Welcome to the Cardano Community Digest!
Published by the Cardano Foundation Community Team every two weeks, this Digest will provide you with news, updates and events about the project and ecosystem!
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In this edition of the Community Digest, we highlight the first Cardano Hackathon Asia during India Blockchain Week, featuring multiple tracks and $65K in prizes. We spotlight Cardano content creators Learn Cardano, Cardano with Paul, and Linda for their educational updates. Also featured: Developer Office Hours and Cardano Seminars on CIP-113, Veridian, and Gero Wallet on crypto cards, the ₳70M Cardano Critical Integrations Budget X‑Space, Input Output’s rebrand and Cavefish protocol, Project Catalyst Fund15 entering review, the Cardano Foundation’s Holiday Season Developer Challenge, and the Midnight Foundation NIGHT token launch. All this and more in today’s Digest.
Spotlight: Cardano Hackathon Asia IBW 2025
On December 3–5, 2025, the first Cardano Hackathon Asia, held in Bangalore as part of India Blockchain Week (IBW) - an event that definitely showcased the massive creativity and drive of India’s developer community. According to EMURGO, the event exceeded key performance indicators for regional tech events under the Cardano Summit proposal, something that clearly highlights the growing momentum of the ecosystem in Asia.
The hackathon featured multiple tracks, including Core Cardano, AI, and Privacy solutions, with teams demonstrating practical, innovative applications on the blockchain. Winners included Team OXOD in Track 1 and Team Rotunda in Track 2, among others, with a total prize pool of $65K.
In their post on X, EMURGO noted that the event’s success was driven by both participants and mentors from across the ecosystem, emphasizing regional talent and collaboration.
One thing is for sure: the hackathon has set the stage for continued growth and innovation in India’s Cardano developer community. For more details and an overview of the winners, read the following X thread.
Spotlight on Cardano Content Creators
This week, we’re highlighting some of Cardano’s content creators, community members who help keep the ecosystem informed and engaged. Whether through tutorials, blogs, or thought-provoking discussions, they contribute valuable context and keep the conversation moving. Here are a few creators making an impact:
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Learn Cardano
Peter Bui, from Learn Cardano, recently released an in-depth recording explaining Midnight’s Redemption & Claim Portal Details + Major Midnight Updates: Watch the episode -
Cardano with Paul, also walks us through: the post from the Midnight Foundation about the NIGHT token that recently went live and the details around the claim starting Dec 10th: Watch the episode.
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Linda
Linda is at it again, and this time with another educational, and most insightful recording on Real World Assets (RWAs). “If you’re trying to understand where the next big inflows might hit, this video gives you the full picture.” - Linda Watch the episode here.
These creators are just a snapshot of the many creators within our ecosystem. Following them is a great way to stay updated on tutorials, interviews, and discussions that help deepen your understanding of Cardano and its potential.
Community Learning & Developer Engagement
Developer Office Hours & Cardano SeminarsParticipation in the Cardano Developer Office Hours continues to grow, with developers actively tuning in to learn, share knowledge, and interact live with participants. Recent sessions featured:
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CIP-113 – Giovanni Gargiulo, Senior Enterprise Architect at Cardano Foundation introduces CIP-113, a CIP that brings programmable tokens to Cardano through a powerful and flexible new standard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44eQgstEoN4
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Veridian – In this Cardano Developers Office Hour, Fergal O’Connor and Jaime Caso Onzain introduce Veridian, a new identity framework built by the Cardano Foundation to support secure, verifiable, and interoperable digital identity on Cardano. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNGktY80njQ
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In this Cardano Seminar, Adam Cazes (Co-Founder and CEO of Gero Wallet) takes us through their work on understanding crypto cards and their broader goal of unifying Web2 and Web3 payment experiences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUNAQwvqQQE
These sessions are just a few examples of the many ongoing ecosystem engagement efforts across Cardano. To stay updated and not miss upcoming episodes, be sure to subscribe to the channel.
