The Cardano Foundation 2022 Annual Report
The Cardano Foundation, “an independent, Swiss-based not-for-profit organization… tasked with advancing the public digital infrastructure Cardano;” has released its first-ever annual report on the Cardano ecosystem as well as “detail various 2022 achievements from the different teams across the Foundation, and highlights the Foundation’s overarching mission to facilitate the worldwide advancement of the public digital infrastructure Cardano.” Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation; expressed his excitement and enthusiasm to present the Foundation’s first annual report.
“It brings me great joy to present the Cardano Foundation’s first annual report. Each and every one of these achievements move us closer to our long-term mission: contribute to providing the world with open and decentralized infrastructures that it can depend on.” Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation
The report begins by describing the Cardano Foundation’s core values and goals to help support and improve the Cardano ecosystem and help onboard the world to this revolutionary technology that will improve the lives of so many people. One of their core operations is their educational initiatives to help inform the world of what Cardano truly has to offer as well as their legislative initiatives to provide regulatory clarity. Secondly, the Foundation aims to secure and support the technological infrastructure of Cardano to allow the ecosystem to become a “enterprise-critical technology.” Thirdly, the Foundation aims to assist in the onboarding of users and the widespread adopt of Cardano to support the flourishing ecosystem by encouraging businesses, organizations, institutions, governments, and users alike to utilize the power of Cardano’s technological capabilities.
The Cardano Ecosystem’s Achievements
The Foundation’s annual report then highlighted the multitude of optimistic statistical accomplishments the Cardano ecosystem achieved over the last year; from an astonishing 3.83 million wallets created with 1.25 million of those wallets delegated across the 3,220 stake pools, to an amazing 7.43 million assets minted on the Cardano blockchain in totality.
It also highlighted the 57.9 million transactions processed on the blockchain as well as the amazing fact that over 70% of all Cardano’s native token, ADA; is staked and delegated to staking pools that assist in the process of securing the blockchain.
The Cardano Developer Portal also saw an immense increase in contributors and showcase projects on mainnet. In January of 2022, the Portal had 63 projects on mainnet and 88 contributors; but in December of the same year, there were 161 contributors (an 83% increase) and 104 projects on mainnet (a 65% increase).
Additionally, Cardano achieved a number of developmental feats during the course of 2022 that the Foundation covered comprehensively. From the astounding Vasil Hard Fork — named after the legendary Vasil Dabov, one of the earliest supporters and most vocal proponents of Cardano — to the launch of the decentralized application backend (DAB) solution developed by the Foundation and Emurgo to support developers on Cardano.
The Foundation also expressed its excitement with the launch of Kupo v2, a lightweight chain-indexing solution that provides streamlined and efficient access to blockchain data developed by the open-source team at the Foundation; as well as the launch of Omigo, a lightweight bridge interface tool that allows users to develop on Cardano in programming languages other than the once mandatory Haskell programming language.
Regulatory, Educational, & Humanitarian Efforts
Furthermore, the report detailed the wide variety of accomplishments and spectacular feats the Cardano Foundation accomplished over the past year; from solidified partnerships and educational/regulatory initiatives to eco-friendly restoration programs.
One of the primary focuses of 2022 for the Foundation has been its educational efforts to onboard more users and achieve regulatory clarity. The Foundation announced a three-year sponsorship of a PhD position in blockchain analytics at the University of Zurich (UZH) to promote education in the field of blockchain technology and attended over 20 events during the course of 2022 to educate organizations, businesses, and individuals alike about the power of the blockchain industry and specifically Cardano.
Finally, the Foundation focused on humanitarian efforts as well throughout the year 2022 planting over 350,000 thousand trees through the first Global Impact Challenge in collaboration with Veritree and delegating over 3.5 million ADA to the stake pool the Foundation created in the second Global Impact Challenge to donate to forcibly displaced people through the United Nations Relief Agency’s national partner in Switzerland.
The 2022 Cardano Summit
The Foundation also highlighted their Cardano Summit events held virtually and across the world throughout the year. The Cardano Summit is a global network of events designed to inspire innovation featuring the Cardano community to connect and collaborate with one another and be given the opportunity to listen to industry leaders who share their insight, expertise, and knowledge of the Cardano ecosystem and Web3 as a whole to help “activate the Cardano ecosystem.” With over eighty speakers, thirty thousand attendees, and over fifty global locations; the Cardano Summit truly is a global movement geared towards educating the world about Cardano.
“From Ho Chi Minh City to São Paulo, the Cardano Summit 2022 was a global celebration, with a main stage event in Lausanne, community-led events spanning most continents, a virtual Summit Lodge, and a grand total of more than 50 locations and over 30,000 participants overall. A true testament to the reach of the Cardano community.” — The Cardano Foundation
One notable mention in the report was that “many participants highlighted that the Cardano Summit stood out among other blockchain-related conferences due to the density of attendees building to make a real difference in the world.” The Cardano Summit is designed to bring people together looking to make real change with the power of technology, and it truly has utilized the power of community to accomplish just that.
The Foundation’s Finances
The Foundation concluded its annual report for last year by disclosing its treasury funds and detailing its additional spending. In June of last year, the Foundation’s Treasury had $322 million in ADA (81% of its portfolio), $19 million in BTC (8% of its portfolio), and $45 million in cash and cash equivalents (11% of its portfolio) with a total market value of $398 million. In December of last year, the Foundation’s Treasury had $166 million in ADA (71% of its portfolio), $19 million in BTC (8% of its portfolio), and $48 million in cash and cash equivalents (21% of its portfolio) totaling $233 million.
The reasoning for the reduction of the Foundation’s total funds is due to “significantly increased headcount and associated costs” for the Foundation in their effort to provide more support, services, and resources for Cardano truly accomplish their core strategic goals in elevating the ecosystem. Despite all of the backlash the Foundation is often at the backend of, it truly did accomplish a lot during the year that often gets overlooked by the public.
