Bifrost: Unlocking Bitcoin DeFi on Cardano — Road to Mainnet (Phase 1 of 2)
158 DReps voted · 57 with a rationale · 4 changed their vote
Open a row to read the rationale.
- Yes870.4K ₳No rationale
- Yes862K ₳No rationale
- Yes830.3K ₳Rationale
The developers behind the proposal are well known and have a good track record. The liquidity they aim to unlock is highly strategic and could bring exponential growth.
Our core mandate as a DRep is to champion Cardano's long-term viability, interoperability, and transaction growth. While cross-chain bridges represent a calculated risk, the technical design of Bifrost aligns with Cardano’s security-first philosophy. Furthermore, the phased rollout structure (Phase 1 of 2) mitigates systemic financial risk to the treasury by demanding tangible milestones before mainnet deployment. Unlocking Bitcoin's massive liquidity pool is highly strategic and directly addresses the ecosystem's need for increased utility and transactional volume. - Yes799.1K ₳Rationale
Reason: Bifrost addresses one of Cardano's most significant strategic gaps by building secure Bitcoin interoperability infrastructure rather than a proprietary application. The project has already demonstrated meaningful progress through Catalyst funding, adopts a prudent two-phase roadmap that separates technical validation from public launch, and places exceptional emphasis on audits, formal verification, and governance. While Bitcoin bridges are inherently high-risk systems, this proposal appropriately prioritizes risk reduction and ecosystem-wide infrastructure over speculative growth, making it a strong candidate for treasury funding.
- No795K ₳No rationale
- Abstain753.7K ₳No rationale
- Yes698.7K ₳No rationale
- Abstain626K ₳Rationale
I abstain with strong support for Bifrost. Current NCL has only twelve point six million ADA remaining and Bifrost at twelve point three million would exhaust it. I encourage the team to resubmit after the NCL increase passes when I will support enthusiastically.
A PDF version of this rationale is also made available.
I am voting Abstain on this proposal. While I strongly support the Bifrost vision and believe the team has delivered excellent accountability and technical rigor, the current Net Change Limit leaves only approximately twelve point six million ADA in remaining headroom after the recently enacted Daedalus proposal. Bifrost requests twelve point three million ADA which would consume virtually all remaining fiscal capacity under the current three hundred fifty million ADA limit. This would leave no room for the DeFi Kernel proposal and other pending Treasury requests that I also support. I do not oppose Bifrost on its merits. The public value is clear, the SPO secured custody model is innovative, and the accountability framework is best in class. However fiscal stewardship requires me to prioritize proposals that fit within the available budget while preserving headroom for other ecosystem needs. The DeFi Kernel proposal at three point three million ADA leaves substantially more room for additional proposals compared to Bifrost at twelve point three million. I strongly encourage the Bifrost team to resubmit this proposal once the Net Change Limit increase to five hundred million ADA is approved. At that point the fiscal constraint is resolved and I would enthusiastically support this proposal on its merits.
- Abstain620K ₳No rationale
- No608.1K ₳No rationale
- Yes587.6K ₳No rationale
- Yes535.2K ₳Rationale
Cardano needs to get rolling on DEFI and now is a perfect opportunity to build. While projects struggle Cardano continues to innovate and Scale. Bifrost has a good proven track record.
- No499K ₳Rationale
- Yes487.9K ₳No rationale
- Yes480.2K ₳No rationale
- Yes478.5K ₳No rationale
- Yes444.7K ₳No rationale
- Yes431.9K ₳No rationale
- Yes383.2K ₳No rationale
- Yes377.7K ₳Rationale
As far as I can tell, this is a technically sound proposal by well-known developers in Cardano.
Most importantly, it aims to create an actually decentralised technology that is neither dependent on being operated by the proposers nor funnels profits to them.
So, it is a good example of the foundational infrastructure I want to see funded by the treasury exclusively.
