The Cardano Builder DAO (CB DAO) is a smart contract-enforced, member-governed funding mechanism created to support the application-layer growth of the Cardano ecosystem. Its core purpose is to provide sustainable financial backing and strategic oversight to high-impact projects that are directly responsible for existing user adoption, on-chain activity, Total Value Locked (TVL), and ecosystem engagement.

While Cardano’s governance structure and funding mechanisms, such as Project Catalyst and core development committees, have been instrumental in bootstrapping protocol advancements and open-source tooling, there remains a substantial gap in ongoing support for live, user-facing products/services. CB DAO fills that gap.

Through a transparent governance framework, strict accountability mechanisms, and a metrics-first funding approach, CB DAO ensures that builders with growing products on mainnet can scale sustainably, integrate cutting-edge Cardano infrastructure (e.g. Hydra, Leios, Midgard), and contribute to the ecosystem’s long-term growth.

This proposal seeks to address the lack of dedicated, sustainable financial support and strategic oversight for functioning dApps that drive real usage, transaction volume, and Total Value Locked (TVL) on the Cardano blockchain.

While Cardano has mechanisms for new protocol development and early-stage funding, there is currently no infrastructure specifically designed to financially support application-layer projects that are already live on mainnet and which are driving Cardano’s current user activity. Without targeted support, these projects risk stagnation, limiting Cardano’s broader adoption and on-chain ecosystem growth.

To reach mass adoption, Cardano needs to better support launched projects; this proposal aims to ensure that established builders with launched dApps can continue to build on Cardano.

If implemented, this proposal will directly benefit Cardano dApp developers, the broader ecosystem of users, and ADA holders by creating a reliable funding structure focused on sustained adoption, utility, and on-chain economic activity.

Demonstrated value to the Cardano Community includes:

• Increased On-Chain Activity: Providing financial support to launched projects with real users and measurable transactions will grow Cardano's usage metrics, a key indicator of network health and success.
• Higher TVL and Ecosystem Stickiness: By supporting projects that retain user assets on-chain, the DAO boosts Cardano’s DeFi footprint and TVL.
• More Reliable Infrastructure & Products: Developers gain access to capital that enables consistent product development, user support, and innovation.
• Greater Visibility and Adoption: Supporting high-impact applications increases Cardano's competitiveness in the broader Web3 landscape, attracting new users and developers.
• Transparent ROI Tracking: Funded projects must report KPIs like transaction counts, active users, and commit activity, enabling the community to clearly measure the impact and return on funding decisions.
• Balance Ecosystem Funding Structure: This purpose-built funding mechanism complements Project Catalyst by creating a clear delineation between the different development stages of projects, and where they should seek funding within the ecosystem. This enables Project Catalyst to be a more effective innovation engine as larger projects will not rely on Project Catalyst for funding.

The Cardano Builder DAO (CB DAO) is designed to deliver ongoing ecosystem support for high-impact dApps. The community can expect a series of tangible milestones and ecosystem-wide benefits driven by active participation from DAO members.

Tangible Milestones:

1. Initial Member Onboarding: KYB and technical review process for the first wave of dApp members Onboarding to governance platform

2. Board Election: Election of 3–7 board representatives from the Cardano ecosystem to oversee governance operations

3. Legal Entity Formation: Formation of a Wyoming DUNA (or similar DAO-centric legal structure) to support long-term stability and member protections

4. DAO Launch: Deployment of CB DAO smart contracts using Agora Creation of DAO owned treasury & initial deposit made

5. First Funding Cycle Execution: Launch of the initial proposal window Temperature checks on Clarity and treasury withdrawals for selected projects

6. First Funding Cycle KPI Impact Reports/Second Round Funding Cycle Execution: After the first 6 months, projects will submit a KPI report explaining the changes in their KPIs over the first funding cycle. This allows all DReps and Cardano holders to see the impact of the funding provided to these projects. Use the measured impact to determine which projects should continue receiving funding.

7. Second Funding Cycle KPI Impact Reports: After the first 6 months, projects will submit a KPI report explaining the changes in their KPIs over the first funding cycle. This allows all DReps and Cardano holders to see the impact of the funding provided to these projects.

