would have to be true for this to be a good use of treasury funds
Listings and market access are distribution, and distribution is Cardano's chronic weakness. A loan structure rather than a grant is also the shape I prefer, because it returns capital rather than consuming it.
What specifically concerns me
Exchange listing costs are opaque by nature and the counterparties rarely allow public terms. Spending community money where the terms cannot be published creates an accountability hole even when the spending is sensible.
What I am asking of the proposer if this passes
It was dropped. Publish whatever can be published: which venues, what volume followed, and the repayment schedule. Loans that return capital to the treasury are a structure I want to see more of, so make the first ones exemplary.