Phil UPLC
Badges (9)
Identify and resolve pain points that DApp developers experience work on Cardano. Advocate for: Layer 1 feature development (input endorsers, babel fees, etc) Layer 2 research and development (Hydra, Midgard, etc) DApp development support User experience enhancements (i.e. transaction manifests)
Motivations
I have always emphasized the crucial role of open-source development in the Cardano ecosystem. I founded Anastasia Labs with the core mission to create open-source decentralized protocols, libraries, and developer tooling that benefit the entire community. We are here to grow the ecosystem, support DApp development, and improve both network and user security.
Qualifications
CEO and founder of Anastasia Labs Compiler Development & Programming Language Theory. Stopped the DOS attack on Cardano and looted the attacker's funds in the process: https://x.com/phil_uplc/status/1805672403822870776 Wealth of professional experience in smart contract security and auditing on Cardano; and was responsible for the identification and resolution of a large number of critical exploits in production open-source smart contracts.
Payment address: addr1q9yn...zs02spk6
On-chain data as of 2h ago.
Forum activity (0)
No forum posts yet.
Voting stats
- Yes 75 (85%)
- No 11 (13%)
- Abstain 2 (2%)
Voting history (88)
Show 83 moreShow less
YesCardano Critical Integrations V2Epoch 639RationaleEnacted1mo ago
This is a must fund, critical integrations require yearly upkeep or minimum volume thresholds which the ecosystem is not mature enough to hit, failure to pay will result in termination of service.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
This is a must fund, critical integrations require yearly upkeep or minimum volume thresholds which the ecosystem is not mature enough to hit, failure to pay will result in termination of service.
YesUpdate Plutus Cost ModelsEpoch 638RationaleEnacted1mo ago
This is strictly a good change for the future maintainability of the ecosystem.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
This is strictly a good change for the future maintainability of the ecosystem.
YesCardano Vision 2026: Human Centred, Scalable, Post Quantum Secure - IO ResearchEpoch 637RationaleEnacted1mo ago
We need to stay at the forefront of innovation.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
yes
YesCardano at TOKEN2049 Singapore 2026: Top-Up ‘Title’ Sponsorship UpgradeEpoch 635RationaleExpired1mo ago
Support this as external business-development presence, not generic ecosystem branding.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Support this as external business-development presence, not generic ecosystem branding. TOKEN2049 can reach liquidity providers, institutions, exchanges, and non-Cardano builders in a way Cardano-only events cannot, and the relationship context around the sponsorship matters. Must track impact and outcomes through meetings, qualified leads, partnership follow-up, and liquidity or builder conversations.
NoTweag Core Cardano Infrastructure: Treasury Withdrawal 2026–2028Epoch 635RationaleExpired1mo ago
We suggest making changes to the omnibus/bundled proposal to focus only on the essential infrastructure and narrow the weaker mutation-testing or duplicated assurance items where Blaster or existing tooling is stronger.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
We suggest making changes to the omnibus/bundled proposal to focus only on the essential infrastructure and narrow the weaker mutation-testing or duplicated assurance items where Blaster or existing tooling is stronger.
We would like to support the critical infrastructure portions, especially Peras (finality), History Expiry which are essential for Cardano, but many of the other items.
YesCardano at TOKEN2049 Singapore 2026: Baseline ‘Platinum' Sponsorship ProposalEpoch 635RationaleEnacted1mo ago
Support the platinum TOKEN2049 sponsorship because it is one of the stronger external-event categories for reaching serious crypto audiences outside Cardano.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Support the platinum TOKEN2049 sponsorship because it is one of the stronger external-event categories for reaching serious crypto audiences outside Cardano. Separate from brand spend; the real value is the access to liquidity, builder, exchange, institution, and partnership conversations that internal ecosystem events do not provide. Must track impact and outcomes through meetings, qualified leads, partnership follow-up, and liquidity or builder conversations.
