Cardano YOD₳

Introducing the MANDA Staking Pool

After years of active involvement in the Cardano ecosystem, I’m launching my staking pool under the ticker MANDA.

My journey with Cardano began in 2017, and since then, my engagement with the project has steadily deepened.

With the introduction of on-chain governance, I became a DRep, which has further increased my responsibilities within the community.

I believe I’ve served the Cardano community well as a DRep—objectively, transparently, and with conviction. I now intend to bring the same dedication and integrity to the role of a SPO.

Initially, I held the view that the roles of SPO and DRep should remain distinct. However, the community has largely welcomed individuals who choose to fulfill both responsibilities.

Following this precedent, I am confident that the dual role can be handled constructively.

The MANDA staking pool is more than just an operational node—it’s an opportunity to deepen my commitment to Cardano.

Staking rewards will enable me to allocate more time toward ecosystem-related activities, including supporting projects that approach me for collaboration or guidance.

Launching a new pool in today’s saturated environment is undeniably a challenge. But challenges are not deterrents—they are calls to action. In that spirit: why not make waves?

As a Star Wars fan, you might know me as Cardano Yoda. Another favorite character? The Mandalorian.

That’s why MANDA is the ticker—this is the way!

MANDA Pool Parameters:

• Fixed fee: 340 ADA
• Margin: 4%
• Pledge: 10,000 ADA (with 100,000 ADA currently deposited into the pool)

If you believe in the values I represent and the direction I advocate for, please consider delegating ADA to MANDA. Every new delegator is deeply appreciated.

Pool ID:
pool1c3fjkls7d2aujud8y5xy5e0azu0ueatwn34u7jy3ql85ze3xya8

DRep ID:
drep1km69g7ksf8t5g0h9d9tkrcd2tezxelx0wtr76rv2mrkl5nzd6v3

Let’s move Cardano forward—together.

All DReps and the community are welcome to an interview with representatives from Trivolve Tech.

We will discuss their PFMS proposal.

WHEN: Tuesday, at 14:00-15:00 CET

Link to the Google meet is available on the platform.

drepcouncil.org/?event=35488b8…

As a DRep, I have decided to vote NO on the proposal: PFMS: Bringing Government Scale Adoption to Cardano” by Trivolve Tech.

My rationale:

First, I commend the team for building and operating a solution on Cardano. However, after reviewing the proposal and following the discussion, I do not believe it is ready for approval in its current form.

The proposal needs stronger evidence and a more transparent budget.

The Catalyst Pilot 2026 offers up to ₳200,000 per project and requires teams to substantiate their applications.

A proposal requesting ₳9.6 million directly from the Treasury should meet at least as high a standard of scrutiny. I am concerned by the imbalance between the evidence expected under these funding mechanisms.

DReps have raised many questions, with answers scattered across X and other discussions. I appreciate the team's efforts to respond, but the information needed to evaluate a request of this size should be presented clearly in the proposal and its supporting documents.

For example, I would like to see the FTEs and person-months budgeted for each area of ​​PFMS, the rates for different roles, and how the work and budget are distributed among Trivolve, Quixy, and other vendors.

Without this information, I cannot reliably assess whether the requested amount is reasonable.

The relationship between previous funding and the new work needs clarification.

The team previously received ₳550,000 through Catalyst for its Forensic Management System (FMS) project, which Catalyst records as complete.

The new PFMS proposal covers a broader scope and a different state, so additional funding is not automatically unjustified. Nevertheless, the team should clearly explain which existing components will be reused, what new work is required, and why that work warrants a substantially larger investment.

The proposal states that the government will cover transaction fees, infrastructure, and maintenance after deployment. I welcome that commitment. However, if the government commissions the system and benefits directly from it, I would also like to understand why it is not contributing to development costs. A co-funding arrangement could demonstrate shared commitment and reduce the burden on the Cardano Treasury.

Previous adoption projections need a clear explanation.

The original Catalyst proposal anticipated approximately one million cases and a similar number of Cardano transactions annually.

The current PFMS proposal reports more than 156,000 FMS transactions over its lifetime and approximately 11,000 per month. At that reported monthly rate, the system would generate around 132,000 transactions per year, well below the original projection.

Transaction counts alone do not tell us why the projection has not been reached. Before supporting another large investment, I would like the team to explain the difference and show how it has accounted for that experience in its new projection of more than 1.5 million transactions annually.

The team also has an ongoing Catalyst project.

IndianChain is a separate project focused on agricultural systems in Telangana. Catalyst records ₳570,000 allocated to it, with ₳460,000 distributed and four of six milestones completed at the time of review. The project is still listed as in progress.

Having more than one funded project is not inherently improper. However, before supporting a much larger Treasury request, I would like to see a clear account of progress across the team's existing commitments and an explanation of the resources available to deliver PFMS alongside them.

I encourage the team to use the feedback received during this governance process to strengthen the proposal and resubmit it with a more detailed budget, clearer evidence of government commitment and co-funding, an explanation of previous adoption results, and responses to the main questions raised by DReps.

If you'd like to support my work, consider delegating to the MANDA pool and backing me as a DRep. Your support is the only way I can get time for governance.

MANDA Pool ID:
pool1c3fjkls7d2aujud8y5xy5e0azu0ueatwn34u7jy3ql85ze3xya8

My DRep ID:
drep1y2m0g4r66pyaw3p7u454wc0p4f0ygm8ueaev0mgd3tvwm7sskqwqp

Buy me a beer:
pay.cexplorer.io/pay/c0410d5b23…

Three builders are registered on the DRep Council platform.

- Fairway
- RedStone
- Trivolve Tech

Link: drepcouncil.org/?view=submitte…

DReps, your action is required.

The DRep Council has thoroughly examined existing rationales and identified a set of questions that DReps want answered.

The Treasury Withdrawal Proposal Standard includes this set of questions.

DReps, builders, and the community are all invited to provide their input.

We will reach out to those interested in serving as domain stewards to ask for their feedback and opinions on using this template for their role.

Along with the template, we are providing an LLM-based tool that automatically checks whether the questions have been answered.

Having questions answered does not necessarily indicate quality. This is why many responses are flagged with the message "evidence missing."

I expect stewards to verify claims and facts, conduct on-chain analysis, assess demand, hold calls with teams, and so on.

Beyond their domain-specific expertise, stewards are expected to perform work that most DReps cannot undertake due to time constraints. At least, that is my expectation.

Furthermore, we have taken the size of the requested budget into account. We intend to implement a rule: the larger the requested budget, the more rigorous the questions the team must answer.

Securing a budget of around ₳200K from Catalyst is a significantly more demanding process than submitting an on-chain proposal requesting ₳10M.

It would be beneficial to unify standards across the entire ecosystem.

We created a tool that allows submitters to check their proposals before on-chain submitting. Once the proposal is submitted, we use exactly the same tool to provide public score.

Thus, submitters can ensure they answered all the questions that DReps need to decide.

Everyone is now invited to provide feedback on the template and join the discussion. Simply connect your Cardano wallet to leave comments on the proposal.

The mission of the DRep Council is to improve Cardano governance. Any active DRep is welcome to join at any time.

Link: drepcouncil.org/?view=internal…