Conferences are where builders, enterprises, investors, and regulators decide which ecosystems to work with. In 2025-2026, one shared Cardano presence at these events started 219 collaborations, including 50 with government and regulatory bodies, engaged 1,169 developers, and gave 79 Cardano projects a stage most could not afford on their own. Cardano Global Events 2027 is the proposal to keep that presence in place for 2027.
In September, the Cardano Foundation outlined its plans for Cardano Global Events 2027 in the catch-up post on the Cardano Forum. Based on community feedback, those plans have now become a full Treasury withdrawal proposal, shaped by a year of results from the first unified events program.
The proposal requests US$4,999,155 to give Cardano one shared presence at 12 major industry conferences between January and December 2027. Each conference comes with a funded side event or hackathon, and the budget pays for selected builders to travel and take part.
The request stays within the US$5 million upper limit proposed in September, and the Foundation will not charge for its staff time or make any profit from the proposal.
Cardano Global Events 2027 seeks to renew the 2025-2026 Unified Global Events Marketing Strategy that met or exceeded every target.
The full proposal is available here: https://ucarecdn.com/bf2042db-6907-430c-9efb-33281147e486/
Why It Matters
Conferences are where Cardano builders do business. A shared booth gives projects a place to demonstrate their products, meet partners and investors, and speak to regulators, at events many could not attend alone.
Unlike broad awareness campaigns, each activation reports against its own targets, so DReps can see what every event delivered. Without a funded program, Cardano would return to a fragmented presence: fewer projects at the events that matter, and no shared space for builders to do business from, at conferences where other layer 1 ecosystems are present.
A Year of Results to Build On
The 2025-2026 Unified Global Events Marketing Strategy was the first time Cardano took one coordinated presence to the world’s major industry events. Delivered by the Cardano Foundation, EMURGO, and Rare Network, and approved with nearly 70% support from delegated representatives (DReps), the program ran from Blockchain.RIO in August 2025 to WebX Asia in Tokyo in July 2026.
Across 20 activities, it gave 79 Cardano projects a stage. The Treasury-funded program met or exceeded every target in its proposal, with 8,191 booth contacts and 1,169 developers engaged. The final results for each event are published here: https://ucarecdn.com/58a248dc-2003-4731-ba17-68979fb30d5a/EXT_BoothProposal2025KPIS3_September_2026_FINAL_CardanoBoothResults.pdf
The 2027 Program
The 2027 program takes the same model into a full calendar year, with more support for the builders who make each booth worth visiting. Every activation includes:
- a Cardano-branded booth shared with participating ecosystem projects,
- a funded side event: a hackathon, workshop, or networking session (four hackathons across the year, plus Dev Gov Day at Rare Evo),
- a speaking slot for Cardano content, where the sponsorship package includes one and subject to availability,
- media outreach before and during the event.
| Quarter | Event | Location | Dates | Side event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Africa Tech Summit 2027 | Nairobi, Kenya | 10-11 February 2027 | Hackathon |
| Q2 | TEAMZ Summit 2027 | Tokyo, Japan | 6-7 April 2027 | Workshop |
| Q2 | Money20/20 Asia 2027 | Bangkok, Thailand | 27-29 April 2027 | Networking |
| Q2 | Consensus Miami 2027 | Miami, United States | 4-6 May 2027 | Workshop |
| Q2 | TOKEN2049 New York 2027 | New York, United States | 16-17 June 2027 | Hackathon |
| Q3 | Signal Week 2027 (formerly Paris Blockchain Week) | Paris, France | 6-7 July 2027 | Networking |
| Q3 | Rare Evo 2027 | San Francisco, United States | 13-15 August 2027 | Dev Gov Day |
| Q4 | TOKEN2049 Singapore 2027 | Singapore | October 2027 | Networking |
| Q4 | LABITCONF 2027 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | November 2027 | Hackathon |
| Q4 | Australian Crypto Convention 2027 | Sydney, Australia | November 2027 | Workshop |
| Q4 | Web Summit 2027 | Lisbon, Portugal | November 2027 | Networking |
| Q4 | India Blockchain Week 2027 | Bangalore, India | December 2027 | Hackathon |
A few changes to note from the last catch-up post, following ecosystem feedback and changes in locations from event organizers. The calendar has grown from 11 to 12 conferences: Web Summit in Lisbon joins the program, TOKEN2049 New York replaces Digital Asset Summit NYC, TEAMZ Summit takes the Tokyo slot, and Rare Evo moves to San Francisco in August.
Why Now
With the first program complete, the window to secure 2027 is already open. Major conferences sell sponsorship packages and the best booth positions months in advance, and events of this size typically need at least six months of preparation. Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi opens the calendar on 10-11 February 2027, less than four months away. If the community approve this proposal only in 2027, it could cover only half of the events planned in the same calendar year. Advance planning is needed and will lead to better negotiation, early pricing, and bulk vendor deals for the most cost-effective option.
Approving the proposal now lets us lock in sponsorship packages and booth space for Cardano while they are still available, and gives builders time to apply for travel support, visas and plan their launches around the calendar. If ratification comes later, early activations such as Nairobi in February may need to be dropped or replaced, and any funds not spent return to the Treasury under the proposal’s withdrawal terms.
How This Fits the 2027 Ecosystem Budget Process
On 28 October 2026, Intersect published a concept for how treasury funding could work for 2027: the Cardano Ecosystem Budget Process (CEBP). It groups ecosystem needs into funding domains, each with a steward, a strategy and a budget cap that DReps approve before withdrawals are submitted. Events, such as those covered by this proposal, would sit in the Marketing, Analysis & Events domain.
