This governance action requests a 12-month productive treasury deployment of 7,500,000 ADA into Strike Finance liquidity infrastructure.

This is not grant funding. Treasury-owned capital would be deployed to deepen Cardano-native perpetual futures liquidity, increase on-chain trading activity, and generate yield for the Cardano Treasury.

Strike has processed over $1,000,000,000 in cumulative volume, facilitated 800,000+ transactions, generated over 14,000,000 ADA for liquidity providers, distributed over $1,100,000 back to the Cardano community through fee-funded staking rewards, and represented over 50% of Cardano trading activity during the past six months.

| Allocation | Amount | Purpose | | ----------------------- | ------------: | ------------------------------------------------------- | | V1 ADA-native liquidity | 3,000,000 ADA | Support existing ADA-denominated liquidity | | V2 stablecoin liquidity | 4,500,000 ADA | Support scalable execution depth and stablecoin markets |

For modeling, V2 assumes ADA = USD 0.25, making 4,500,000 ADA approximately USD 1,125,000 of stablecoin liquidity. Actual stablecoin notional will depend on the conversion price at deployment and will be transparently reported.

Under conservative modeled assumptions, the full deployment is expected to generate approximately 1,350,000 ADA-equivalent in annual yield. Assuming no ADA price change, this would increase the treasury-owned position from 7,500,000 ADA to approximately 8,850,000 ADA-equivalent over 12 months.

These are modeled estimates, not guaranteed returns. Market direction, stablecoin pricing, open interest, liquidity utilization, and vault PnL may affect realized results.

Custody will be handled through an independent multisig with:

| Keyholder | Affiliation | | --------- | ----------- | | James | Moneta | | Rami | Snek | | Phil | Surf |

Strike Finance will not have unilateral custody or control of treasury assets.

Realized yield from the first six months will be returned to the Cardano Treasury at month 6. At month 12, 100% of treasury-owned deployed assets, including remaining principal and realized yield, will be returned to the Cardano Treasury. Any further treasury participation would require a new governance proposal.

Perpetual futures markets represent one of the largest categories of global digital asset trading activity. More than 75% of cryptocurrency trading activity now occurs through perpetual futures markets.

If Cardano intends to compete as a globally relevant financial ecosystem, it needs derivatives infrastructure capable of supporting meaningful liquidity, strong execution, and sustained trader participation.

Today, a meaningful portion of derivatives trading demand from Cardano users leaves the Cardano ecosystem for centralized exchanges and competing blockchain ecosystems. This causes liquidity, fees, trader attention, and financial activity to move outside Cardano.

Strike Finance addresses this by providing Cardano-native perpetual trading infrastructure.

The demand has already been demonstrated. Strike has:

• Processed more than USD 1B in cumulative trading volume
• Facilitated more than 800,000 transactions
• Generated more than 14M ADA for liquidity providers
• Consistently ranked among the largest contributors to Cardano trading activity
• Accounted for more than 50% of Cardano trading activity over the past six months

The primary bottleneck to further growth is liquidity depth.

Recent V2 data shows the relationship between stablecoin liquidity and Strike trading activity. In the V2 dashboard period from 2026-03-20 to 2026-05-22 UTC, Strike's stablecoin treasury/liquidity base grew from USD 66.6K to USD 1.11M. During that same period, V2 produced:

| V2 Metric | Public Data From 2026-03-20 to 2026-05-22 UTC | | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------: | | Total V2 volume | USD 27.75M | | 30-day V2 volume | USD 21.75M | | 7-day V2 volume | USD 5.57M | | Total V2 trades | 221.5K | | 30-day V2 trades | 175.7K | | Total V2 users | 1,950 | | Latest daily active users | 115 | | Total V2 revenue | USD 13.1K | | Stablecoin treasury/liquidity growth | USD 66.6K to USD 1.11M |

The same V2 stablecoin liquidity proposal reported that SLP, the Strike Liquidity Provider vault supporting V2 market making, was already active with:

| SLP Metric | Reported Value | | -------------------- | -------------: | | Current TVL | USD 821.7K | | All-time deposits | USD 1.15M | | All-time withdrawals | USD 338.4K | | Net deposits | USD 806.8K | | Total PnL | USD 14.9K | | All-time return | 2.62% | | APR | 20.16% | | Sharpe ratio | 3.64 | | Max drawdown | 1.15% | | Depositors | 166 | | Leader commission | 0 bps |

These figures are not presented as proof that liquidity alone guarantees future volume or yield. They show that Strike V2 already has a measurable stablecoin liquidity flywheel: as available stablecoin liquidity increased, the protocol supported higher trading activity, fee generation, and a live vault with public performance history.