- Yes365.9K ₳No rationale
- No360.4K ₳No rationale
- Abstain309.6K ₳Rationale
Governance Action Review Report [EN]
1. Introduction
Bifrost is a permissionless Bitcoin–Cardano bridge secured by Cardano’s existing Stake Pool Operator ecosystem. It is intended to bring BTC onto Cardano as a native asset that applications can integrate into trading, lending, collateral, and other financial use cases. The bridge is currently operating on testnet under a Catalyst Fund 14 grant.
This Governance Action requests ₳12,332,031, approximately US$1,973,125 at a reference rate of US$0.16 per ADA, including a 10% refundable contingency. The nine-month delivery period runs from July 2026 to March 2027.
The withdrawal funds Phase 1 of a two-phase program. It covers bridge hardening, external security audits, formal verification, ecosystem and partner readiness, and the institutional and economic foundations required for launch. By the end of Phase 1, Bifrost is expected to operate on Cardano mainnet under controlled access in both federated and SPO-threshold custody modes. Public rollout and 24 months of operations are excluded from this withdrawal and are intended to be funded through a separate Phase 2 proposal in Q1 2027.
2. Governance Action Analysis
Positive aspects
The proposal presents a level of preparation and detail far above the average of the Treasury Withdrawals submitted during this cycle. The technical scope is extensively explained, milestones are provided, oversight mechanisms and audits are planned, and an architecture has already been developed on testnet. The teams demonstrate adequate technical capacity and have a positive history of delivering Catalyst-funded projects, with no significant known delays.
This formal and technical merit prevents the proposal from being treated as poorly prepared or clearly unfeasible. There is a genuine attempt to structure objectives, indicators, and accountability mechanisms, something that many proposals apparently regard as an administrative extravagance.
The number of participating SPOs is an exception among the adoption indicators. The target of 400 SPOs in the sixth month, growing to 500 in month 24, is ambitious and directly connected to the legitimacy of the architecture. The whitepaper acknowledges that security depends on the participation of a weighted majority of participating SPOs, making this indicator structurally more important than a common promotional KPI.
The budget provides some granularity by workstream and presents FTE-months. The blended rate of US$100 per hour does not appear clearly inflated when compared with blockchain engineering, cryptography, or specialized security work in the North American market.
Negative aspects
The main limitation concerns the usage and adoption KPIs. Although targets are presented for TVL, wallets, transactions, integrations, and SPO participation, these indicators belong to the future Phase 2 launch and operations plan. The current action funds only Phase 1, which ends with an audited bridge on private mainnet under controlled access. Therefore, the principal economic outcomes used to justify the project are not binding success criteria for this withdrawal.
The proponents classify the adoption targets as provisional, to be hardened during Phase 1 and finalized in the future Phase 2. This means they may be modified before the next funding request. Should the second phase not be submitted or approved, the targets would never become enforceable. The existence of these KPIs remains positive, but their value as a current accountability mechanism is limited.
Even when the complete program is considered, the adoption targets appear weak to reasonable in relation to the problem the proposal intends to address. Cardano has experienced low TVL, low liquidity, and difficulty attracting external capital for years. Several DeFi initiatives have already received funding and completed technical deliverables without producing relevant economic adoption. In this context, the delivery of another functional infrastructure project does not provide sufficient confidence that the historical result will be different.
The targets of 1,200 BTC in the Base scenario and 3,000 BTC in the Bull scenario after 24 months represent material capital for Cardano’s current ecosystem, but would not necessarily place Cardano anywhere near a leading position among the principal DeFi blockchains. For infrastructure whose central justification is connecting Cardano to the largest pool of capital in crypto, the targets do not appear sufficiently strong to compensate for the ecosystem’s negative adoption history.
The budget still operates essentially through a blended rate of US$100 per hour applied to different functions. This rate is also applied to product, partnerships, administration, economic work, and other activities with different salary references.