Ongoing Outcomes for the Ecosystem:

• Sustained Support for Cardano Builders: CB DAO provides structured, recurring funding to dApps already live on mainnet. This enables them to grow and maintain operations.
• On-Chain Transparency & Accountability: Funding decisions and treasury activity are fully governed by smart contracts and tracked through public voting and KPI reporting. This ensures that the impact of resources allocated are measured transparently.
• Increased Network Usage: By prioritizing projects that generate transactions, TVL, and user activity, CB DAO directly contributes to the growth and stickiness of the Cardano ecosystem.
• Community Benefit Through Project Continuity: The Cardano community benefits from the continued operation of critical products and services, including many they rely on for DeFi, identity, NFTs, tooling, and more. CB DAO creates a path for the community’s favorite products to receive structured support and remain active.
• Repeatable Funding Mechanism: CB DAO establishes a replicable framework for funding that could be expanded to other verticals within the Cardano ecosystem. This framework can be scaled and repurposed for different funding subsets.

What the Community Ultimately Receives:

• A sustainable and transparent funding mechanism that supports the growth of Cardano’s application layer
• Operational continuity for trusted, community-used products and services
• An ecosystem where measurable value creation is rewarded and aligned with long-term network health
• A governance system that ensures DAO member projects are accountable and performance-driven, creating higher-quality dApps for end users

• ADA price Assumption $0.50

Project Funding Allocation: $6.21M (12.42M ADA)

• $6,000,000 USD (equivalent to 12,000,000 ADA) will go directly into the CB DAO treasury to be allocated to projects approved by DAO members.

• Currently, projects that intend to join the CB DAO — including NMKR, ADA Handle, Clarity, Dex Hunter, Flux Point Studios, Wanchain, NFTCDN.io, Vespr, Tokeo, Xerberus, Iagon and TapTools — would be supported by ~64% of this budget.

• Throughout this governance process, CB DAO will be onboarding new members to make effective use of these funds.

• Reminder: all unused funds will be deposited back into the Cardano DAO treasury at the end of the funding period.

The Initial Cardano Builder DAO coalition represents a powerhouse of ecosystem growth, collectively serving over 1 billion API requests, facilitating over 2 million swaps, powering ~3 million NFT mints, equipping hundreds of Cardano projects with key infrastructure to build on top of, bringing in over $30 million in bridged assets and engaging users from 166 countries through platforms with millions of transactions.

Each project will receive grants intended to cover technical and business contributors and infrastructure costs such as hosting or API services. Projects must be live on mainnet and report KPIs like transaction volume, active users, and TVL to remain eligible for future funding rounds.

DAO Operational Overhead $210,000 USD (~420k ADA)

Allocated for one year of operational costs required to run the DAO effectively and maintain transparency, compliance, and engagement.

Expenses that accomplish this goal include (estimations):

• $50,000 (100,000 ADA) for board member compensation Covers part-time stipends for 3–7 elected board members who oversee membership approvals, compliance, and governance coordination.

• $60,000 (120,000 ADA) for legal and compliance support Anticipated support needs include: DUNA entity formation and maintenance; contracts and relationship paperwork for Board members, service providers and Members; ongoing legal consultation; and oversight of Know Your Business (KYB) processes for involved entities.

• $50,000 (100,000 ADA) for service contracts Used to compensate contributors under formal service-level contracts, such as technical consultants, accountants, or critical infrastructure, to ensure consistent DAO operations and reliable funding decisions.

• $80,000 (160,000 ADA) for infrastructure and tooling Covers hosting, data storage, analytics, proposal dashboards, and technical infrastructure necessary for day-to-day DAO coordination.

• $20,000 (40,000 ADA) contingency reserve Held for unexpected operational needs or critical services that may arise over the course of the year.

Final Allocation Summary:

• $6M (12,000,000 ADA) — to direct project funding
• $210K (420,000 ADA) — to DAO operational overhead
• Total: $6.21M USD (10,420,000 ADA)

Because the Cardano Builder DAO (CB DAO) is built on already available infrastructure, including Agora smart contracts and the Clarity governance interface, no additional protocol or UI development is required to launch. The focus instead shifts to operational execution, governance setup, legal structuring, and project coordination.

There are currently 12 projects in the Cardano Builder DAO, we expect to be able to support around 20 projects for 12 months with this proposal.

Membership Requirements:

• Voting Member: Any individual or company with a Catalyst Proposal Approved.
• Requesting Member: Any company that has successfully closed out a Catalyst Proposal and has a working product with relevant KPIs that improve Cardano.

Estimated Timeline:

• Initial Membership Onboarding & Board Election: Weeks 1 to 6
• Legal entity Creation: Weeks 1 to 4
• DAO Deposit: Upon Approval
• First Proposal Window and Temperature Checks: Weeks 6 to 12
• Initial Treasury Withdrawals: Week 12

Estimated Team Structure and Roles:

Note: CB DAO operates as a lean governance framework with most execution handled through elected board members, DAO Members, and service providers.

