Blockfrost: Maintenance and Next Generation Indexing

Treasury withdrawal: Pays ADA out of the Cardano treasury.

Status: Expired: Voting closed without the action reaching the support it needed.
Proposed: 22 Apr 2026, in epoch 626
Amount: ₳7,920,000
Action ID: gov_action1w0shrfxqwv95kk0v4cn34wylz25a2cmqkq5jpc0e2yrahhqava3qwt8k9fx

Votes

DReps: 24.2% yes, 67% needed, threshold not reached, 98 Yes · 81 No · 40 Abstain.
Stake pools: do not vote on this action.
Constitutional Committee: 100% yes.

Abstract

**Proposal as pdf: [https://ipnso-com.ipns.dweb.link/?cid=QmUdbgB3eHms52HY4oha5u2V4mrpCZkhBw2AaozeMiz8sL](https://ipnso-com.ipns.dweb.link/?cid=QmUdbgB3eHms52HY4oha5u2V4mrpCZkhBw2AaozeMiz8sL)**

One of the primary challenges in decentralizing access to data-providing services such as Blockfrost is the substantial amount of resources required to index the entire Cardano blockchain dataset, even when only a fraction of that data is needed in practice.

As Cardano prepares for Leios, the cost of indexing the full blockchain dataset will grow substantially. Today, participating in data-serving infrastructure requires indexing the entire chain. This prices out smaller operators and concentrates infrastructure around fewer providers.

Project Cayley introduces decentralized slice indexing — allowing SPOs and node operators to choose which portions of the chain they want to index and serve. This lowers the barrier to participation, reduces infrastructure costs across the ecosystem, and keeps data-serving infrastructure decentralized as the chain scales. Its modular multi-chain architecture further enables developers to access data across Cardano, Midnight, and Bitcoin through a unified API.

This proposal funds two components: Project Cayley ($1,000,000) to build the next-generation indexing architecture, and an operational subsidy ($900,000) to maintain the free-tier infrastructure that Blockfrost has funded entirely on its own since inception. **Total ask: ₳7.92M** ($1,900,000 at $0.24/₳).