Cardano (ADA) Governance

Cardano introduced governance in 2024. Official description:

"Cardano is defined by its community. Its governance model shows that true democracy - in which individuals are incentivized to play a role and votes are immutably recorded - is possible. It is a way for token holders to decide the future of a platform, and for the community to dictate the use of Cardano’s treasury funds.

This model and the pioneering technology that underpins it can be applied to any application, system, or even society. It is a blueprint for change that is decided by the many, as well as the few, and which will redistribute power, eliminating intermediaries, to improve the lives of all."

What is important for you as a Cardano holder is, that you have to select a governance action to be able to use your ADA staking rewards.

Your Voting Power can be used in several ways:

• Delegate your Voting Power to a DRep.
  You can delegate your voting power to a dRep (Delegated Representative).
• Delegate your Voting Power to "Abstain".
  This means you do not vote either for or against a proposal.
• Delegate your Voting Power to "Signal No Confidence".
  Express dissatisfaction with governance. If a No Confidence vote reaches a certain threshold, it can trigger governance changes (e.g., forcing re-elections).

More about Cardano governance is available here.

With BC Vault App+FW v3.0.0 and above you can select your governance action for each of your Cardano (ADA) Wallets in the application. Simply choose your option (under Staking/Governance menu) and in case of "Delegate to DRep" select the Delegated Representative you want to give your votes to:

If you are not sure what to choose, we suggest you to select "Abstain from voting" that will enable you to spend your staking rewards and not influence Cardano governance in any way.

Confirm the governance transaction on the device and your selection will be active! Once the blockchain transaction completes you will be able to spend your staking rewards.