Workshop - 11th April 2025 - Paris

Data Points

Key Learnings

🌍 Vision & Market Positioning

  • Cardano should aim to be the financial operating system of the world:

    • Foundation layer (L1) as a predictable, secure, immutable settlement layer.

    • Execution and scaling driven by L2s — tailored per use case.

    • Cardano’s brand should reflect trust, reliability, resilience, not just decentralization.

  • Decentralization is a means to an end → the value to users is security and resilience, not decentralization per se.

  • Cardano is well positioned for institutional and government adoption:

    • Predictable governance, stability, clear roadmap, no major forks → highly valued by institutional clients.

    • Opportunity for “governance as a service” — enabling governments and enterprises to run governance on Cardano.

  • Time horizons matter:

    • Next 2 years → ensure scaling and throughput to remain competitive.

    • Next 5–10 years → positioning for long-term adoption across enterprises and governments.


🏛 Governance & Ecosystem Evolution

  • Need for a clear, expert-driven, and transparent process to define and evolve the Cardano Vision & Roadmap.

    • Vision must be maintained as a living document, with ongoing iteration and community participation.

    • Balance between granular governance and trusted expert groups guiding technical decisions.

  • A key selling point of Cardano is participatory governance — customers can help shape the platform to fit their needs.

    • Important to maintain governance credibility and transparency to reinforce this value.

  • Risks:

    • DRep centralization → risk of a small number of representatives dominating governance.

    • Voter apathy → most ADA holders may delegate passively, weakening governance engagement.


🌱 Adoption Priorities & Market Fit

  • Identity and reputation solutions are underused — opportunity to better leverage existing DID infrastructure.

  • Use cases with clear traction and opportunity:

    • Governance tooling and participation (Burger Mania DAO example → fun entry point for new users).

    • Lead generation & contribution tracking (Andamio example → practical business applications of blockchain).

    • Security & malicious transaction prevention (Checkpoint example → valuable public good for the chain).

    • Supply chain traceability → clear real-world demand.

    • Government infrastructure → governments and their enabling partners are a key target market.

    • Enterprise trust needs → Cardano is perceived as a strong option due to stability and scientific rigor.

  • Cardano should aim to become an ecosystem of L2s optimized for different use cases, rather than pushing L1 to do everything:

    • Avoid making L1 too fast or too broad — focus on immutability, security, and scalability for L2 anchoring.

    • L2s can bring UX improvements and scale for retail use cases.

  • Interoperability will be critical long-term but often a secondary priority for initial MVPs.


⚠ Challenges & Barriers

  • Cost of transactions remains a barrier to some use cases (Andamio, Burger Mania).

  • Scaling — urgent need for L2 solutions to handle future demand.

  • Developer UX and tooling gaps — still friction points for new builders.

  • Complexity of UTXO model vs account-based systems — needs better abstractions for easier adoption.

  • Market positioning:

    • Cardano is perceived as secure and robust, but also slow.

    • Marketing should focus on security, predictability, reliability, and governance—not TPS or hype.


🛠 Product & Technical Learnings

  • New technical ideas explored:

    • Nested transactions (intent-based flows) could greatly enhance UX and security models (Checkpoint use case).

    • Protocol-level support for SPOs to gain revenue from L2s or contribute back to L1.

    • Layered branding strategy: Cardano L1 as “trusted base layer”, with visible apps/L2s delivering user experience.

  • Strong call for better reference implementations and GTMs (go-to-market playbooks) to help builders leverage Cardano capabilities effectively.

  • Discussion about L2-L1 economics:

    • How should L2s compensate L1 for usage?

    • How to ensure L1 remains sustainable as more activity shifts to L2s.


🌍 Community & Culture

  • Cardano ecosystem is seen as a scientific, trustworthy, community-driven platform → this is a unique differentiator.

  • Participants value the open, participatory discussions — want more such collaborative spaces to co-create the Vision.

  • Clear desire to share outcomes of Vision workshops publicly to build broader community understanding and trust.


Summary Narrative

  • Cardano is uniquely positioned to be the secure, predictable backbone of the blockchain world — the “operating system” under enterprise and government systems.

  • The ecosystem must embrace L2s to handle scaling and UX demands while keeping L1 focused and resilient.

  • Governance, security, and clear, trusted vision leadership are key differentiators.

  • Near-term focus → scaling, reference implementations, market-facing success stories.

  • Long-term focus → becoming the trusted base layer for enterprise, government, and meaningful public use cases.

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