Nick Cook

Interim Director of Operations at @IntersectMBO helping the community to drive the future of Cardano through decentralized governance!

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

@DiscoverCardano 👏👏 nice work!

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

@astroboysoup @tweagio @ada_stat @BikeIDNumber 👏👏

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

@shaggyrax @IntersectMBO @JBriggsLondon Have passed this on to the membership team to reach out.

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

@DeOpenSourceGuy Good luck in your new role Christian and thanks for the kind words. You grew, learned and progressed a great deal at Intersect and I hope this serves you well moving forward 🙏

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

@blinklabs_io Great work! Love to see this 👏

[Anzens Official @AnzensOfficial]

Breaking the Barriers of Global Settlement

The first cup of coffee paid for with $USDA on Cardano has been served in Kenya, settled in real-time, directly to this merchant’s M-Pesa wallet in Nairobi.

This pilot confirms that the Cardano network can handle the speed and integration required for everyday retail.

And that's not all. This demo is just one piece of a larger infrastructure. This wallet pilot already supports:

> Instant Fiat-to-Fiat: Seamless transfers across Africa.
> USDA-to-Fiat: Direct conversion for real-world spending at almost every retailer
> Multi-Currency Support: Instant payments to 7 different fiat currencies.

Using a credit card internationally would have cost over 14% in fees, plus 5 days in settlement for the Merchant.

With USDA, fees were under 1% and settled instantly.

Our goal is to bring this liquidity to emerging markets worldwide, removing the friction of traditional cross-border payments.

The wallet is entering final stages of testing and will launch in the coming weeks.

[Anzens Official @AnzensOfficial]

The Cardano Africa Tech Summit has wrapped up, and it's a bittersweet moment. We have been overwhelmed by the demand and support for $USDA.

The conversations we had this week confirmed what we already believed: Africa doesn't need to wait for legacy financial systems to catch up.

Builders here are ready for stablecoin infrastructure that actually works for them.

@Shantnoo6 took the stage with @NC_IntersectMBO, @BRIGHTZEED, @planetmaaz, and @AI4Peace for our "Turning Blocks to Solutions" panel, and the response said it all. Real questions.

Real use cases. Real urgency.

We'll be sharing much more about the collaborations and partnerships that came out of this trip.

Stay tuned, you're gonna love what comes next.

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

@QuasarSure @IntersectMBO @Intersect_MCC Community hubs are still running, but are currently not funded. Their budget application didn't get voted through in 2025. As for Catalyst, this hasn't ever been within the remit of the MCC.

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

@adamKDean @ShaolinPunked77 I never had you down as a FOOTBALL fan! You need to come to Selhurst Park to watch the mighty Crystal Palace next time you’re in London 🦅🔴🔵

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

@lilybrodi @IOHK_Charles 💪🎉

[Intersect @IntersectMBO]

With the consent of his family, we're deeply saddened to share the news that Max van Rossem has passed away while in Japan. He died peacefully in his sleep from heart failure.

Max was a much-loved member of the Cardano community, always thoughtful, generous, sharp-minded, and deeply committed to those he worked alongside.

He made significant contributions to the development of Cardano’s constitution and to many of the governance discussions and optimizations that will help shape the network’s future.

Many of us will be deeply saddened by his passing. At this time, we ask that everyone continue to respect the privacy of his family and the grief of his close friends, as they navigate this unimaginably sad and hard time.

Our thoughts are with all who knew and loved Max.

[Carlos Lopez de Lara @carloslodelar]

Hey Cardano!

Calling all Stake Pool Operators! We're hosting a series of focused discussions to map out the current SPO landscape, understand your needs, and dive into the incentive mechanism.

This project is funded by the community & administered by @IntersectMBO. Your feedback is crucial.

Sessions are limited to 15 participants to keep the conversation focused.

All schedules and registration: https://t.co/7URnZfJUEF

#SPOs #Staking #Blockchain #Governance

[Carlos Lopez de Lara @carloslodelar]

Hey!

Here are the numbers directly from the node:

Epoch 579
DRep: 78.19%
SPO: 53.71%

Epoch 578
DRep: 69.21%
SPO: 38.77%

The governance action will be enacted after one more full epoch, at the epoch boundary of 580/581.

- The proposal reached the threshold in the current epoch (579). However, due to the maximum term length of 146 epochs, the Constitutional Committee (CC) term cannot exceed epoch 725 at this time. The proposal has some new CC members with their terms set to epoch 726.

- In the next epoch, 726 will fall within the maximum term limit, so ratification is expected at the 579/580 boundary, with enactment at the 580/581 boundary.

- To prevent future confusion, the node will expose a query to show it's calculations, making the process transparent. This will require some refactoring and won’t be available immediately.

We will also draft a CIP to standardize how these calculations should be performed so that tools can have an easier life implementing dashboards, and reports.

[Intersect @IntersectMBO]

Intersect Update - We're aware of discrepancies in how community tools report the governance action to replace the Interim Constitutional Committee, with different tools displaying the action in different states.

Intersect and partners are investigating to ensure clarity and accuracy, and we’ll share an update once the cause is confirmed.

[Intersect @IntersectMBO]

Time to vote!

The interim CC expires Sept 6. To keep Cardano’s on-chain governance fully operational, we need 67% from DReps and 51% from SPOs. Cast your vote before Sept 1.

See the update-committee action ➡️ https://t.co/cDzlGibHlN

Voting guides ➡️ https://t.co/OTeEP6IjrV

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

You can’t argue with this! @IntersectMBO @IOHK_Charles @br1_lorenzo

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

Great to see some of our @IntersectMBO Enterprise Members here at @RareEvo @IagonOfficial

[Intersect @IntersectMBO]

It’s been a hot week already at @RareEvo. With the main event kicking off tomorrow, here’s what to catch over the next couple of days:

1⃣ Committee members will be presenting what they think are the next set of challenges and priorities for the Cardano ecosystem.

2⃣ Join us for the first in-person board meeting with the executive team on Friday at 09:30 in Room Siena at Caesars. Afterwards, swing by our booth at 15:00 for a "meet the board" hour!

3⃣ All weekend, we’re teaming up with @claymates at our booth for exclusive merch and more. Come meet the Clay team and say hi!

4⃣ Hydra is back in action, and we’re proud to support @DripDropz_io with their vending machine demo. Collect points and redeem for serious prizes 👀

5⃣ And there's more partnerships - meet the team behind @thecardanocard and get the latest on their roadmap.

6⃣ On Saturday from 13:00 (local time), tune in live as @JBriggsLondon, @Quantumplation, and @IOHK_Charles dive into treasury management, smart contracts, and effective administration.

See you there!

[Nick Cook @NC_IntersectMBO]

Today is a momentous day for Cardano and the community. At today’s epoch boundary, @IntersectMBO was one of 30 budget proposals which have now been ratified. Whilst the path was certainly not linear, today serves as a huge proof point that Cardano’s governance is working. This is a success that we should all share in and celebrate.

Over the last few months, we’ve done a lot of listening and refocusing on direct ecosystem and Intersect member engagement. We’ve received a great deal of positivity in our efforts here and would like to thank everyone for their renewed support. The passing of our proposal demonstrates a level of trust to continue moving forward in our role to act as a facilitator and coordinator, implementing and strengthening Cardano governance.

A huge thank you to those who have provided support, constructive criticism and simply your valuable time to help us reshape Intersect. We still have a way to go on our journey of transformation and continual improvement to ensure that we deliver the best Intersect for Cardano and you, the community and are committed to doing this over the next 12 months!

@Cardano @RareEvo