Intersect MBO X‑Space: “Inside the ₳70M Cardano Critical Integrations Budget”
On December 6, Intersect MBO brought together IOG, EMURGO, Cardano Foundation, Intersect MBO, and Midnight Foundation in an X‑Space “Inside the ₳70M Cardano Critical Integrations Budget” to discuss the proposal and answer any questions from the community. According to EMURGO, the session covered missing ecosystem infrastructure, ongoing work, and upcoming updates.
As per the proposal submitted on November 27, 2025, ₳70 M would fund five pillars: stablecoins, institutional wallets, cross‑chain bridges, pricing oracles, and on-chain analytics.
According to a post by St₳ke with Pride on November 30, the proposal had reached 55% approval, with a 66% threshold required for passage, and the post noted high confidence it would pass. At the time of writing, DRep approval has exceeded 75%, demonstrating strong ecosystem readiness to support the proposal.
For an overview summary of the 70M $ADA Cardano Critical Integrations Budget X Space, click here.
Updates from Input Output
This week, Input Output shared several updates across its global operations and technology initiatives.
On 5 December 2025, Input Output Global (IOG) announced it had officially rebranded to Input Output, with all affiliated projects, including RealFi, Lace, and other subsidiaries, now operating under the umbrella Input Output Group. According to the announcement, the rebrand reflects the organization’s growing international footprint and broadening portfolio of solutions, while continuing to support foundational technologies like Cardano, Midnight, Hydra, Daedalus, and Lace, alongside new initiatives in scalability, interoperability, and real-world industry applications. You can read the full announcement here.
The weekly development report (as of 5 December 2025) highlights continued growth and activity within the Cardano ecosystem. According to the report, Cardano native tokens reached 11.03 million, delegated wallets held strong at 1.34 million, and developer participation remains high across over 2,000 projects. The report also notes significant updates from core technology and infrastructure teams, including Lace version 1.32, which introduces a notification center for real-time ecosystem updates, and Hydra version 1.2.0, which added new features such as SafeClose, partial fanout, and Blockfrost support, marking its first participation in a hackathon with 400 attendees. For further details, the full report can be found here.
Finally, Input Output’s research team shared a new protocol, Cavefish, aimed at improving blockchain access for everyday users. According to the blog, Cavefish is a communication-optimized light client protocol for UTXO-based blockchains, enabling mobile or low-resource users to submit intents—like sending ADA or minting tokens, to a service provider that securely builds and verifies transactions with minimal data exchange. This approach reduces dependence on centralized services, maintains privacy through blinded transactions and cryptographic proofs, and lowers barriers to participation in decentralized finance. Read the full blog here.
Updates From Project Catalyst:
Fund15 submissions are now officially closed, and the team has moved into the review phase.
This round brought in 761 proposals from 540 proposers, supported by 1,500 reviewers.What does that mean for the community? Less noise, more signal. Many community members asked for a process that reduces the overwhelming volume of submissions so the strongest builders and educators can stand out. The team took that feedback seriously, resulting in a now much more smoother process. For more information, check out the Cardano Forum Post.
Updates from the Cardano Foundation
Recently, the Cardano Foundation shared several updates across governance, developer engagement, and ecosystem initiatives.
The Foundation launched the 2025 Holiday Season Developer Challenge, inviting developers to contribute practical implementations of common blockchain use cases. According to the announcement, participants can submit new on-chain or off-chain implementations, or alternative approaches for use cases already completed, using any Cardano ecosystem-compatible language or framework. The challenge runs from 2 December 2025 to 16 January 2026, and the winners will be announced during the Cardano Developers Office Hours on 30 January 2026. Prizes include US$1,000 for first place and a Cardano Tiamond NFT for second place.