No[OriLife × TonFarm] Identifying 180 Million Durians Without Physical LabelsEpoch 635RationaleExpired1mo ago
Reject because this is a vertical traceability deployment where blockchain appears incidental to the business workflow. If farms, exporters, or governments have durable demand for the product, they should fund the deployment.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Reject because this is a vertical traceability deployment where blockchain appears incidental to the business workflow. If farms, exporters, or governments have durable demand for the product, they should fund the deployment.
NoRevised Cardano Summit 2026 SingaporeEpoch 634RationaleExpired1mo ago
Reject because the Summit appears to be mostly internal ecosystem spend with historically weak demonstrated ROI. This proposal does not show enough conversion from community event spend into durable Cardano outcomes.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Reject because the Summit appears to be mostly internal ecosystem spend with historically weak demonstrated ROI. This proposal does not show enough conversion from community event spend into durable Cardano outcomes. Additionally, the Cardano Foundation is well-funded and should use its own balance sheet to host this event.
YesIO & VacuumLabs: Enhancing Plutus - Performance, Correctness, and UsabilityEpoch 634RationaleEnacted1mo ago
Support deployable Plutus improvements: execution-layer robustness, modules and imports, events, standard interfaces, performance, correctness, and usability that reduce real smart-contract cost and risk.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Support deployable Plutus improvements: execution-layer robustness, modules and imports, events, standard interfaces, performance, correctness, and usability that reduce real smart-contract cost and risk. The caution is not the category; it is formal compiler-certifier work or academic assurance that drifts away from the actual production toolchain.
I note, specifically, that my advice is that the current formal compiler-certifier workstream be thrown away in its entirety and the staff repurposed to either create a formal model of the actual implementation of the compiler (as opposed to their own definition of it from the specification) or to just working on improving the compiler / uplc itself.
YesIO: Cardano High Assurance Technical CollaborationEpoch 634RationaleEnacted1mo ago
Support high-assurance tooling that proves properties of real contracts and makes serious verification practical for builders.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Support high-assurance tooling that proves properties of real contracts and makes serious verification practical for builders. The strongest case is reusable verification tooling, public documentation, security findings, and contract proofs that create a genuine Cardano advantage in correctness and security.
The entire design philosophy of Cardano and our execution layer of prioritizing security above all else and making the sacrifices to do so, has struggled in the market for the past five years because the blue chip DeFi protocols on other chains were largely considered untouchable, secure, and reliable with years of proven history.
So we had to argue abstractly that dApps here are more secure, which doesn’t land well when someone can point to AAVE and see that in its many years of operations, has never been subject to an exploit, or to Uniswap where the same is true.
With the advent of advanced AI all of that has changed, the cracks are finally showing, bluechip DeFi apps with impeccable historic records are being exploited left and right for millions and millions month after month. Trust is shaking, LPs are leaving left and right.
It is critical that we take advantage of this narrative and we market this now. We need to strike while the iron is hot, and recent events form a perfect storm for heavily marketing Cardano DeFi and attracting external LPs.
Blaster is the single most significant market advantage our ecosystem has had since the release of Ouroboros.
YesIO & Ensurable Systems: Cardano Maintenance InitiativeEpoch 634RationaleEnacted1mo ago
Cardano needs concrete execution against known bottlenecks and known maintenance backlogs.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Parts of this proposal fund important operational continuity for core Cardano infrastructure, especially where resources go directly toward ledger, node, release, API, CLI, DB-Sync, Plutus, and guardrail maintenance.
However, the current package appears too broad and mixes necessary continuity with overlapping assurance, benchmarking, documentation, and testing work that may already be covered by other proposal budgets or feature-specific engineering streams.
Cardano needs concrete execution against known bottlenecks and known maintenance backlogs. We recommend that the proposal be trimmed, itemized, and reoriented toward tangible engineering improvements, especially low-hanging performance and ledger/node optimization work that existing teams already know needs to be done.
