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Cardano Maintenance

Cardano Maintenance

Core platform maintenance, support, and operational infrastructure for the Cardano network.

The initiative details

The team behind the initiative

The opportunity

Every proposal in this portfolio depends on one thing: a stable, reliable, operational Cardano network. Maintenance is the foundation everything else is built on.

Cardano powers billions of dollars in value and thousands of applications across a global user base. Sustained maintenance keeps the codebase modern, secures the platform proactively, preserves performance gains, and gives the release process its predictability. This is stewardship at scale: the steady, disciplined engineering that keeps Cardano running and improving every day.

Our maintenance programme covers disaster recovery, knowledge sharing — including the Cardano Blueprint — security reviews, monitoring data, and performance metrics, all published transparently. Every other initiative within the ecosystem depends on this foundation: new features can only be safely delivered on a well-maintained platform.

The Initiative

Cardano Maintenance

Cardano Maintenance

This proposal secures continued support for the Cardano codebase and infrastructure from Q3 2026 through Q1 2027. It covers nine functional areas that together constitute the complete maintenance and support envelope for Cardano:

  • Node Bugfixing and Architecture: timely issue resolution, hot fixes, and architectural security reviews.
  • DevOps and Infrastructure: CI/CD system maintenance, OS and platform compatibility, Haskell compiler support, disaster recovery per CIP-135, bootstrap relay operations, and testnet maintenance.
  • Monitoring: mainnet monitoring for oversight and community, plus global mempool monitoring for congestion data and fee estimation.
  • Documentation: Cardano Blueprint comprehensive specifications covering consensus, network, ledger, and Plutus.
  • Open Source Support: GitHub issue triage, response, and integration of external contributions.
  • Performance: systematic ledger performance analysis, system-level node optimisations, benchmarking to safeguard releases and hard forks, and distributed cluster operations.
  • Quality Assurance: unit and property test maintenance, end-to-end testing framework and execution, conformance testing, and ledger testing improvements.
  • Release, Support and Security: full Node release process, L1/L2/L3 incident management with on-call support, and collaboration with the Intersect Security Council.
  • Component Maintenance: Plutus Core interpreter updates, DB-Sync consistency, Cardano High Assurance tools, third-party libraries, code modernisation, guardrails and CC identity script maintenance, and Cardano API/CLI upkeep.

All deliverables are continuous — they run for the full duration of the funded period. There is no sequential phasing or quarterly gating: maintenance activities are ongoing and parallel.

Treasury ask: ₳62,134,630

Who is building

This initiative is led by Michael Karg at Input Output Group, coordinated through Intersect. IO is collaborating with Ensurable Systems to deliver and sustain Cardano’s core maintenance and operational infrastructure. This partnership combines IO’s deep protocol knowledge with Ensurable’s specialist capabilities, as part of a broader commitment to distributing infrastructure stewardship across the Cardano ecosystem.

"People ask why Maintenance is the biggest line item. The answer is simple: everything else depends on it. Every stake pool operator, every DApp, every transaction on Cardano runs on the work this team does every day."
Michael KargInitiative Owner
"I've been running my stake pool Skepsis for 5+ years now. There have been numerous occasions where improvements to the node were welcomed with relief. There have been memory footprint improvements, security fixes, new features. We must keep maintaining the node, or we will not survive the next storm. Just as a ship without a skilled crew will eventually sink, no matter how robust it is made. We need to invest in the maintenance proposal with the right skilled team to continue to steer Cardano on a stable and secure course."
Christos PalaskasSkepsis Pool

Expected outcomes

  • Continuous network availability — robust bugfixing and disaster recovery ensure mainnet remains resilient against critical failures.
  • Enhanced onboarding and portability — Cardano Blueprint provides implementation-independent specifications that lower the barrier to entry for new builders and alternative node implementations.
  • Reliably high transaction throughput — system-level node and ledger optimisations lead to improved resource usage, faster block diffusion, and validation.
  • Predictable release cycles — a well-managed release process supported by CI, end-to-end, and performance testing ensures stable feature updates.
  • Robust smart contract execution — Plutus interpreter maintenance provides developers with a higher-performing and reliable environment for cost-efficient DApp execution.
  • Data-driven decision making — global mempool and network monitoring provide stakeholders with real-time congestion and performance data for fee estimation and infrastructure planning.
  • Hardened security posture — proactive architectural reviews and collaboration with the Security Council ensure swift threat identification and mitigation.
  • Accelerated incident resolution — structured L1/L2/L3 support ensures issues are triaged and resolved swiftly, maintaining ecosystem confidence.

Ecosystem Impact

Maintenance is the primary driver of Reliability (Monthly Uptime) and Scalability (Throughput Capacity). It also directly enables DRep Participation by guaranteeing the technical base for governance, and supports Alternative Full Node Clients through the Cardano Blueprint. Monthly Transactions, MAU, and Protocol Revenue all depend on a stable, well-maintained platform — maintenance is the condition that makes every other KPI achievable.

Governance links

Formal treasury proposal

The on-chain submission, read the full proposal text and rationale.

View the formal proposal

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