• Board Members (3–7 elected individuals): Elected by DAO members to oversee legally required KYC, manage compliance, membership approvals, and treasury proposals. Board members will be compensated from the operational overhead budget.
• Governance & Treasury Management (DAO Members): All DAO members support proposal reviews and Agora treasury interaction.
• Legal & Compliance (1 retained legal advisor or firm): Supports DUNA formation, KYB policy alignment, and liability protection for DAO members.
• Community & Outreach (DAO Members): All DAO members promote DAO funding rounds, shares progress updates, and supports transparency.
• Technical Maintenance and Support: The Clarity team will provide needed support for DAO operations and ensure critical functionality is maintained throughout the DAO’s life.

Our team is responsible for building and maintaining Clarity, a governance platform purpose-built for the Cardano ecosystem. Clarity serves as the user-facing interface for interacting with Agora, an open-source, audited library of smart contracts designed for decentralized governance and treasury management.

We have already deployed this infrastructure in production and actively maintain it. Our smart contracts have governed over $10 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) and are used by four DAOs, each managing six-figure treasuries on-chain. These DAOs use the same tooling and processes that CB DAO will leverage, including member-based voting, proposal submission, temperature checks, and treasury execution fully enforced by smart contracts.

In addition to our technical capabilities, we work directly with Cardano ecosystem founders and project teams on a regular basis. Many of these projects are already live on mainnet, and several have expressed intent to participate in CB DAO as members during the initial cohort. This gives us a direct line of communication with the builder community and allows us to ensure early DAO membership includes high-quality, committed teams aligned with CB DAO’s mission and KPIs.

Our team's combination of hands-on DAO implementation, infrastructure development, and builder community engagement positions us uniquely to lead the operational launch and ongoing management of the Cardano Builder DAO.

This proposal is intended to establish a long-term, builder-governed funding mechanism that can continue operating well beyond its initial setup. The ongoing maintenance and support of the Cardano Builder DAO (CB DAO) will be carried out through built-in governance processes and active participation from its verified member projects.

Key elements that support long-term sustainability include:

• Ongoing DAO Governance: Verified member projects participate directly in governance through voting, discussions, and proposal evaluations. This ensures that decision-making remains active and DAO-led.
• Elected Board Oversight: A small group of elected representatives (both members and non-members) help manage compliance, membership approvals, and operational coordination. These roles are re-elected each year to reflect the evolving needs of the community.
• Structured Funding Cycles: The DAO operates on a semi-annual schedule for proposal submission, status reporting, and treasury withdrawals. This creates predictable checkpoints for review and accountability.
• Performance-Based Renewals: Projects must publicly report KPIs such as, but not limited to, transaction volume, user activity, and development contributions. Continued funding is dependent on demonstrable progress and alignment with previously set goals.
• Smart Contract-Controlled Treasury: All treasury operations are governed through Agora, an open-source and audited smart contract library purpose-built for DAO governance. This ensures reliable, transparent, and tamper-proof execution of all funding decisions.
• Integrated Governance Stack: CB DAO will leverage Clarity, a governance interface built for the Cardano ecosystem, to streamline the proposal and voting process. Clarity directly interacts with Agora smart contracts, creating a seamless, user-friendly governance experience for members.
• Return of Unused Funds: At the end of each funding period, unallocated ADA is returned to the Cardano Treasury as the CB DAO begins to focus on applying for additional funds for a new cycle. This ensures that capital is not locked up unnecessarily and reinforces responsible governance.
• Legal Support Structure: CB DAO is working toward establishing a legal entity (such as a Wyoming DUNA) to provide limited liability protections and ensure long-term operational stability.

The overall intent of the CB DAO is to create a durable, well-structured funding mechanism that evolves alongside the Cardano ecosystem, with the flexibility to support its builders and adapt to future needs.

This proposal is supported by 12 of Cardanos most used products and services including NMKR, ADA Handle, Dex Hunter, Flux Point Studios, Tap Tools, Wanchain, NFTCDN.io, Vespr, Tokeo, Xerberus, Iagon, and Clarity.

This proposal has been socialized and will continue to be socialized throughout Intersect and the broader Cardano Ecosystem.

• Blog post announcement
• Open twitter space with CDEC (771 tuned in)
• YouTube Video with Open Source Office
• Proposal Twitter
• The Idea of Cardano Builder DAO
• CB DAO - Mission, Goals, KPIs, Membership Reqs. & Governance Structure
• The Cardano Funding Funnel: A New Era of Decentralized Growth

• Agora
• Clarity