Make it even better: Cardano's Improvements Proposals

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Think something on the Cardano protocol could be done better? Hundreds of members of the Cardano community have engaged with our Cardano Improvement Proposals (CIPs) to date.

At the Cardano Foundation, we’re committed to providing a voice to our community and fostering coordination, collaboration, and transparency. The Cardano Improvement Proposal (CIP) program plays an essential role in doing just that.

Launched in 2020, the CIP program allows community members to propose improvements or solutions to challenges big or small, receive feedback, and participate in shaping the future of the network.

Since we launched the CIP program, we’ve seen remarkable engagement from our community. Dozens of meetings have been held and we’ve already merged more than 30 proposals and reviewed more than 160 pull requests. What’s more, the team of Editors has expanded to 5 to meet the needs of the growing network, and looking forward to growing more and welcoming members from the community in editorial roles: come support Cardano.

How can you help improve the Cardano protocol?

Firstly, that there are three types of CIPs: Standards, Process, and Informational; and all relate to different aspects of the network.

  • Standards proposals affect the system generally. For example, this classification could refer to a proposal to make a change to the protocol design, or a proposal to add an additional metadata field to transactions.

  • A process proposal describes a process surrounding Cardano. For example, a bug-bounty proposal, defining how to propose, report and, collect re: bugs.

  • Finally, informational proposals provide general guidelines or information to the Cardano community, rather than proposing new features. For example, an informational proposal could seek to provide an in-depth description of staking mechanisms.

A record of each proposal and discussion is housed in the CIP public code repository which can be accessed via Github or on the Cardano CIP webpage. These forums are packed full of exciting, innovative ideas and solutions of those building and engaging with the Cardano ecosystem every day.

Representatives of the community, known as ‘Editors’, review each proposal and ensure the CIP process runs smoothly. Everyone is invited to take part in the public, bi-weekly meetings on Crowdcast, where these editors and community members can engage in technical discussions on current CIPs.

Too busy to attend? Review the detailed notes of the meetings directly on the CIP repository.

Our goal is to make this process as transparent and easy to engage with as possible. The more people who get involved and engage on a regular basis, the better for Cardano and decentralization.

Keep an eye out for our plans to streamline CIP with our dev portal! If you want to know more about the process or if you’d like to submit a CIP, check out the self-explanatory CIP 1 - “CIP Process”

Join the other builders of Cardano, and let’s build the future together!

Check out the repository here: https://github.com/cardano-foundation/CIPs

CIPs Jan22

4 Likes
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Thank you, and I have a question. Where do you go if you have a simple idea for which you may not be able to write a formal CIP? You want a developer have a look and, if it seems good, write a real CcIP

I had the idea that it would be really nice if it was possible to sign a cardano address just like you can do with a windows executable using a certificate. I suppose some kind of NFT would work. That wold be really nice if you sell things and want your customers to know they send their ADA to the right recipient.

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Probably should be discussed in a separate topic, but isn’t that something of a chicken-and-egg problem?

If I have some source for the certificate that I want to verify a signature against (say, the website of the organisation that should be verified as owner of the address), then I can also just directly publish the address, there.

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A couple of the offiicial CIP editors plus a whole lot of devs read the postings here, so if your idea has popular appeal you could find some help by creating a thread in this topic:

Just explain your idea and/or post your draft CIP, after adhering as best you can to the guidelines in the OP above under CIP 1 - “CIP Process”, and ask if others can help you flesh it out. :sunglasses:

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Yes, but if you are the person paying for something you may worry about a typo or some form of malware that changed what you pasted. The idea requires some additional code in the client such that the verified owner appears when you enter the address. Or you could search for a specific name. I think the idea would provide significant ease of mind for many users new to cryptocurrency.

Imagine paying for a villa. It’s much easier using fiat and a clearing agent than using crypto.

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I would like to add that while you could use a qr code, it comes with a few problems. It could be replaced. But there is a solution which is recent, I think. Tirns out even qr codes can be digitally signed and verified using a special reader.

So of you buy that villa, youcan verify that it comes from your real estate agent. But what if it was created by a disgruntled employee? You wouldn’t need to worry if the receiving address is also digitally signed. It’s a good idea to be paranoid when ot comes to security.