We cannot afford to not fund this, as even a temporary gap in FTEs working through current core infra backlog would have cascading negative impacts, however, I truly would like to see more tangible outcomes (ie. the work should be reframed and geared towards "incremental improvements" engineering effort towards backlog tickets, instead of vague maintenance)
YesIO: Consensus InitiativeEpoch 634RationaleEnacted1mo ago
Support because throughput, Leios, endorser blocks, and production-ready consensus improvements directly affect Cardano's competitiveness, app UX, bridge viability, and external liquidity access.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Support because throughput, Leios, endorser blocks, and production-ready consensus improvements directly affect Cardano's competitiveness, app UX, bridge viability, and external liquidity access.
YesIO: Cardano UpgradesEpoch 634RationaleEnacted1mo ago
These enhancements are extremely relevant for capturing the current total addressable market of blockchain (DeFi)
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Support protocol upgrades that are implemented at the right layer, including CIP-159 account address enhancement, multi-asset treasury support, and Babel Fees when they are protocol-, node-, or SPO-native. Multi-asset treasury can improve treasury flexibility, and Babel Fees can improve user experience by allowing non-ADA fee payment, but a secondary-market or validator-level workaround does not solve the core fee problem. It is critical that babel fees be implemented directly into the node as an opt-in feature for SPOs and not as a secondary market / service that needs to be run independently.
YesIO: Developer Experience InitiativeEpoch 634RationaleEnacted1mo ago
Support DevEx that improves the actual path from idea to working Cardano transaction, especially documentation and reusable material that make LLM-assisted development effective. e, docs quality, bounty output, and whether the material helps builders ship.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Support DevEx that improves the actual path from idea to working Cardano transaction, especially documentation and reusable material that make LLM-assisted development effective. We recommend focusing on Youtube lectures and documentation for LLM-assisted development instead of hosting workshops, live classes, and hackathons. The value is not workshops for their own sake; it is reducing onboarding time and making serious builders productive without insider hand-holding. Must measure developer onboarding time, docs quality, bounty output, and whether the material helps builders ship.
YesPogun: Capital Without CompromiseEpoch 633RationaleExpired1mo ago
Because the only avenue to Cardano achieving economic sustainability for validators without reliance on subsidies is through successful applications with revenue sharing. If Ethereum had secured 20% revenue share of any of their top 10 dApps they would have achieved economic sustainability already.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Support because Pogun targets real DeFi demand: Bitcoin liquidity, credit, yield, offers upside back to the community treasury via clear repayment structure and a perpetual revenue stream. An important note is that Pogun will need to add support for margin lending in addition to its current markets because it is the primary market for on-chain lending.
Economic sustainability for SPOs is only achievable by establishing symbiotic relationships with applications in revenue sharing.
YesBlockfrost: Maintenance and Next Generation IndexingEpoch 633RationaleExpired1mo ago
Support because RPC and indexing are table-stakes infrastructure for developer onboarding and application continuity, and because the current ecosystem has too much concentrated dependency on Blockfrost as a core access provider.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Support because RPC and indexing are table-stakes infrastructure for developer onboarding and application continuity, and because the current ecosystem has too much concentrated dependency on Blockfrost as a core access provider. The important funding case is decentralization: Project Cayley, decentralized slice indexing, and a broader operator model can move Cardano away from one dominant hosted path toward resilient, lower-cost, independently operated data access. This should be treated as crucial public infrastructure if it demonstrably reduces single-provider risk rather than deepening it.
AbstainIO & Midgard Labs: L2 Scalability InitiativeEpoch 633RationaleExpired1mo ago
Abstain due to direct personal involvement.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Abstain due to direct personal involvement. If funded, we will return our allocation to the treasury. DA is absolutely critical, and a must have if we want to compete with other smart contract L1s.
NoCardano Summit 2026 and TOKEN2049 SingaporeEpoch 630RationaleExpired3mo ago
Waste of money.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Waste of money. Hedonistic, extravagant spending on drinks, crazy venues, DJs and partying.
YesPebble + Gerolamo - HLabs 2026 BudgetEpoch 628RationaleExpired3mo ago
An full-node in the browser is the dream of all cypherpunks, connecting every single user directly to the blockchain, no middleman, no APIs, no trusting your wallet provider, just direct participation in the network.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
An full-node in the browser is the dream of all cypherpunks, connecting every single user directly to the blockchain, no middleman, no APIs, no trusting your wallet provider, just direct participation in the network. \n\nMost full-node wallets are desktop applications, which means you cannot use them to interact with decentralized (or centralized) applications on Cardano because the applications are all webapps.
