Discussion Details
Cardano Summit 2025 and regional tech events
cardanosummit
Description
The 2025 Cardano Summit strategy features a hybrid event model: a flagship event + four regional events. Each event will have a lead organizer, with collaborative support from all partners. To ensure continuity and early planning for 2026, ticket sales will be used for the 2026 summit and its down payment.
A 2-day Cardano Summit for over 800 people. Hosted by the Cardano Foundation in Berlin in Nov 2025 (dates tbc).
A 2-day Cardano Tech ASIA (name tbd) targeting developers for 300+ people. Hosted by EMURGO in Bangalore in December 2025, coinciding with India Blockchain Week.
A 2-day Cardano Tech AFRICA (name tbd) targeting community and developers for 500 people Hosted by Wada in Kenya in September 2025.
A 2-day Cardano Tech USA (name tbd) targeting developers for 500 people Hosted by Rare Evo in Las Vegas on 7 August 2025.
A 2-day Cardano Tech LATAM (name tbd) targeting developers for 500 people Hosted by ADA SOLAR in LATAM October 2025.
Problem Statement
The Cardano Summit is not optional; it's the indispensable catalyst to empower developers, unify infrastructure efforts and implement governance, forge global connections, plus attract capital, talent and media, propelling Cardano to its rightful place as a leader in the decentralized future.
Adoption Stagnation: Without a central platform showcasing real-world utility, enterprise and mainstream adoption remains critically low.
Developer Isolation and Fake News: The narrative that "building on Cardano is hard" persists due to inadequate educational resources and targeted support, hindering developer onboarding, slowing application and infrastructure growth.
Infrastructure Fragmentation: Scaling and interoperability challenges persist without a collaborative platform for unified solutions. Collaboration between developers, entrepreneurs, users, enterprises, regulatory bodies and other L1/L2 ecosystems need further strengthening to foster a cohesive and impactful ecosystem.
Community Siloing: Missed networking and knowledge exchange opportunities between developers, entrepreneurs, users, enterprises, and regulatory bodies limit the creation of strategic global partnerships.
Capital, Talent, and Media Acquisition Deficit: The challenge of effectively attracting and securing sufficient capital, top-tier talent, and widespread media attention hinders Cardano's growth and its ability to solidify its position as a leading Layer 1 blockchain platform.
Proposal Benefit
The Cardano Summit 2025 is a strategic initiative, spearheaded by the Cardano Foundation and fortified by regional ecosystem partners (EMURGO, Rare Evo, Wada, Catalyst Africa Town Hall, Ada Solar), to accelerate the global adoption of Cardano technology. Each partner will command the execution of a regionally focused Cardano Summit Event. While each maintains regional autonomy, all six entities will synergize in the events' development. The core ethos and driving benefits of the Cardano Summit are:
Simplify developer onboarding through targeted Cardano Dev Days events globally.
Drive adoption through targeted education for first-time and novice users, unlocking Cardano's potential for all.
Showcase tangible impact of real-world use cases, capturing mainstream attention and demonstrating Cardano's value. Forge powerful collaborations between developers, entrepreneurs, users, enterprises and regulators.
Strategize and solve scaling and interoperability challenges, securing future scalability.
Attract capital, talent, and media, securing vital resources for the growth of Cardano as a leading L1.
Ignite innovation & celebrate success: Rally the community, celebrate achievements, and build unstoppable momentum.
Key Proposal Deliverables
1 x Flagship Cardano Summit: Europe (November 2025)
4 x Regional Cardano Tech Events Las Vegas, USA (August 2025) Africa (September 2025) LATAM (October 2025) Bangalore, India (December 2025)
Cardano Summit Awards & Battle of the Builders Included within the Flagship Cardano Summit
Dev Days/Hackathons Integrated into each of the four Regional Tech Events
Specific KPIs Attendee targets (500-800 attendees per event) Speaker targets (20-100 speakers per event) Session targets (8-20 sessions per event).
Cost Breakdown
See PDF
Resourcing & Duration
Slide 7 of the deck
Experience
The Cardano Summit 2025 will leverage the collective strength and deep regional expertise of its co-hosts, ensuring unparalleled impact and engagement across the globe.
The Cardano Foundation's proven delivery of three consecutive, globally impactful Cardano Summits establishes their invaluable institutional and enterprise knowledge and a track record of high-quality, large-scale event execution. EMURGO's extensive experience in fostering blockchain adoption through strategic events, including TOKEN2049, positions them as a key driver of regional engagement and impact. Rare Evo demonstrated expertise in curating highly engaging and community-centric blockchain events, like Rare Evo, ensures a dynamic and impactful experience for attendees. WADA’s established presence and deep connections within the Cardano community in Africa, coupled with their successful track record of organizing CLEs, guarantees strong local engagement and relevance. ADA Solar's unique understanding of the regional landscape and their proven ability to activate local communities, exemplified by Cardano Constitutional Convention and Cardano Tech Week, will be instrumental in maximizing the summit's reach and impact in LATAM.
Maintenance & Support
Establish a Dedicated Steering Committee: Ensure ongoing governance of the Cardano Summit brand and strategic vision. Create Comprehensive Documentation & SOPs: Guarantee knowledge transfer and consistent execution. Implement Robust Feedback & Analysis: Drive continuous improvement and adaptation. Foster Community Ownership & Support: Ensure long-term engagement and sustainability. Embrace Technological Innovation: Maintain relevance and enhance the Summit experience.