In governance, the Foundation reflected on a year of participation in 2025, a landmark year for fully decentralized on-chain governance. According to the review, the Foundation maintained a 100% voting record while acting as a DRep and completing its tenure on the Interim Constitutional Committee. It also delegated 140 million ADA to seven Developer and Builder DReps earlier this year, with plans to expand to 220 million ADA to eleven additional DReps in early 2026. The Foundation emphasized accessibility and education through open-source voting tools, the Proposal Examiner beta, Governance Action Flow Charts, and Roundtable Talks at the Cardano Summit 2025.
The Foundation also highlighted the Cardano network incident on 21 November 2025, which tested the robustness of the protocol. According to the report, a malformed transaction caused a temporary chain split between the canonical “chicken” chain and the “pig” chain with the malformed transaction. Stake pool operators, IO, Intersect, EMURGO, and the Foundation coordinated swiftly, deploying fixes and ensuring the canonical chain became the dominant ledger within 14 hours. The episode demonstrated the resilience of Cardano’s Ouroboros proof-of-stake consensus, maintaining block production, preserving decentralization, and quickly resolving the network split without service interruption.
Input Output (IO) has also published an extensive blog detailing what happened during the network attack and how Ouroboros performed as intended - enabling the network to selfheal. Read the full report here.
On ecosystem applications, the Let’s Talk Cardano episode highlighted Palmyra, a supply chain solution improving transparency and traceability for producers, cooperatives, exporters, and regulators. According to the episode, Palmyra captures end-to-end data on harvests and product movements, verifies producer-to-buyer interactions, and links physical goods to digital histories. A pilot in Zambia traced approximately 30,000 beehives across 3,000 farmers, demonstrating measurable impact and scalability.
Cardano Academy: 50% Off Certification Exams for Cardano Community
Hey Cardano Community, we have some great news for you straight from the Cardano Academy!
In case you haven’t heard of it yet, the Cardano Academy offers neatly structured, completely free self‑paced courses, from blockchain fundamentals to all things Cardano, and when you finish, you earn a shareable digital badge.
The flagship course (CBCA - Cardano Blockchain Certified Associate) dives into consensus algorithms, system security, block structure, and scaling. It also explores transaction models like UTXO and extended UTXO, incentive mechanisms, and more. On the Cardano side, you learn about its origin, governance, and the Ouroboros proof‑of‑stake protocol, among other things. And you get hands‑on with using ADA, staking, and minting native assets, which helps prepare you for the CBCA exam. Read more about it here.
For those who want a globally recognized, official certification and to really stand out, there’s an exam you can take at Pearson VUE test centres. Normally, the exam costs USD 99, but Cardano Academy is sponsoring 50% discount of that with voucher code CARDANOCOMMUNITY2025, bringing your cost down to USD 49.50.
To redeem your voucher:
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Visit the Cardano Foundation page on Pearson VUE
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Log in or create a Pearson VUE account
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Select the CBCA exam
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Enter CARDANOCOMMUNITY2025 at checkout — it should reduce your fee to USD 49.50
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Confirm and schedule your exam
The discount code is valid until 31 January 2026, however the exam must be taken by 31 March 2026. for more information and the signup: Cardano Academy.
Midnight Foundation: NIGHT Token Launch Highlights
On December 4, 2025, NIGHT, the native token of the Midnight Network, was officially launched as a Cardano Native Asset. According to a post by the Midnight Foundation, this launch begins the redemption process for over 4.5 billion tokens claimed by the community during the Glacier Drop and Scavenger Mine phases, one of the largest token distributions in blockchain history. (Midnight Guide)
As per the Foundation, NIGHT is designed to separate governance and operational utility: holders maintain governance rights while a renewable resource called DUST is generated to cover shielded transactions and smart-contract operations. (More about NIGHT)
The Foundation notes that token redemption will start on December 10, 2025, with a phased thawing schedule over 360 days. Each allocation unlocks in four equal installments, with randomized start dates and quarterly unlocks, to ensure broad distribution and long-term ecosystem sustainability. (How the thawing and Redemption works)
According to a post on X by Midnight Foundation, multiple exchanges have confirmed support for NIGHT, including Binance, HTX, OKX, MEXC, Gate.io, and Kraken, enabling users to trade or claim tokens through these platforms. (Midnight X post)
Finally, as per the Foundation, the launch represents the first phase (“Hilo”) of their broader roadmap toward privacy-first dApps, with subsequent phases (Kūkolu → Mōhalu → Hua) planned to enable mainnet launch and ecosystem growth in 2026. (Midnight Roadmap)
Cardano Reddit Top 10 Most Engaged Topics
Below are the most engaging topics on Reddit
- Hang in there - Charles Hoskinson
- Nigeria Cocoa top producers, Why Palm Economy Is Going All in on Cardano
- Coinbase Expands Altcoin Access with New Cardano Futures Rollout
- Cardano Developer Expands to AI and Quantum Computing
- Cardano is built for resilience.
