The 2026-2027 NCL is a Fiscal Train Wreck: Stop the Bad Faith Spending

[gintama]

I have just reviewed the NCL (Net Change Limit) budget for 2026-2027, and frankly, it is an insult to the community. Once again, the committee is “jumping the gun,” rushing to drain the treasury while ignoring every basic principle of financial accountability.

This isn’t just a mistake; it’s a repeat of last year’s failures. We are being asked to sign off on a massive spending limit while the committee fails to answer the fundamental 5Ws of governance:

1. The “WHY”: Why are we Spending?

The first thing mentioned in this proposal is how much we will spend. Why? Why are we prioritizing spending over results?
Last year, we authorized 350M ADA, and the result was disastrous price action and zero transparent reporting on ROI. Before a single Lovelace is approved for 2026, we demand a post-mortem:

• What did we learn from the past year?
• Where is the financial report of the 2025 withdrawals?
• What was the Return on Investment (ROI)? If you can’t show what the last 350M ADA did for the ecosystem, you have no right to ask for more.

2. The “WHEN”: When will we learn?

We still have six months of runway from the previous year’s withdrawals. There is absolutely no reason to rush this NCL through right now. This “hurry” feels like a calculated move to bypass scrutiny. Why are we repeating the “free for all” chaos of last year instead of taking the time to build a structured, data-driven plan?

3. The “WHAT”: A Visionless Proposal

What exactly are we funding? The Product Committee’s vision and mission statements haven’t even been approved. There is no “Info Action” roadmap, yet the NCL is already on the table. This is the definition of bad faith. You are asking for the check before you’ve even decided what we are buying.

4. THE “WHO”: The Intersect Monopoly

Who is managing this? We are still stuck with a closed circle. Instead of increasing the pool of administrators and allowing more qualified community members to take on these roles, the power remains concentrated. We need to decentralize the administration, not keep it locked behind a single entity.

5. THE “WHERE”: The Distribution Black Hole

Where is the money actually going? Last year’s “spray and pray” method of giving out funds was a failure. We still have no proper plan for how funds should be distributed or what the criteria for success are. We are simply opening the floodgates again and expecting a different result.

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The Bottom Line

The committee is acting in total disregard for the health of the ADA token and the community. We spent 350M ADA last year and watched the value of our ecosystem suffer for it.

To the committee: Stop the rush. We don’t want to hear how much you want to spend; we want to see what you’ve done with what you already took. We need a full audit, a decentralized group of administrators, and an approved vision before we even discuss a new NCL.

I call on the community to reject this “Free for All” budget until we see actual accountability. Are we stakeholders, or are we just an ATM for a committee with no plan?

[PaschalMax]

Accountability is important. And yah we all need to make sure we sustain our ecosystem financially

[Nicolas]

The existence of an NCL doesn’t allow funds to flow out of the treasury or fulfill the requirements of having a budget. It is simply a prerequisite to even start thinking about how the ecosystem wants to spend funds going forward.

Simply having an NCL is the first step. Before any funds flow out of the Treasury, you still need to have an approved Budget Info Action, which has to be followed by an approved treasury withdrawal, at least according to the current Constitution. Ultimately, it is the DReps who have the authority to disapprove any funding if they believe that is the correct move.

The Cardano 2030 vision and strategy is the next important step towards more accountability. It will hopefully help us define clear development goals for the next 12 to 18 months that enable actual resource planning and NCL setting based on needs going forward.

However, simply waiting until these very uncertain things are realized is not an option. Cardano is already behind when it comes to adoption and integrations. If we wait another 6 months, we will lose more precious time that we don’t have.

The NCL is simply the first step and not a blank check for any spending.

[gintama]

Before or even with this action , data about how much ada was disbursed , the kpis met, which TWAs were completed , how much fund from previous year is still left to be spent , more crucial such data if released would have helped to make a better informed decision that do we even need 350M ada . How much ada was spent each month. ? Some data had to be shared as a financial report for the community.

When i read the NCL IA , first thing in mind nothing learnt from 2024-25 we were told its just a budget to keep the lights on , today fully maybe over budget spent or approved. I had honestly hoped for a better start for 2026 that the committee will share its learnings , its mistake, be more open , but seems some people who are pushing in this direction cant leave the sense of entitlement that we can just go with anything because the community doesn’t have any other option.

The standards for basic work is kept too low honestly.
i will reiterate my point
Instead of How much to be allowed to spend first if we were able to know what we spent on last year , where did it go, what is that spending roi , why should we spend the same this year and where it will go to reach certain targets , and then decide how much to spend or allow to spend should be discussed , the topics a wrong start

[Nicolas]

I agree that all these questions are important, but they should be addressed in actual Budget Info Actions, not in the NCL.

The NCL is not a budget and doesn’t dictate how much we must spend. It establishes the constitutional requirements needed to approve subsequent treasury withdrawals, but it doesn’t force us to spend anything.

Questions about the ROI of the 2025 must be answered by the proposers planning to submit funding requests this year.

[gintama]

If we need to have this discussion maybe it would be a better habit we as a community should grow to submit a quarterly report by people who are getting paid to do this work , and have them do their moneys worth of work that was paid by the taxed money of the community , and a better and higher demands and standard of work in governance and administrators. minimum is not enough anymore . Hoping certain people understand this who have the role, responsibility and skills to do it.

[endeavor]

you are right about ask the track of money. Please keep that and bring always transparence for the community

[endeavor]

@gintama
Cardano Treasury | Intersect Treasury Contracts 1

[gintama]

We need better information and reports to make a informed discussion and decision.

[gintama]

Thanks for sharing the link