ADA is now part of the U.S. Crypto Strategic Reserve alongside BTC and ETH. A new staking rewards calculator has been released, featuring Monte Carlo simulations and real-time data. Additionally, a documentary covers the Cardano Constitution, from the 2024 convention to its on-chain ratification in February 2025.

A Roundtable Talk on February 25, 2025, focused on the Cardano budgeting process and the implications of the proposed Net Change Limit. The session aimed to educate the community on this treasury governance mechanism, which sets a yearly withdrawal cap. Experts discussed the risks of allocating budgets without a predefined limit and fostered an open discussion to empower community members in shaping structured and sustainable on-chain financial governance.

Cardano Buidler Fest #2 is scheduled for April 24–25, 2025, in Da Nang, Vietnam. A key proposal by Andrew Westberg suggests reducing the treasury tax rate from 20% to 10% to adjust fund allocation. Additionally, Intersect MBO has released draft budget proposals for feedback, covering Research and Growth and Marketing strategies to encourage community input.

Insights into decentralization post-Plomin hard fork and a comprehensive guide to stablecoins are featured. Project Catalyst has released its 2025 roadmap, while an interview with the FluidTokens CTO explores Bitcoin DeFi and liquidity. Updates also include EMURGO's latest developments and the 2025 Ecosystem Guide, encouraging engagement in ongoing governance actions.

On January 29, 2025, Cardano transitioned to full community governance with the Plomin hard fork, approved by stake pool operators and the interim constitutional committee. This historic event marks the first community-driven hard fork in blockchain history, stemming from CIP-1694 developed over two years with extensive community input. Ada holders can now propose and vote on governance actions directly or through delegated representatives (DReps). Post-Plomin, staking rewards continue as usual; however, withdrawing them requires delegation to a DRep or selecting a predefined option. This milestone signifies a new era of decentralized decision-making for Cardano.

The Plomin hard fork is a key upgrade for Cardano, enabling full decentralized governance under the Voltaire era. It allows ada holders to delegate voting power to DReps for decisions on protocol updates, treasury withdrawals, and hard forks. SPOs must upgrade their nodes and achieve a 51% majority vote for activation. With 78% of nodes upgraded as of January 22, 2025, Plomin marks a milestone for community-driven control.

All node users and operators are urged to upgrade to version 10.1.4 to prepare for the Plomin hard fork, with 85% of blocks already using this version. The Interim Constitutional Committee is reviewing the governance action, requiring a two-thirds majority by January 25. Additionally, Delegated Representatives (DReps) have been introduced on the community forum, alongside discussions regarding the network's minimum pool cost.

The January 6, 2025, Cardano Community Digest calls on SPOs to vote on the Plomin Hard Fork, which introduces Protocol Version 10 for governance and technical upgrades. With 83.13% of staked ada yet to vote, 51% participation is needed. The Digest also spotlights LOGIC, a stake pool supporting projects like NEWM and Aiken, showcasing community and technical contributions.

The December 23, 2024, Digest highlights Catalyst Fund 13 results, with 2.5 billion ada funding 199 projects through 311,000 votes. Governance decentralization and community input were key discussion points. The Messari Q3 2024 report noted a 31.2% revenue decrease, a 13.3% increase in DeFi TVL to $231.6M, and a 145.5% rise in USDM’s market cap to $7.9M.

A Roundtable Talk on December 17, 2024, explored the role of large voters and DeFi protocols in Project Catalyst F13. The discussion featured insights on how major stakeholders like Minswap, Liqwid, and the Cardano Foundation evaluate and vote on proposals. It delved into the challenges and impact of stake-based governance and DeFi protocols borrowing voting power, examining the lessons shaping Cardano's one-ada-one-vote framework.