1. Van Rossem Cost Model: Recommendation & Vote
The committee officially voted to recommend the new Plutus cost models for the upcoming Van Rossem hard fork.
- Primitive Backporting: The update includes 14 new primitives (e.g.,
serializedData,xModInteger,dropList) which will be backported to Plutus V1 and V2 to ensure ecosystem-wide parity. - Benchmarking Methodology: The Plutus team uses a “fan shape” regression technique, discarding lower data points to cover 90% of the data with a linear model. This ensures costs are calculated conservatively to prevent Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.
- The Vote: The motion to recommend these changes passed with 9 out of 11 eligible voters in favor.
- Refinement: Per the advice of community observers, the committee emphasized that final cost model formatting must be flawless to avoid the governance “undo/redo” cycles seen in previous testnet deployments.
2. Proposal to Lower DRep Deposits
Mike Hornan introduced a proposal to significantly lower the barrier to entry for decentralized representatives.
- The Proposal: Lower the DRep deposit from 500 ADA to 5 ADA.
- Rationale: Accessibility is the primary driver. Proponents argue that high deposits have not successfully incentivized de-registration as intended and may hinder community participation.
- Technical Impact: Performance tests on SanchoNet with 10,000 DReps showed minimal system impact, suggesting that the 500 ADA “spam protection” may not be technically necessary.
- Next Steps: The proposal will be socialized on the public forums. A potential CIP may be required to allow existing DReps to recoup the 495 ADA difference without losing their current delegations.
3. Transaction Fee (TXV) Reduction Debate
A new proposal from the business team suggested lowering transaction fees to support high-volume corporate use cases, such as the Digital Product Passport (DPP).
- Economic Viability: The committee is divided. While a lower fee could attract massive volume (e.g., 100k+ transactions), members established a “red line” ensuring that fees must still cover the cost of production and SPO sustainability.
- L2/Sidechain Alternative: Some members suggested these high-volume use cases might be better suited for Layer 2 solutions rather than a Mainnet fee reduction.
- Action Item: The committee will consult with economic researchers to calculate the “break-even” point for the network before proceeding.
4. Memory Units (MemUnits) Status
- Part One Results: The committee is currently monitoring the impact of the recent 17% increase. Evidence of Mainnet transactions utilizing the new capacity is being gathered to justify further increases.
- Part Two Timeline: The second phase of the MemUnit increase will be discussed in late March or April, as it is no longer a strict blocker for the immediate hard fork.