- Midnight to Launch NIGHT Token Next Week
- The 14 Million ADA transaction
- A Year of Participation: Reflecting on Cardano Governance in 2025
- Cardano Launches Holiday Dev Challenge With One Thousand Dollar Grand Prize
- Cardano’s founding entities just submitted a major proposal to bring stablecoins and more to the blockchain. Join Gianna as she goes over what this would mean for the ecosystem.
Cardano Forum Top 10 Referred Topics
Topics that have received the most clicks from external sources. (last 10 Days)
- NIGHTのRedemption（引換）の2STEP超簡単 完全ガイド！最新のトークノミクスやエアドロ参加できなかった方の救済措置やロードマップ
- Catalyst Weekly #126: 761 proposals from 540 proposers! What’s next?
- Eastern Cardano Council - ECC Statement
- Cardano Vietnam x Over Guild: MEETUP #3 — Bitcoin OS: Cross-Chain Bridge - Recap
- Introducing Cyclic Governance Simulator!
- Reply to Charles’s “Thoughts on Growth for Cardano in 2026 (Pentad Series)” — A Perspective from the Grassroots
- Manta Sailing Centre: Where Fish Meet Functions (A Grassroots Case Study)
- Build on Cardano: Founders Journey from idea to 15+ Proposals to Catalyst Fund 15
- Next Tuesday, Dec 9, we close the Techstars program and deliver our final investor pitch — officially making Andamio a Techstars-backed startup
- Cardano_Nigeria Hosts First Convention in Local Language ( Hausa)
Upcoming Community Events
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12-09 Techstars + Cardano Founder Catalyst Virtual Pitch Day Showcase: Join us for an exciting event as we celebrate the culmination of the 2025 Techstars + Cardano Founder Catalyst Program in collaboration with Project Catalyst with a live End of Program Pitch Showcase! Witness the incredible progress made by our talented cohort of early-stage, web3 and blockchain founders over our ten-week program as they share their companies with you - More Details Here
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12-10 Project Catalyst - Weekly Town Hall: Hosted by Project Catalyst - More Details Here
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12-11 RSVP Only Summit Hackathon Weekly Study Sessions, Darlington Wleh: More Details Here
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12-16 Cross Ecosystem Roundtable Talk (Cardano-Polkadot): Pathways to Long-Term Treasury Sustainability - More Details Here
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12-20 Hanoi Cardano Meetup Series #2: Cracking Open Grants for Privacy-Powered DApps, Join Cardano Vietnam and Sky3team for the second session of the Hanoi Cardano Meetup Series 2025, a community-led event designed to connect builders, developers, and Web3 enthusiasts who believe in creating real impact on Cardano - More Details Here
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12-26 Cardano Hanoi Builders Night (YEP 2025), Cardano Hanoi Builders Night (YEP 2025) is an exclusive dinner gathering designed for the Web3 builder community — especially those building on Cardano. The event serves as a cozy and inspiring space where builders, developers, and enthusiasts come together to share their personal journeys, celebrate achievements from 2025, and discuss exciting plans for the upcoming year - More Details Here
For more weekly events, visit Cardano Events
Many thanks and greetings from the Community Team!