Thus, the most precise conclusion is that the rate is not evidently outside the market; it does not represent a bargain for the Treasury; the generic calculation reduces the ability to verify the real cost of each function; positions, seniority, committed individuals, and the distribution of hours are absent; relevant fixed costs remain insufficiently detailed; and cost-effectiveness depends on adoption that is not contracted during this phase.
Risks and concerns
The primary uncertainty concerns the ability to transform technical delivery into actual usage. Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem has already funded multiple initiatives that delivered technical products without generating proportional liquidity, volume, or external capital inflows.
The cost-effectiveness of Phase 1 depends on future adoption outcomes that are not binding under the current withdrawal. The main economic indicators may be revised, and they become enforceable only through a future proposal that may not be submitted or approved.
Given the Treasury’s financial situation and the elevated compensation standards accepted across several proposals in this cycle, a rate that is merely defensible under the international market is insufficient to establish strong economic efficiency. The Treasury should require more competitive conditions when it assumes almost all the risk of infrastructure whose demand has not yet been demonstrated.
3. Vote and Rationale
Vote: ABSTAIN
The vote is not YES because Phase 1 is not linked to the main adoption KPIs; those KPIs are provisional and may be revised; the economic targets appear modest in relation to the project’s ambition and the sector’s history; the budget is reasonable, but not economical; and substantial uncertainty remains regarding the ability to transform technical delivery into actual usage.
The vote is also not NO because the proposal is exceptionally well detailed; the team demonstrates technical capacity and a history of execution; milestones, audits, and control mechanisms are provided; the costs do not appear clearly inflated; and there is an above-average attempt to define KPIs and sustainability.
Abstention therefore represents recognition of the technical merit without endorsement of the economic thesis. There is insufficient evidence to affirm that the investment will produce adoption proportional to its cost, but the quality of the proposal and the planned execution also do not justify categorical rejection.
4. Conclusion
The technical quality, execution history, milestones, audits, and control mechanisms prevent categorical rejection. However, Phase 1 does not bind the project to its principal adoption outcomes, the economic targets remain provisional and modest, and the budget does not provide sufficiently strong economic efficiency. The resulting vote is ABSTAIN.
Relatório de Revisão de Ação de Governança [PT]
1. Introdução
Bifrost é uma ponte permissionless entre Bitcoin e Cardano, protegida pelo ecossistema existente de Stake Pool Operators da Cardano. Seu objetivo é trazer BTC para a Cardano como um ativo nativo que possa ser integrado por aplicações em negociações, empréstimos, garantias e outros casos de uso financeiro. A ponte está atualmente operando em testnet por meio de um financiamento do Catalyst Fund 14.
Esta Ação de Governança solicita ₳12.332.031, aproximadamente US$1.973.125 a uma taxa de referência de US$0,16 por ADA, incluindo uma contingência reembolsável de 10%. O período de execução é de nove meses, entre julho de 2026 e março de 2027.
A retirada financia a Phase 1 de um programa dividido em duas fases. Estão incluídos o hardening da ponte, auditorias externas de segurança, verificação formal, preparação do ecossistema e de parceiros, além das bases institucionais e econômicas necessárias para o lançamento. Ao final da Phase 1, espera-se que Bifrost opere na mainnet da Cardano, sob acesso controlado, nos modos de custódia federado e por threshold de SPOs. O lançamento público e 24 meses de operações não fazem parte desta retirada e deverão ser financiados por uma proposta separada de Phase 2 no primeiro trimestre de 2027.
2. Análise da Ação de Governança
Aspectos positivos
A proposta apresenta nível de elaboração e detalhamento muito superior à média das Treasury Withdrawals submetidas neste ciclo. O escopo técnico é amplamente explicado, há milestones, mecanismos de supervisão, auditorias previstas e uma arquitetura já desenvolvida em testnet. As equipes demonstram capacidade técnica adequada e possuem histórico positivo de entregas financiadas pelo Catalyst, sem atrasos significativos conhecidos.