Supplementary Endorsement
Community + Intersect + Growth and Marketing Committee
Roadmap Alignment
Accelerates Adoption: The Summit directly drives user and developer uptake through targeted regional Cardano Dev Days events globally, including but not limited to practical demonstrations of new features (e.g. L2s, Programmable Assets).
Fuels Roadmap Execution: It serves as a critical feedback loop, gathering community insights to refine and optimize development priorities (Scaling, Developer Experience).
Amplifies Innovation: The Summit showcases cutting-edge advancements (e.g. Leios, Midgard), attracting investment, talent, and fostering strategic partnerships.
Fosters Collaboration: It strengthens the community and its knowledge sharing, building the cohesive ecosystem necessary for Cardano's global impact.
Drives Growth: The Summit will allow for the education, and collaboration for growth.
Does your proposal align with any of the Intersect Committees?
Marketing Committee
Does this proposal align to the Product Roadmap and Roadmap Goals?
It supports the product roadmap
Administration and Auditing
Would you like Intersect to be your named Administrator, including acting as the auditor, as per the Cardano Constitution?
Yes
Ownership Information
Submitted On Behalf Of
CompanySocial Handles
https://x.com/Cardano_CFKey Dependencies
Resources: Events will be executed only if proposal will be approved by DReps timely (6 months needed) Secure World-Class Logistics: venues, organization, and expenses tracking must be flawlessly executed to protect the Cardano Summit brand quality. Safety and Visa: Locations scrutiny to ensure safe, quality and compliant events Community Participation: Active engagement is non-negotiable, both in terms of speakership and attendance. Showcase Cutting-Edge Technology: Demos and presentations must highlight Cardano's latest advancements.
Comments (10)
Cardano Foundation have held successful diverse and inclusive regional events.
The Cardano Summit is not just a celebration. It brings together stakeholders from various chains. It is also a place to share innovation-related information and other useful knowledge. It is not an event where superficial discussions are repeated over and over. I believe it is something that should be continued.
Conditionally YES
Cardano Summit is divided into two parts: the main event and the regional event.
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The main event has significant cost cutting, streamlining and monetization plans, and there are improvements in the figures every year. There are many requests from the community.
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On the other hand, for the regional event, while it is the first effort, the KPI target values are modest, and it seems that a large budget of $400,000 is allocated to four regions around the world without much detail. I have not heard much eagerness from the community. Is it possible to conduct a temperature check of DRep by separating the main event and the four regional events (i.e., subdividing them into five items) at the workshop starting tomorrow?
I support the Cardano Foundation in their initiative to organize a major event, as they’ve proven in the past they can execute successfully at this scale.
They also have strong connections with media, marketing channels, and sponsors—essential partners to bring attention, funding, and broader interest to the Cardano ecosystem and its projects.
The Cardano Summit is expected to be more than just a technical conference, clearly communicating Cardano's strategic positioning within the global financial and technological ecosystem while contributing to actual business adoption and market formation. To achieve this, it is important to present a unified perspective and strategy on global market trends while leveraging the unique characteristics of each region.
Budget Proposal Workshop Participant Feedback - Hosted by Japan Hub
Feedback Summary: ・Widely supported for its decentralized, regional approach (Berlin + 4 satellite cities). ・Budget (6M USD) is justified if KPIs are met.
Suggested Improvement: ・Maintain transparency and return unused funds to Treasury if not fully spent.
We respectfully submit this feedback for your consideration.
Thank you so much 🙏 I understand Genesis ADA. I have a general understanding of the main event. I understand about the cost, but to be honest it seems a bit odd that the cost of the four regional events also happened to be the same... Are there any impact KPIs or process KPIs for each of these regional events?
Awesome proposal...
Budget Proposal Workshop Participant Feedback - Hosted by Japan Hub
Positive Feedback: ・Recognized as a valuable opportunity for business networking between developers and projects. ・The expansion to multiple regions, including Kenya, Las Vegas, and LATAM, was positively noted. ・“Would love to see participation in external events like WebX or Blockchain EXPO.”
Concerns / Trade-offs: ・The Summit was often perceived as an “inward-facing” event, with limited PR impact. ・Discomfort expressed over CF requesting Catalyst funding despite having substantial resources.
Representative Reactions: ・“The budget would be better spent on outward-facing marketing.” ・“Real-world presence in places like Dubai makes a difference.” ・“We saw the impact from Dubai for two consecutive years.”
We respectfully submit this feedback for your consideration.
Hi!
Let me ask you a few questions.
- Can you tell us what KPIs and targets the community can expect as a result of these events?
Can we know the target KPIs, rather than KPIs that are as process-focused as possible?
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Can we get more details from each vendor on the cost of events other than the FLAGSHIP Cardano Summit in particular? Is it a coincidence that the cost of hosting the events in the US, South America, Africa, and India is the same? The KPI targets will probably vary by country, as the number of developers in each country is likely to be different, and the market price will also be different. The idea of allocating the same amount regardless of results or market price with an awareness of equality would lead to financial inefficiency.
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The Cardano Foundation has conducted and is currently conducting many activities using Genesis ADA, but can you add the background to the decision to withdraw only Cardano Summit from the treasury without using Genesis ADA? How do you distinguish between cases where you use Genesis ADA and cases where you use treasury ADA?
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