NoApprove Cardano Foundation as New Managing Entity of Project CatalystEpoch 626RationaleClosed3mo ago
I do not believe CF has the relevant experience to manage an ecosystem grant system. Their perspective on the primary markets for Blockchain is incompatible with years of demonstrated history and the current market reality.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
I do not believe CF has the relevant experience to manage an ecosystem grant system. Their perspective on the primary markets for Blockchain is incompatible with years of demonstrated history and the current market reality. CF has always prioritized supply-chain tracking, decentralized identity, and web2 partnerships (FIFA, FC Barcelona, Dubai missile tracking, and so on) and indicated essentially zero interest in the DeFi market, or in marketing / assisting any of the DeFi projects building on Cardano. This is incredibly dangerous, as it ignores the current reality which is that practical all onchain activity in the blockchain space is in the DeFi market, that DeFi is the only market in the blockchain domain to achieve product market fit. CF will likely guide catalyst towards funding dead markets like web3 supply-chain tracking solutions, decentralized identity, and other non-DeFi focused funds, as opposed to focusing primarily on the existing market (DeFi) and having smaller allocations for experimental markets that have yet to achieve any success (blockchain supply-chain tracking, DIDs, and so on)
YesDingo: a Production-Grade Block Producer in Go by Blink LabsEpoch 625RationaleEnacted3mo ago
This is the closest alternative node client to mainnet block production readiness. It is an absolute must for the ecosystem.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
nVoting no to Dingo is voting no to the alternative node that is closest to mainnet readiness at the lowest cost to deliver. \n\nThe value proposition of Dingo is insane, they are so far along, this will push them to the finish line and Cardano will have its first alternative node client, which will create competition and drive down development costs for all the other nodes in the ecosystem.
YesCardano Defi Liquidity Budget - Withdrawal 1Epoch 625RationaleEnacted3mo ago
I believe PoL is less capital efficient than subsidizing yield if the goal is to increase stablecoin liquidity on Cardano, however, PoL serves a secondary purpose of diversifying the treasury which I believe is the primary value proposition here.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
I believe PoL is less capital efficient than subsidizing yield if the goal is to increase stablecoin liquidity on Cardano, however, PoL serves a secondary purpose of diversifying the treasury which I believe is the primary value proposition here.
YesCardano x Draper Dragon: Orion FundEpoch 624RationaleEnacted3mo ago
While I don't believe this is perfect, I think that we need an ecosystem funding mechanism that is KPI driven, and non-experimental. We have invested far too much into experimental funding mechanisms for far too long.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
While I don't believe this is perfect, I think that we need an ecosystem funding mechanism that is KPI driven, and non-experimental. We have invested far too much into experimental funding mechanisms for far too long. Experimental funding mechanisms have their place in the ecosystem, but not as the primary vehicle for capital allocation in the ecosystem. The primary funding mechanism should be tried and true, something that is known to work in practice historically and has been replicated across many ecosystems. This proposal, I believe may be capable of acting as that traditional funding mechanism for the ecosystem. \n\nI am treating this as a probationary approval and will observe the outcome of this first funding distribution, the KPIs achieved, the impact of the funded projects, the outcomes of funding in terms of tangible output from funded projects and so on.
YesReduce minimum Constitutional Committee size (committeeMinSize) from 7 to 5Epoch 614RationaleDropped4mo ago
There is no reason to have such a high requirement of minimum CC members. This also doesn't mean we cannot add more CC members, and indeed soon after this proposal we should add more CC members.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
There is no reason to have such a high requirement of minimum CC members. This also doesn't mean we cannot add more CC members, and indeed soon after this proposal we should add more CC members.