Esse mérito formal e técnico impede que a proposta seja tratada como mal elaborada ou claramente inviável. Há uma tentativa genuína de estruturar objetivos, indicadores e mecanismos de accountability, coisa que muitas propostas aparentemente consideram uma extravagância administrativa.
O número de SPOs participantes é uma exceção entre os indicadores de adoção. O alvo de 400 SPOs no sexto mês, crescendo para 500 no mês 24, é ambicioso e está diretamente ligado à legitimidade da arquitetura. O whitepaper reconhece que a segurança depende da participação de uma maioria ponderada dos SPOs participantes, tornando esse indicador estruturalmente mais importante do que um KPI promocional comum.
O orçamento possui alguma granularidade por workstream e apresenta FTE-months. O rate blended de US$100/h não parece claramente inflado quando comparado a engenharia blockchain, criptografia ou segurança especializada no mercado norte-americano.
Aspectos negativos
A principal limitação está nos KPIs de uso e adoção. Embora sejam apresentados alvos de TVL, wallets, transações, integrações e participação de SPOs, esses indicadores pertencem ao futuro plano de lançamento e operações da Phase 2. A ação atual financia apenas a Phase 1, que termina com uma ponte auditada em private mainnet e acesso controlado. Portanto, os principais resultados econômicos que justificam o projeto não são critérios de sucesso vinculantes desta retirada.
Os próprios proponentes classificam os alvos de adoção como provisórios, a serem endurecidos na Phase 1 e finalizados na futura Phase 2. Isso significa que poderão ser modificados antes da próxima solicitação. Caso a segunda fase não seja submetida ou aprovada, os alvos nunca se tornam exigíveis. A existência dos KPIs continua sendo positiva, mas seu valor como mecanismo atual de accountability é limitado.
Mesmo considerando o programa completo, os alvos de adoção parecem fracos a razoáveis diante do problema que a proposta pretende enfrentar. Cardano convive há anos com baixo TVL, baixa liquidez e dificuldade para atrair capital externo. Diversas iniciativas DeFi já receberam financiamento e concluíram entregas técnicas, mas não produziram adoção econômica relevante. Nesse contexto, a simples entrega de outra infraestrutura funcional não oferece confiança suficiente de que o resultado histórico será diferente.
As metas de 1.200 BTC no cenário-base e 3.000 BTC no cenário Bull após 24 meses representam capital material para o atual ecossistema Cardano, mas não colocariam necessariamente Cardano em posição de destaque entre as principais blockchains DeFi. Para uma infraestrutura cuja justificativa central é conectar Cardano ao maior pool de capital cripto, os alvos não parecem suficientemente fortes para compensar o histórico negativo de adoção do ecossistema.
O orçamento ainda funciona essencialmente com um rate blended de US$100/h aplicado a funções diferentes. Esse rate também é aplicado a produto, partnerships, administração, trabalho econômico e outras atividades com referências salariais distintas.
Assim, a conclusão mais precisa é que o rate não está evidentemente fora do mercado; não representa uma barganha para o Tesouro; o cálculo genérico reduz a capacidade de verificar o custo real de cada função; faltam cargos, senioridade, pessoas comprometidas e distribuição de horas; custos fixos relevantes continuam pouco detalhados; e o custo-benefício depende de uma adoção que não é contratada nesta fase.
Riscos e preocupações
Permanece elevada incerteza sobre a capacidade de transformar entrega técnica em uso real. O ecossistema DeFi da Cardano já financiou diversas iniciativas que entregaram produtos técnicos sem gerar liquidez, volume ou entrada de capital externo em proporção equivalente.
O custo-benefício da Phase 1 depende de resultados futuros de adoção que não são vinculantes na retirada atual. Os principais indicadores econômicos poderão ser revisados e somente se tornarão exigíveis por meio de uma futura proposta que poderá não ser submetida ou aprovada.