Greater liquidity supports:

• Tighter spreads
• Deeper execution
• Larger position capacity
• Better trader retention
• More on-chain trading activity
• More fee generation for liquidity providers
• Stronger Cardano-native DeFi infrastructure

This creates a direct ecosystem flywheel:

More liquidity -> better execution -> more traders -> more volume -> more yield -> stronger Cardano DeFi

This proposal also gives the Cardano Treasury a way to become more productive. Instead of leaving a portion of treasury assets idle, treasury capital can be deployed into transparent Cardano-native liquidity infrastructure with the objective of earning yield for the ecosystem.

This matters because Cardano should not only spend treasury funds on ecosystem growth. It should also test accountable ways for treasury assets to generate value back to the ecosystem.

Where treasury-owned ADA remains in ADA-denominated positions or is temporarily held prior to deployment, and where delegation can be performed without compromising liquidity, custody, or risk controls, staking rewards will also be treated as treasury-owned value. Any such staking rewards will be transparently reported and returned to the Cardano Treasury as part of the treasury-owned position.

This structure helps keep value creation inside Cardano rather than allowing trading activity, liquidity demand, and yield opportunities to migrate to other chains or centralized venues.

Market Context: Perpetuals Are Crypto's Strongest Product-Market Fit

Perpetual futures are one of the clearest examples of product-market fit in crypto. Across centralized and decentralized venues, perps have become the dominant way crypto traders express directional views, hedge exposure, use leverage, and deploy capital efficiently.

Public market data shows the scale of the category:

| Market Data Point | Reported Figure | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------: | | Top 10 perpetual swap exchange volume in 2025 | USD 92.9T | | Year-over-year growth of top 10 perpetual swap exchange volume in 2025 | +64.6% | | Top 11 perp CEX average monthly volume in first four months of 2026 | USD 4.69T | | Top 12 perp DEX average monthly volume in first four months of 2026 | USD 611.57B | | Perp DEX volume in 2025 | USD 6.38T | | Perp DEX volume in 2024 | USD 1.50T | | Perp DEX:CEX volume ratio peak in 2025 | 13% in November 2025 | | Perp DEX:CEX volume ratio in April 2026 | 10% | | Perp DEX open interest share as of April 30, 2026 | 13.5% | | Total crypto open interest as of April 30, 2026 | USD 99.09B |

This market structure matters for Cardano because liquidity tends to concentrate where execution is deepest, spreads are tightest, and traders can size positions reliably. If Cardano does not support competitive perpetual trading infrastructure, a large portion of trader activity, fee generation, and liquidity demand will continue to leave the ecosystem for centralized exchanges and other chains.

The goal of this proposal is not to argue that Cardano should subsidize trading indefinitely. The goal is to use a time-limited treasury deployment to help Cardano compete in one of crypto's highest-demand market categories while requiring that all treasury-owned principal and realized yield return to the treasury.

Strike's Organic Growth Relative to the Market

Strike Finance has already reached meaningful scale without a treasury-backed liquidity program.

| Strike Metric | Current Figure | | ---------------------------------------------------- | -------------: | | Cumulative trading volume | Over USD 1B | | Latest 30-day combined volume | USD 122.57M | | Transactions facilitated | Over 800,000 | | ADA generated for liquidity providers | Over 14M ADA | | Current SLP APR | 20.83% | | 30-day SLP APR | 19.98% | | SLP depositors | 170 | | Share of Cardano trading activity over last 6 months | Over 50% |

This is strong organic traction inside Cardano, but it remains small compared with the global perp market. DeFiLlama's public perps dashboard reported approximately USD 588B in 30-day perp DEX volume across tracked protocols, with the largest protocol alone reporting approximately USD 188B in 30-day volume.

That comparison is important. Strike does not need treasury support because demand is unproven. Strike needs deeper liquidity because product-market fit exists, and liquidity is the main constraint preventing Cardano-native perps from competing at a larger scale.

Strike has also already shown early signs of cross-chain trader attraction. Strike's largest trader by volume to date came from the Ethereum ecosystem, demonstrating that traders outside Cardano are willing to use Cardano-native infrastructure when the product and liquidity meet their needs. This is strategically important because Cardano growth should not only come from existing Cardano users trading with each other. It should also come from attracting external traders, volume, and liquidity into Cardano.

12-Month Objective: Top-20 Perps Protocol Trajectory

This proposal should be evaluated as a temporary liquidity acceleration mechanism, not a permanent treasury dependency.

At the end of the 12-month deployment period, Strike Finance aims to rank as a top-20 perpetuals protocol across the broader crypto market, measured by public volume rankings such as DeFiLlama's perps leaderboard and comparable market data sources.

