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Micro-fees. Multi-asset Treasury. Babel Fees

The Cardano Upgrades proposal funds three user-facing capabilities: wallets and any Cardano DeFi application can charge micro-fees, the Treasury gains a designed path to hold stable-value assets alongside ADA, and users can pay transaction fees in any native asset they already hold.

Specialist Partner

Input Output is funding and delivering all three workstreams in 2026, working alongside Ensurable Systems as a chosen collaborator. Ensurable Systems brings specialist capability across ledger, Plutus integration, conformance testing, and service-layer engineering, complementing IO's protocol knowledge. This is joint delivery designed to strengthen Cardano's infrastructure. Broadening the base of teams capable of building and maintaining Cardano's core systems is how the ecosystem becomes more resilient over time.

What is Cardano Upgrades

Cardano Upgrades delivers three capabilities in one coordinated plan. The proposal addresses specific things the ecosystem is ready to add: wallets and DeFi builders want to price products competitively, the community has asked for a Treasury that can hold stable-value assets, and users want to have a pure native asset end-to-end experience using Cardano.

Why It Matters

Today, DeFi applications on Cardano cannot price fees below approximately one ADA, which limits how builders compete and what users pay. The Treasury holds only ADA, leaving funding exposed to short-term price movements. Onboarding users who hold Bitcoin or stablecoins requires an ADA acquisition step that reduces conversion. These three capabilities address each constraint directly: micro-fee economics at the account layer, a multi-asset Treasury design, and fee payment in any native asset. Together they advance Monthly Transactions, Monthly Active Users, and Annual Protocol Revenue.

What Nested Transactions Delivers

Enhanced Account Addresses (CIP-159) gives wallets and any Cardano DeFi application a viable micro-fee model, removing the minUTxOValue floor that holds fees above roughly one ADA today

Multi-Asset Treasury (CPS-23) designs a path for the Treasury to hold stable-value assets alongside ADA

Babel Fees lets holders of major non-ADA native assets pay transaction fees in the asset they already hold, with no ADA required

What’s Live / What’s Next

Where we are

The 2026 treasury proposal to fund delivery has been approved by the community. Funds are held in Intersect's Treasury Reserve Smart Contract and released only against accepted milestones, with third-party assurance at every sign-off.

What’s next

  • Enhanced Account Addresses (CIP-159) — Phase 1 targets Q3 2026 in the Dijkstra era, enabling direct ADA deposits into account addresses and laying the account-layer foundation for micro-fees. Phase 2 preparation follows in Q4 2026.
  • Multi-Asset Treasury (CPS-23) — CIP design and broader community consultation through Q4 2026 and Q1 2027, with the CPS-23 CIP and CIP-1694 amendments targeting merge by Q2 2027.
  • Babel Fees — Architecture and service layer through 2026, with the MVP wallet targeting production-readiness in Q1 2027.

Roadmap

IO-led delivery in 2026, with milestone-gated treasury funding via Intersect. Long-term maintenance partner exploration ongoing.

Q1 2026

Proposal preparation, funding sought

Q2 2026

LedgerHD prerequisite changes shipped

Q3 2026

CIP-159 Phase 1 ships in the Dijkstra era. Babel Fees architecture begins.

Q4 2026

CIP-159 Phase 2 preparation. Babel Fees service layer. CPS-23 drafting.

2027

Babel Fees MVP rollout, wallet and provider integration