Diante da situação financeira do Tesouro e do padrão de remuneração elevado aceito em várias propostas do ciclo, um rate simplesmente defensável pelo mercado internacional não é suficiente para caracterizar boa eficiência econômica. O Tesouro deveria exigir condições mais competitivas quando assume quase integralmente o risco de uma infraestrutura cuja demanda ainda não está demonstrada.
3. Voto e Justificativa
Voto: ABSTAIN
O voto não é YES porque a Phase 1 não está vinculada aos principais KPIs de adoção; esses KPIs são provisórios e podem ser revistos; os alvos econômicos parecem modestos diante da ambição e do histórico do setor; o orçamento é razoável, mas não econômico; e permanece elevada incerteza sobre a capacidade de transformar entrega técnica em uso real.
O voto também não é NO porque a proposta é excepcionalmente bem detalhada; o time demonstra capacidade técnica e histórico de execução; existem milestones, auditorias e mecanismos de controle; os custos não parecem claramente inflados; e há uma tentativa superior à média de definir KPIs e sustentabilidade.
A abstenção representa, portanto, reconhecimento do mérito técnico sem endosso da tese econômica. Não há evidência suficiente para afirmar que o investimento produzirá adoção proporcional ao custo, mas a qualidade da proposta e da execução planejada também não justifica uma rejeição categórica.
4. Conclusão
A qualidade técnica, o histórico de execução, os milestones, as auditorias e os mecanismos de controle impedem uma rejeição categórica. Entretanto, a Phase 1 não vincula o projeto aos principais resultados de adoção, os alvos econômicos permanecem provisórios e modestos, e o orçamento não apresenta eficiência econômica suficientemente forte. O voto resultante é ABSTAIN.
- Yes299.1K ₳Rationale
Voting YES on Bifrost: Unlocking Bitcoin DeFi on Cardano — Road to Mainnet (Phase 1 of 2)
Summary
- Withdraw ₳12.3M (~$2.2M)
- Bridge between Cardano & Bitcoin
- Only moves BTC between the two chains. ADA cannot be moved to the Bitcoin network.
- A new revenue source for SPOs and the Treasury. Paid in fBTC.
- The first of two phases
- Phase 1
- Nine months
- Auditing & Hardening
- Private Mainnet
- Phase 2
- Public release
- 24 months of operations with the plan being to fund the bridge with bridge fees alone going forward from that point (~Q3 2029).
- Expected to request ~$1.3M in Q1 2027
- Phase 1
- FluidTokens
- Lantr Engineering
Conclusion
Bifrost is an awesome opportunity for bringing new revenue sources to Cardano SPOs and the Treasury. This is exactly what we need. I'm voting in favor of this exciting proposal.
Signed,
William DoyleYour friendly neighbourhood dRep!
$computerman
drep1yfpgzfymq6tt9c684e7vzata8r5pl4w84fmrjqeztdqw0sgpzw3nt
@william00000010 on 𝕏
contact@williamdoyle.ca - Abstain298.3K ₳No rationale
- Yes270.3K ₳Rationale
I am voting YES on “Bifrost Unlocking Bitcoin DeFi on Cardano — Road to Mainnet (Phase 1 of 2).” Bitcoin is the largest pool of capital in crypto, yet only a small share of BTC currently participates in DeFi because most existing routes off the Bitcoin base layer involve custody and bridge risks that many holders are not willing to accept. Cardano is structurally well suited to be a destination for that liquidity — with an eUTxO ledger, native assets, predictable fees, and a security-oriented design — but it still lacks a secure, production-grade BTC access rail. Bifrost is a credible attempt to fill that gap, and this proposal focuses specifically on taking the already-funded testnet implementation to audited mainnet readiness under controlled access.
