Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano and CEO of Input Output, used a June 15 livestream titled “Discord Part III” to lay out a proposed governance-focused Discord structure for the Cardano ecosystem. The plan centers on moving governance debates out of open, unmoderated social channels and into a dedicated, rules-based environment designed for structured discussion, participation tracking, voting, and accountability.
Hoskinson Outlines Cardano Governance Discord
Hoskinson said the initiative is currently in what he called “stage one,” an ideation phase involving a working group at Input Output and selected participants. That phase is focused on defining the purpose of the Discord, establishing staffing, recruiting moderators, and clarifying roles through a RACI framework, meaning responsible, accountable, consulted and informed. The basic objective, he said, is to create “a dedicated space for governance convos” and reduce the reliance on public platforms where incomplete proposals can be taken out of context.
A major concern in Hoskinson’s remarks was the risk that early-stage governance conversations become distorted when they are broadcast through social media before ideas have been refined. He framed the Discord as a place where participants can test difficult or controversial ideas without immediate attribution to individual speakers. “Governance requires you to have the ability to have a conversation where there’s some concept of confidentiality, or at least no attribution of the people who are speaking. So this can be accomplished with zero knowledge technology,” Hoskinson said.
The proposed system would use concepts similar to Chatham House rules, under which information from a discussion can be used but speakers’ identities and affiliations are not disclosed. Hoskinson said zero-knowledge tools could allow participants to prove they belong to the governance Discord while remaining anonymous within specific governance events. He also discussed token-gating or similar verification mechanisms to ensure participants are ADA holders, while adding that merit-based incentives such as NFT badges could reward service and participation inside the system.
Plan Would Add Rules, Voting Tools and ‘Teeth’
Hoskinson described the Discord as more than a chat server, arguing that it would need structured conversations, facilitators, voting mechanisms, output reports and enforceable conduct rules. He said governance events should begin with a “pre-convo” that defines the required information, relevant personas, and ideal outcome before a discussion begins. He also suggested AI facilitators could help define success criteria, organize discussions and eventually feed a governance knowledge graph or “Cardano LLM” that could act as a public reference point for the ecosystem.
The plan also includes what Hoskinson called “teeth”: political leverage intended to make participation meaningful rather than optional. He said one possible route would be forming a political party that automatically votes against funding proposals from projects that do not join and participate in the governance Discord. “If you’re to receive public funds from Cardano to better Cardano and grow Cardano, then you need to be part of the process of accountability. So, we’re all fine with audit and oversight, but then we say they have absolutely no duty to growing the ecosystem in any shape, form, or function,” he said.
Hoskinson also connected the Discord proposal to broader governance changes, including defining Cardano growth metrics, establishing an executive function, and moving toward a more structured annual budget process. He said the current model, where many treasury proposals can appear separately, creates repeated conflict between proposers and delegated representatives. His preferred model would involve one annual treasury withdrawal, dedicated funding organizations, debate around an omnibus budget, and eventual constitutional changes covering growth objectives and governance functions.
Hoskinson emphasized that the proposed Discord would be tightly moderated and purpose-built, not a general forum for criticism of individuals or organizations. “This is a specialized space, a heterotopia for governance conversations. It is not here to be a general purpose communication channel,” he said. Participants would be bound by a code of conduct, and violations could lead to bans, while discussions would be expected to remain focused on governance outcomes rather than personal disputes.
The rollout would move from the current ideation phase into a closed beta with core entities and selected participants, followed by tooling development, a hackathon and wider recruitment. Hoskinson said the third stage would open the system more broadly, but still under strict rules and moderation. “Stage one is underway. Within a few weeks time, we’ll make substantial progress. Stage two, we’ll start bringing in a closed beta,” he said.
AI Transparency Note: This article was prepared with the assistance of an AI system based on the sources listed and was reviewed, edited, and approved by a human editor before publication. All quotes, data points, and factual claims are intended to be grounded in the cited source material; however, errors cannot be ruled out entirely.