‘Putting the Blockchain in the Hands of ADA Holders,’ Jack Briggs on Cardano’s Governance Evolution
Interview with Jack Briggs.
Cardano stands out in the crypto landscape for its unique approach, rooted in a scientific methodology emphasizing security, scalability, and sustainability through decentralization.
In 2023, Cardano entered the Voltaire Era, named after the Enlightenment thinker. This phase centers on governance and advances Cardano’s decentralized approach by enabling individuals holding ADA, Cardano’s native token, to participate directly in decision-making processes.
Intersect , a not-for-profit, member-based organization for Cardano, claims to foster community participation. According to its website, it focuses on developing Cardano as a self-sustaining ecosystem that provides “the necessary inclusive contributory opportunities to allow every member of Intersect to have their voice heard.”
The future of Cardano as a distinctive player in the crypto ecosystem has sparked both anticipation and debate.
According to Jack Briggs, Intersect Director, “many of the technical challenges (including future ones) have already been overcome,” referring to the guardrails deployed on the Cardano mainnet during the community’s Chang upgrade on 1st Sept. 2024.
Jack Briggs began his journey in crypto with Bitcoin in 2012, explored Ethereum in 2017, and joined the Cardano community in 2019. Since 2021, Briggs has been a key contributor to Cardano’s governance design. In an interview with CCN, he shared his views on Cardano and the role of Intersect in its development.
Three Pillars for a Decentralized Future
“Few chains have deployed on-chain governance, and none have done so quite like Cardano,” according to Briggs. He explained that Cardano’s governance approach was built on Cardano Improvement Proposal 1694, the backbone of Cardano’s governance system introduced in late 2022.
The proposal identified three core pillars for on-chain decision-making:
- Binding constitution
- Established institutions
- Democratic consent
Alongside Cardano’s constitution and institutions, democratic consent aims to improve on-chain outcomes, “underpinning the hard-end point of any governance system: voting,” Briggs stated.
Cardano’s proposal in 2022 set the framework, and the Chang upgrade in 2023 activated some of its core elements. Briggs emphasized how “the Chang upgrade enhances Cardano’s decentralization and marks a new frontier for the blockchain and all its participants,” allowing ADA holders to propose ideas, participate, and vote directly in governance without intermediaries. As a result, he said, it puts “the blockchain in the hands of all ADA holders.”
“With new roles coming to the community, such as Delegated Representatives (DReps) and the Constitutional Committee, Cardano is in strong shape to be perpetually future-proof and firmly under community control throughout,” Briggs stated.
He believes that “Cardano’s governance system uniquely positions itself to pave the way for how we can govern decentralized global financial and social infrastructure at scale.”
Cardano’s Community at Intersect
According to Briggs, “Intersect, through its members, influences and shapes Cardano’s future development path by proposing a product roadmap and budget while also supporting the evolution of Cardano’s on-chain governance features, including tooling.”
Intersect held its most recent Annual Members Meeting (AMM) in Lisbon in October 2024. The meeting was focused on “setting the stage for Intersect’s 2025 roadmap, ensuring that all stakeholders had access to essential information on what developments are on the horizon and the key areas they can participate in.”
According to Briggs, these meetings have provided accessible spaces for Cardano’s members globally to advance the blockchains’ governance journey and a “very constructive way of enhancing unity within the ecosystem.”
How Does Intersect work?
At a core level, Intersect currently has seven committees that aim to be community-led, with members actively influencing Cardano’s future.
- Civics Committee: Focuses on governance and community engagement.
- Membership and Community Committee (MCC): Manages member relations and community initiatives.
- Budget Committee: Manages financial planning and resource allocation.
- Product Committee: Guides product development and strategic direction.
- Parameter Committee (PC): Handles protocol parameters and system settings.
- Technical Steering Committee (TSC): Oversees technical development and infrastructure.
- Open Source Committee (OSC): Promotes open-source contributions and collaborations.
According to Briggs, the last two committees (6 and 7) are responsible for maintaining and managing Cardano’s core code. He pointed out that Intersect oversees more than 90 repositories (essentially digital libraries of code) that include everything from Cardano’s primary software, like the Haskell node (the core programming language), to tools for governance. All of this code is open source, meaning anyone can view, use, or contribute to it, promoting transparency and community collaboration.
Cardano’s Future
Briggs pointed out that “development contributions to core Cardano by organizations other than Input Output has increased by 179% – from 16.45% in 2023 to 45.97% in 2024.” He emphasized that members are now driving Cardano’s development. To track these shifts, Intersect recently partnered with Bitergia to analyze contributions across various repositories. Input Output | Global, an Intersect member, remains the primary contributor, but a growing number of community-based contributors are expanding the development efforts.
He explained that “from the beginning of Cardano’s roadmap, interoperability has been a key pillar, as it has been for many other chains. The benefits are easy to grasp; namely, allowing networks to communicate and interact with each other seamlessly.”
“Bridges and wrapped assets have been on Cardano for years, but a more recent and tangible example is Partner Chains, with the emergence of the Midnight network. Midnight is a new generation of blockchain technology, enabling apps that protect user, commercial, and transaction metadata. Its zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs offer utility without compromising data protection or ownership,” he continued.
Looking into the future, Briggs said that “Cardano’s 2025 (and beyond) roadmap may include features to be researched and developed such as quantum resistance properties to consensus upgrades such as Ouroboros Leios – all with community consent.”
“Naturally, as Cardano scales, maintaining the key principles that underpin an on-chain governance structure, (such as community involvement and accessibility) will prove more difficult as more people get involved in the decision-making process. Equally, embracing new challenges and increased participation is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Intersect is still in its first year, and the achievements so far have demonstrated a strong foundation to build into next year and the following 10!”, he concluded.