This is an ambitious target. Current public perp rankings show that top-tier protocols process billions of dollars in monthly volume. Reaching that level requires more than treasury liquidity. It requires:

• Sustained organic trader growth
• Competitive execution quality
• Deeper open interest capacity
• Cross-chain user acquisition
• Strong risk controls
• Reliable reporting
• Market maker and liquidity provider confidence
• Continued protocol performance without ongoing treasury support

The purpose of this deployment is to help Strike cross the liquidity threshold required to compete for that market. By the end of the 12-month term, the intended outcome is that Strike has enough liquidity depth, external trader participation, protocol volume, and ecosystem momentum to continue scaling without requiring additional treasury assistance.

If the deployment does not produce a credible path toward top-20 competitiveness and independent growth, renewal should not be assumed. Any continued treasury participation would require a new governance proposal, new public review, and updated performance data.

Proposal Terms

| Term | Detail | | --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | Requested amount | 7,500,000 ADA | | Duration | 12 months | | Structure | Productive liquidity deployment | | Grant funding | No | | Treasury ownership | Treasury retains ownership throughout deployment | | Midpoint distribution | Realized yield returned at 6 months | | Final return | Principal + remaining realized yield returned at 12 months | | Strike custody | Strike will not have unilateral custody or control | | Oversight | Independent multisig and public reporting | | Future participation | Requires a new governance proposal after 12 months |

Deployment Framework

The deployment will be divided between existing ADA-native liquidity infrastructure and newer stablecoin-denominated scalable liquidity infrastructure.

| Deployment Area | Amount | Purpose | | ---------------------------------------- | ------------: | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | V1 ADA-native infrastructure | 3,000,000 ADA | Support Strike's existing ADA-denominated liquidity infrastructure | | V2 stablecoin-denominated infrastructure | 4,500,000 ADA | Support scalable liquidity depth and execution capacity |

The V1 allocation is intended to support ADA-native liquidity infrastructure where returns are denominated in ADA.

The V2 allocation is intended to support stablecoin-denominated liquidity infrastructure. For modeling purposes, this assumes an ADA reference price of USD 0.25, making the V2 allocation approximately USD 1,125,000 in stablecoin notional. Actual stablecoin notional will depend on the ADA conversion price at deployment and will be publicly reported.

Expected Yield Model

| Deployment | Amount | Modeled APR | Estimated Annual Yield | | ----------------------------------- | -----------------------: | ----------------------: | ------------------------------------: | | V1 ADA-native liquidity | 3,000,000 ADA | 30% ADA-denominated APR | 900,000 ADA | | V2 stablecoin-denominated liquidity | 4,500,000 ADA-equivalent | 10% USD-denominated APR | ~USD 112,500 / 450,000 ADA-equivalent | | Total | 7,500,000 ADA | Mixed | ~1,350,000 ADA-equivalent |

The V1 modeled return is based on a 30% ADA-denominated APR assumption. Historical realized returns have exceeded this level during periods of elevated trading activity, but future returns are not guaranteed.

The V2 modeled return assumes a 10% USD-denominated APR on approximately USD 1,125,000 of stablecoin-denominated liquidity, using an ADA reference price of USD 0.25.

Under these modeled assumptions, total annual ecosystem yield would be approximately 1,350,000 ADA-equivalent.

Treasury Yield Distribution Model

Strike Finance proposes the following treasury-aligned distribution structure:

| Timing | Distribution | | ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Month 6 | Realized yield generated during the first six months returned directly to the Cardano Treasury | | Months 6-12 | Remaining deployed capital continues supporting liquidity infrastructure | | Month 12 | 100% of treasury-owned deployed assets, including remaining principal and realized yield, returned to the Cardano Treasury |

For V1 ADA-native liquidity, this means the return of ADA-denominated treasury principal and all remaining realized ADA-denominated yield.

For V2 stablecoin-denominated liquidity, this means the return of treasury-owned stablecoin principal and all remaining realized stablecoin-denominated yield, with transparent ADA-equivalent reporting based on the applicable reference price at the time of reporting.

Custody and Governance Oversight

Treasury assets will be governed by an independent multisig structure with keyholders from established Cardano ecosystem participants:

| Keyholder | Affiliation | | --------- | ----------- | | James | Moneta | | Rami | Snek | | Phil | Surf |

Strike Finance will not have unilateral access to treasury funds during the deployment period.

Throughout the deployment period:

• Treasury principal remains ecosystem-owned
• Treasury deployment remains publicly auditable
• Governance maintains withdrawal authority
• Deployment activity is reported publicly
• Realized and unrealized PnL are reported separately
• Any material risk event is disclosed

Any treasury funds temporarily held by administrators or intermediary custody infrastructure prior to deployment will remain segregated within independently auditable accounts administered according to applicable Cardano governance standards.

Risk Summary

This proposal carries financial risk for the Cardano Treasury. The treasury may earn less than modeled, experience drawdown, or underperform a simple hold-ADA strategy depending on market conditions.

The primary risks are:

| Risk | Explanation | | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------