Last week, the Cardano Foundation reported directly on the Cardano Blockchain, using its newly launched tool, Reeve. This is the first time the foundation has used on-chain infrastructure to publish verifiable financial data.
The 2024 report notes that $29.2 million has been allocated across three core focus areas of Cardano (ADA), including recruitment, operational resilience and education, starting from $19.2 million in 20223. As of the end of the year, the foundation had $659.1 million in assets, mostly derived from ADA, generating major revenues by staking 599.2 million ADA tokens.
The move to on-chain financial reporting was achieved through Reeve, a user-friendly interface that allows anyone to access, verify and interpret the foundation’s financial data without the need for deep technical expertise. This is part of a broader effort to expand the recent Chang Hard Fork fixed decentralized governance capabilities, a key step to enabling fully on-chain decisions within the Cardano ecosystem.
What I found interesting is that Reeve appears to be more than just a reporting dashboard. Rather, it is a signal that the blockchain community is mature. For years, critics have pointed out the opacity of the Web3 Foundation. With Reeve and The Chang Upgrade currently working in tandem, Cardano appears to be aiming to tackle its criticism head on with verifiable on-chain evidence.
However, transparency does not erase the sustainability challenges. The Treasury, which relies heavily on ADA staking fees, is still subject to market fluctuations. And while Cardano’s cash flow strategy seems cautious, it raises a broader question: what is long-term financial resilience like for the foundations of blockchains that rely heavily on their own tokens?
In the next Q&A, Cardano Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard talks with Crypto.news about the foundation’s reasons for moving Chang’s financial reporting, the impact of Chang upgrades, the impact of Impact, the Department of Cincinel-heavy Treasury risk management strategy, and the long-term sustainability of the risks of staking in the Remoneure Model.
read more: Did Cardano Reeve not know that the Audit Trail Wall Street needed it?
Here’s the complete Q&A with Frederik Gregaard:
Crypto.News: The Foundation chose to use Reeve to publish its financial report on the Cardano blockchain, highlighting its verifiability and accountability. What prompted this move to on-chain financial reporting? What benefits do on-chain reports offer in terms of transparency? Also, are there any tools that will help technical stakeholders audit and understand the data?
Frederik Gregaard: The Foundation has moved to On-Chain Reports to demonstrate its commitment to transparency and accountability as a manager in the open source ecosystem. Reeve allows organizations to publish financial statements in a chain and establish new standards for transparency, accountability and trust in financial reporting. By publishing Accounting On-Chain for 2024, stakeholders can easily access statements via Reeve’s user-friendly interface to view, filter and download readable versions of their data. We look forward to businesses worldwide using Reeve.
CN: The report mentions Chang Hard Fork as an important step to enable decentralized governance for Cardano. Chang Upgrade on Cardano’s roadmap is how important is the rise to community-driven governance, and when can the community expect to see a complete chain governance mechanism (such as votes and decisions by the Ministry of Finance) during action as a result of this fork?
FG: Chang Hard Fork represents one of the most important milestones since Cardano’s founding. With this shift to a fully decentralized governance model, we are on our path to becoming the world’s largest decentralized ecosystem. Cardano currently runs on a secure, distributed governance system that gives voice to all ADA holders. For more information, please click here.
CN: In 2024, the foundation allocated $29.2 million to core focus areas (recruitment, operational resilience, education) starting from $19.2 million reported in 2023. What is the increase in spending compared to the previous year? How do you measure the impact of these investments?
FG: $29.1 million is the total operating expenses for 2024. Allocation to the core focus area forms part of the overall operating expenses, resulting in $22.1 million. The increase in results compared to $2.9 million in 2023 reflects the foundation’s strengthened efforts on Chang Hard Fork, expanded education programs, and the new enterprise partnership.
The Foundation measures impact through tangible deliverables, including those engaged in the Cardano Blockchain Certified Associate Program, and the impacts that partnerships create. It will reach tens of thousands of employees with organizations such as Petrobras and SERPRO, and will build a network of concrete AI drugs, including partnerships with Masumi. The launch of Reeve is also an example of the great results coming from your investment.
CN: Foundation assets were $659.1 million as of the end of 2024, with 8.3% allocated in cash and the rest in crypto. Given the cipher-rich Ministry, how does the foundation approach risk management? Are there guidelines for diversifying assets and converting crypto into Fiat to fund operations? Also, do you want to avoid negatively affecting the market when using ADA Holdings for expenses?
We have built an investment approach to maintain foundation funding in the future, in line with statutory purposes, where we understand that blockchain adoption is a step-by-step process. Following cash flow matching strategies, it allows you to plan conversions from between cryptos in advance, helping to avoid forced sales and sudden market disruptions. Our financial plans are based on multiple market scenarios and are reviewed regularly. When selling ADAs or converting them to Fiat, proceed carefully and gradually to minimize the impact on the market.
CN: The report shows that the foundation’s major revenue stream comes from dyeing the ADA holdings of 599.2 million. How sustainable is it for nonprofits to resort to wagering rewards as a major factor in their revenue? What happens if ADA prices or network yields change dramatically? Are there any plans to develop other revenue streams and funding sources?
FG: Our core mission is to support the adoption of blockchains, and our financial strategy is built around this goal. Although compensation staking provides an important revenue stream, it actively explores additional revenue streams to diversify investments and strengthen the foundation’s long-term financial resilience.