The design aligns well with the kind of infrastructure I am prepared to support. Custody of locked BTC is distributed across Cardano’s existing SPO ecosystem through a threshold-signing implementation over Taproot scripts, rather than being held by a company or small multisig, with a federated mode as an operational fallback. fBTC is issued as a native Cardano token (CNT) rather than a wrapped contract asset, which makes it a first-class citizen at the ledger level and allows wallet and dApp integrations to treat it like any other native token. The bridge is open-source under Apache 2.0, there is no separate bridge token or founder allocation, and value flows through BTC and ADA rather than through a rent-seeking intermediary token. Bifrost is also intended as shared infrastructure: wallets, DEXs, and lending markets can integrate it via SDKs and white-label portals so BTC onboarding happens inside applications users already trust, rather than through a single proprietary frontend.
The proposal is also structured prudently from a funding and governance perspective. Phase 1 asks the Treasury to fund a bounded 9‑month program of hardening, audits, formal verification, watchtower and SDK work, SPO coordination, and stewardship design, culminating in an audited bridge running on Cardano mainnet under controlled access. Public launch and 24 months of operations are explicitly reserved for a separate Phase 2 proposal in 2027, after Bifrost has proven itself on-chain, which avoids locking in a multi‑year operational subsidy today. This phased approach fits well with a “evidence first, expansion later” governance posture.
The two delivery teams, FluidTokens and Lantr Engineering, also bring relevant and demonstrated track records. FluidTokens has shipped multiple Cardano and Bitcoin DeFi products that have been independently audited, while Lantr has led core infrastructure work such as Scalus and other UTxO-based tooling, and the two teams have already taken Bifrost from concept to a working public testnet under Catalyst Fund 14. Together they cover Bitcoin scripting, Cardano smart contracts, threshold cryptography, watchtower infrastructure, SDKs, and production operations, which are the domains a bridge of this complexity depends on.
I remain cautious about bridge risk in general, and I do not believe Cardano should fund multiple competing large-scale BTC rails in parallel. However, Cardano cannot remain completely isolated from the rest of the blockchain world, and for UTxO–eUTxO interoperability, a carefully designed, CNT-based, SPO-secured Bitcoin bridge is a reasonable and strategically important piece of shared infrastructure to fund. This proposal is focused on audited mainnet readiness, avoids a separate bridge token and founder rent, and builds on demonstrable prior work rather than a speculative design. For those reasons, I am prepared to support this Phase 1 request and will be voting YES.
- Abstain262.3K ₳Rationale
Abstain due to personal involvement
- Yes260.4K ₳No rationale
- Yes246.1K ₳Rationale
I really do believe in permissionless (SPO-secured) Bitcoin <> Cardano bridging and this is the most promising approach I've seen yet, from a team who definitely knows both Bitcoin and Cardano inside-out. This is my big treasury investment bet for the year, because it does promise a fee-surplus waterfall that splits to SPOs and returns to the Treasury in fBTC (assuming it is successful enough for there to be surplus) - this aligns with my goals for the treasury to be repaid/earn from its investments in diverse assets such as BTC and stablecoins.
- Abstain215.5K ₳No rationale
- Yes196.1K ₳No rationale
- No191.2K ₳No rationale
- Yes182.3K ₳No rationale
- Yes180K ₳No rationale
- YesChanged162.9K ₳History
Earlier votes
No1mo agoSuperseded
- Yes142.6K ₳No rationale
- Yes131.9K ₳No rationale
- Yes123.8K ₳No rationale
- Yes115.6K ₳No rationale
- Yes92.6K ₳No rationale
- No72.7K ₳No rationale
- Yes63.3K ₳No rationale
- Yes59.9K ₳No rationale
- Abstain56K ₳No rationale
- No50.5K ₳No rationale
- Abstain47.8K ₳Rationale
I vote ABSTAIN for this proposal
- Abstain45.3K ₳No rationale
- Abstain31.7K ₳No rationale
- No26.7K ₳Rationale
I don't want BTC on Cardano
- Yes24.4K ₳No rationale