We have worked on this concept together with Intersect and other ecosystem stakeholders and have put ourselves forward as a potential steward of the Marketing, Analysis & Events domain. We believe we have experience and a track record to deliver on a strategy for this domain, working with other ecosystem partners to establish a cohesive Cardano presence around the globe. If DReps approve the CEBP direction and the Foundation as a potential steward, we will share a comprehensive strategy for DRep approval in Stage 3 of CEBP (see the Intersect post for more information). We envision that the CEBP and this Global Events 2027 proposal could run in parallel. This is necessitated by timing concerns, with 2027 fast approaching and the need to plan events in advance, as outlined above. Waiting would mean higher prices and, for the first events of the year, no Cardano presence at all. These are opportunities the ecosystem should not give up while a new process is being set up. If this proposal is approved, we envision that it would fall under the Marketing, Analysis & Events domain and be deducted from the budget cap DReps approve for that domain. This could apply even if a different steward is chosen for this domain. The ecosystem would pay for these events once and it would be fully consistent with the new CEBP.
If the CEBP is not approved, this Global Events 2027 proposal could still operate standalone, similarly to the 2026 round of treasury withdrawals.
Four Core Principles
The following principles underpin the entire Cardano Global Events 2027 strategy:
1. Builders come first. The program exists to put Cardano projects in front of developers, users, partners, and investors at conferences many could not afford to attend alone, with space to showcase at the booth and their travel paid for.
2. Clear accountability, local delivery. The Cardano Foundation remains responsible for delivery and results. In Africa, Latin America, the United States, and Australia, it works with local ecosystem partners and Cardano Ambassadors who know those regions. Where a local partner delivers an activation, the partner’s fee of 10% of event costs is shown in that event’s budget.
3. Aligned with the Cardano 2030 Strategy. The program serves three aims of the Strategy. It reaches Latin America, Africa, and East Asia, the priority markets named in Pillar 4, through events in Buenos Aires, Nairobi, and Tokyo. It shows Cardano’s value in public, building on 147 articles and broadcast interviews in 2025-2026. The program also helps grow a skilled developer base, after engaging 1,169 developers last year, through four hackathons and a route into the Cardano Developer Portal and the Cardano Academy.
4. A calendar the ecosystem can plan around. Twelve activations run from January to December, with dates published a year ahead, so projects can time launches and announcements to the events where their audiences will be.
Support for Builders
Ecosystem Travel Support is for builders who would not otherwise be able to attend. The Cardano Foundation will open calls on the Forum ahead of each quarter’s events, and any team building on Cardano with a product live on mainnet may apply. Availability for demonstration slots at the booth and ability to report on outcomes afterward are key criteria for applicants. The Foundation will run the selection process in consultation with the Intersect Growth and Marketing Committee.
Support covers economy travel and accommodation, booked directly by the Foundation or reimbursed against receipts. Projects must accept the Foundation’s terms and conditions, including identity checks (KYC), to receive support. The final report names every project supported and the amount paid. Selection does not constitute an endorsement by the Cardano Foundation of any project, product, or token.
Budget and Safeguards
The total request is US$4,999,155 (24,995,775 ada at an assumed rate of US$0.20 per ada), including audit fees and taxes. The full draft proposal sets out the cost of every event.
This is an estimate based on current planning and dependencies, as set out more fully in the full draft proposal.
| What it pays for | US$ |
|---|---|
| Side events at all 12 conferences, including four hackathons | 695,000 |
| Sponsorship packages: speaking slots, tickets, and floor space | 1,989,000 |
| Booth build and audio-visual (AV) | 1,060,000 |
| Travel for participating builders and staff | 702,000 |
| Merchandise | 82,000 |
| Local partner fees at six events | 233,100 |
| Taxes, Audit & other fees (5%) | 238,055 |
| Total | 4,999,155 |
The 2027 targets include 9,520 booth contacts, 137 workshops and builder presentations, and 4,750 side-event registrations. The full set of KPIs is in the draft proposal, and the final report will set results against every target.
Importantly, this budget and the list of planned events is dependent on the timing of approval of the proposal and final pricing from vendors. If the treasury withdrawal for events is approved later than the end of December 2026, then the final list of events may need to be adjusted to obtain best value-for-money and exposure within the original intent of the program.
What the Community Gets
Builders gain a stage, paid travel, and an audience many could not reach on their own budgets. The Treasury gets published spend for every event and the return of any funds that go unused. Local Cardano communities get a funded side event in their region, with targets of 860 Cardano community attendees and 1,290 people from outside the ecosystem, and Cardano Ambassadors help deliver activations in the regions they know. The wider ecosystem gets a consistent Cardano presence at the conferences where developers, partners, and investors already gather, with a yearly record of what that presence achieved.
Next Steps
Major conferences book space and sponsorships months in advance, so we respectfully present this proposal to DReps for your consideration and vote, in hopes of securing the 2027 calendar. The first activation is Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi on 10-11 February 2027, and the governance action is planned to go on-chain in November 2026.
Questions and feedback are welcome in this thread. The Foundation will host two DRep sessions on Monday 9 November 2026, so DReps in every time zone can join:
- 10:00 to 11:00 CET: https://www.addevent.com/event/kg7fq2gbl2bq
- 17:00 to 18:00 CET: https://www.addevent.com/event/pwkl3964x67m
Each link adds the session to your calendar with the joining details.
We ask DReps to vote yes, and we ask community members who support the proposal to tell their DRep.
Please also read the full Draft of the Treasury Withdrawal:
https://ucarecdn.com/bf2042db-6907-430c-9efb-33281147e486/
The Cardano Foundation