NoIncrease Transaction and Block Memory Units (Part 1 of 2)Epoch 614RationaleEnacted4mo ago
This proposal should have passed two years ago. As it stands now the increase is far too conservative, and meaningless, instead we should focus on reducing the ex-unit (mem and CPU) cost of CEK operations to account for the massive amount of optimization work that has been done over the years.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
This proposal should have passed two years ago. As it stands now the increase is far too conservative, and meaningless, instead we should focus on reducing the ex-unit (mem and CPU) cost of CEK operations to account for the massive amount of optimization work that has been done over the years. The memory cost of the term AST node is 100 which is a hundred times higher than it should be (it should be 1).
Instead of increasing the budget, we should reduce ex-memory costs of cek ops to accurately reflect the memory that the ops consume.
YesName Protocol Version 11 hard fork - van RossemEpoch 613RationaleClosed4mo ago
Sounds good.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Yep, name doesn't really matter.
YesCARDANO BLOCKCHAIN ECOSYSTEM CONSTITUTION v2.4Epoch 609RationaleEnacted6mo ago
I support this.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
The constitution must be simplified and ambiguity removed wherever possible. The concept of budget info actions must be removed entirely.
YesCardano 2030: Vision, Mission, Strategy Framework and KPIsEpoch 608RationaleClosed6mo ago
Agreed, the vision statement matches my expectations, and the KPIs align with what I would like us to focus on as an ecosystem.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Agreed, the vision statement matches my expectations, and the KPIs align with what I would like us to focus on as an ecosystem.
YesAdd Constitutional Committee Member - ChristinaEpoch 607RationaleExpired6mo ago
Christina is a great candidate.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
Christina is a great candidate.
YesWithdraw ₳70,000,000 for Cardano Critical Integrations BudgetEpoch 606RationaleEnacted6mo ago
These integrations are critical for the future of Cardano, we must work towards leaving isolationism behind.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
These integrations are critical for the future of Cardano, we must work towards leaving isolationism behind.
Yes2025 Net Change Limit ExtensionEpoch 604RationaleClosed6mo ago
This is a necessary proposal for the progression of governance on Cardano.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
This is a necessary proposal for the progression of governance on Cardano.
YesCardano Critical Integrations BudgetEpoch 604RationaleClosed6mo ago
These integrations are critical for us to interface with the rest of the blockchain market.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
These integrations are critical for us to interface with the rest of the blockchain market.
NoAdd Constitutional Committee MemberEpoch 602RationaleEnacted6mo ago
I am voting no.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
I personally do not want to see more committee-based CC members.
AbstainSecuring Generic Top-Level Domains for the Cardano EcosystemEpoch 597RationaleClosed8mo ago
Don't care either way.
YesCARDANO BLOCKCHAIN ECOSYSTEM CONSTITUTION v2.3Epoch 593RationaleExpired8mo ago
Clearly removing the budget info action is a necessary step forward as an ecosystem.
YesCARDANO BLOCKCHAIN ECOSYSTEM CONSTITUTION v2.0Epoch 581RationaleExpired10mo ago
To be honest, this isn't ideal from my perspective. The scope of changes proposed is too large. In the future I would prefer constitutional amendments to be extremely focused, ie. to change a single item. It's very hard to get community consensus on a bundle of proposed changes (ie. some voters might like one change, but dislike another and thus choose not to vote for it). The only way we can get rapid iteration is via many proposals that have small scope (if the change proposed is about a single item, and the majority of stake agrees with the single item change then it will be accepted). That said, redundancy in the current situation is so unbelievably bad (budget & withdrawals being separate proposals) and is wasting an immense amount of money & time for the ecosystem, that I am compelled to vote for this proposal simply because it removes the concept of budget info actions from the constitution.
YesWithdraw ₳592,780 for Beyond Minimum Viable Governance: Iteratively Improvin....Epoch 578RationaleEnacted10mo ago
The budget process is god awful and needs to be fixed.
YesWithdraw ₳600,000 for Complete Web3 developer stack to make Cardano the smart...Epoch 576RationaleEnacted11mo ago
Open sourcing their Cardano indexer that includes mempool blocks is pretty high value.