Cardano News

Input Output Global (IOG) explains how its Mithril protocol provides lightweight access to the Cardano blockchain. Mithril allows users and applications to verify the state of the chain quickly and securely without downloading its entire history. This is achieved through a stake-based multi-signature scheme where a quorum of stakeholders certifies snapshots of the blockchain. This significantly lowers resource usage, making it ideal for light wallets, mobile applications, and layer 2 solutions.

The report highlights consensus team fixes for Genesis and progress on Cardano Blueprint CDDL validation. Brave and IO are partnering to integrate Cardano into the Brave wallet. Plutus team advanced formal methods and modular-exponentiation testing. Scaling work included Leios simulations reaching 1,000 TPS and Mithril DMQ node advancements. The Cardano budget proposal was submitted on-chain as an info action, and FluidTokens launched Babel fees.

A retrospective video from Builder Fest #2 in Da Nang was highlighted, showcasing ecosystem collaboration. Discussions on governance and scaling were featured on the Crypto Bullseye Podcast, with a reminder that Constitutional Committee elections are open until May 31st. Updates include a summary of the Technical Steering Committee meeting, a new stake pool dynamics visualization tool, and a tutorial on multisig transactions.

Intersect announced its Q1 2025 committee election results on May 12, 2025. In these elections, 522 members, representing 27% of eligible voters, cast 11,839 ballots. A total of 119 candidates competed for 36 seats across eight committees, with the results independently audited by DQuadrant. This marks a significant step in the progress of Cardano's governance.

In this session of the Cardano Developer Office Hours, the team presents PoP (Proof of Provenance), a project to decentralize open-source development on Cardano. They cover risks of centralized infrastructure, using Cardano for verifiable software metadata, Merkle trees, and on-chain tracking. A live demo shows PoP in action. Use cases include secure versioning, on-chain test management, SPOs as decentralized oracles, and decentralized package tools.

Input Output Global (IOG) published a blog post, detailing native tokens within Cardano's Extended UTXO (EUTXO) model. The post explains how these tokens function without requiring smart contracts for creation or transfer, unlike account-based systems like Ethereum. This design offers enhanced security and reduced transaction fees for users. The article contrasts Cardano's approach with traditional ERC-20 tokens, emphasizing the inherent advantages of its native token implementation.

The report information, largely reflected in Intersect's update, highlights significant progress in governance processes. This includes the upcoming submission of a budget info action with 39 proposals for DRep voting in epoch 557, and the opening of candidate registration for the Constitutional Committee, running until May 31st. The report also noted a strong voter turnout for Q1 committee elections and an increase in DRep statistics. Additionally, community contributions such as the Lucid Evolution off-chain framework and the Midgard Protocol L2 solution were mentioned.

The report highlights the pre-release of Node v.10.4.1 with a production-ready UTXO-HD backend and consensus team advancements in testing models. Lace wallet v.1.22 launched, introducing Firefox browser support and Bitcoin integration (beta). Smart contract updates included strictness analysis for UPLC and PIR. The ecosystem saw continued growth in projects and DRep participation, with TapTools launching the Cardano Builder DAO and Metera mainnet going live.

The Cardano Foundation's blog post "Blockchain for Sustainability" explores how blockchain technology can enhance ecological and humanitarian efforts. It details applications in improving supply chain transparency, such as verifying ethically sourced products like fair-trade coffee. The post also covers promoting circular economy models by tracking product lifecycles and recycled content, exemplified by projects like Plastiks on Cardano. Furthermore, it discusses blockchain's role in the renewable energy sector through peer-to-peer energy trading and supporting microgrids, fostering verifiable and transparent sustainable practices.

The Community Digest highlights an explanation of how Bitcoin can interact with Cardano using zero-knowledge cryptography without custodians. It recaps BuilderFest #2 in Vietnam and covers recent Roundtable Talks discussing Interim Constitutional Committee learnings, development priorities, and stablecoin liquidity. Updates include LidoNation's blog on decentralized storage, EMURGO's guidance on budget voting, and Intersect's news on governance developments and upcoming committee elections.