Hello beautiful soul!
Did you know? The Project Catalyst team runs one of the busiest customer service helpdesks in the Cardano ecosystem, having just hit 5,000 support tickets for the year.
When you look at that number on a dashboard, it looks like “velocity.” It looks like efficiency. And I am incredibly proud of the team for hitting that volume.
But when I take a step back and reflect on what those 5,000 tickets actually represent, the story offers yet another perspective.
That’s 5,000+ conversations, puzzles, and - let’s be honest - frustrations.
Hitting such a milestone is a cool stat, but I know what it also really means: countless times a user, community member, encountered friction and needed us to bridge the gap.
In Operations, it is easy to get obsessed with the “fix.” We want to close the ticket, lower the time-to-resolution, and move on. But real value isn’t just in the fix; it’s in the listening.
We aren’t perfect yet. Neither is the product. But every single one of those tickets taught us something about how to be better.
Operations is not for the faint-hearted. It is the engine room where the messy reality of “scaling” actually happens. But once you crack the code - transforming that friction into trust - there is no turning back.
To our communities: We promise to keep showing up, listening, and fixing. Thanks for trusting us with the messy parts. 
Kindly,
Danny Ribar
Head of Community Operations (let’s connect on X; LinkedIn)
The Clock is Ticking: Phase 1 Ends Dec 15
We are deep in the Community Review phase. If you are a registered reviewer or bounty moderator, this is your final push.
- Deadline: You have until December 15, 6AM UTC to submit your feedback.
- Next Steps: As soon as the window closes, Community Moderators will step in (Dec 15 – Jan 5) to ensure all feedback was fair and high-quality.
Want to see the proposals?
Even if you aren’t reviewing, you can see exactly what has been submitted. We have released the preliminary data for transparency. Download the official CSV here or you can browse the pre-moderated selection directly on projectcalyst.io website here.
Note: These proposals are currently being moderated against the Fund Rules and Category Briefs. Team has also reached out to all Tier1 partner track proposals to validate their entry credentials. Final selection will be made available once entire Community Review ends, just ahead of voting window in the first two weeks of January 2026.
Looking Ahead: Voting Registration
The Snapshot is coming. To vote on the final ballot, you must be registered by Jan 4, 2026 (@ 9:45 PM UTC). Don’t wait until the last minute - check your eligibility now.
Town Hall With Fay
This week’s Catalyst Town Hall with Fay Addams brought a major focus to USDMOfficial, Cardano’s fiat-backed stablecoin developed by Moneta, highlighting its role in strengthening real-world utility across the ecosystem. James Meidinger joined the Town Hall for a detailed discussion on how USDM is positioned to accelerate Cardano’s next wave of growth.
Special Tribute:
We took a moment to honor Matthew Plomin for his foundational work and dedication that helped shape a pivotal chapter in Cardano’s evolution. Watch the full town hall and explore the presentation deck for all the details.
What’s Next in the Town Hall Series?
Next week, Trivolvetech is joining the Town Hall to share an update on their project.
They are using Cardano’s blockchain and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) to build an immutable, tamper-proof chain of custody for forensic evidence. This is more than just tech. It’s a solution for a critical societal problem: guaranteeing evidence integrity in judicial proceedings where a case can hang in the balance.
Why tune in?
- Massive Impact: See Cardano at work on a real societal challenge with the potential to expand across all Indian states - a project that could handle over a million cases per year.
- Boost Utility: Learn how this initiative will significantly boost Cardano’s real-world adoption and utility by making it an essential part of the global legal system.
- Hear It First: Get the chance to hear directly from the team, understand the technology, and contribute your voice to a project making a difference.
Join us next week on December 17th at 3 PM UTC and be part of the future of on-chain justice by signing up here.
This will also mark the last TH for the year as we all pause for holiday break and slow down activities.
Milestone Program Updates
Following the recent tooling upgrade to the Milestone Module, team continues to improve and iterate. Great news for both Funded Proposers AND Milestone Reviewers - there’s now an update that removes a major friction point in the @Catalyst_onX workflow.
THE PROBLEM
In the past, adjusting a project timeline required a heavy administrative lift:
• Proposers had to manually re-enter data and resubmit their outstanding Statement of Milestones (SoM).
• Reviewers had to wait to re-approve that document before work could continue.
• The Result: It was slow, frustrating, and prone to accidental editing errors.
THE FIX
Over the past weekend, team has put their heads together and have implemented a solution. Effective immediately, we have dramatically streamlined this flow. Now, when a timeline Change Request (CR) is approved by the Catalyst Team, we update the dates directly on the backend. Which wasn’t an option until now.
THE RESULT
For Proposers: No more manual data entry. You don’t need to resubmit your SoM or adjust dates one by one. Once your CR is approved, your timeline updates automatically so you can focus immediately on your Proof of Achievement.
For Reviewers: No more “re-approval” steps for simple date changes. The administrative bottleneck is gone, meaning you will see the actual Proof of Achievement return to your queue much faster.
FOR EVERYONE: A faster turnaround time. Less paperwork, more building.
LOOKING AHEAD: To keep timelines in check, we are working on a future update where projects overdue by 3+ months will automatically pause until a CR is filed. If projects won’t re-adjust their project deliverables in time - they risk automatic cancellation. We’ll share more details on that soon! Thank you all for the feedback that led to this improvement.
Beyond the Newsletter
That’s all for now. To get a behind-the-scenes look and catch all the latest news as it happens, follow us on our social channels below.
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Note: References in this newsletter to the 3rd party projects, products, and services are provided for information purposes only and are not endorsements. Everyone should carry out their own investigations before relying on the information provided in this newsletter.