Cardano Sets Voting Record: Nearly 100% Of 4.6 Billion ADA Cast Via Delegates

Record-breaking turnout characterised Cardano’s latest governance vote, with almost all tokens on the network contributing to the decision-making process.

Per numbers, Input Output Global (IOG) CTO Romain Pellerin presented, 99.5% of the 4.657 billion ADA in delegated stake was employed in casting votes through the Delegated Representatives system on the network.

The breakdown of voting showed decisive community sentiments. Among all votes cast, 76% or 3.57 billion ADA were for the suggested measure. Opposing it were 918 million votes, while 169 million were no-confidence votes. A minuscule percentage—only 0.5% of the stake delegated—chose not to cast their vote.

This voting session is a milestone in what Cardano refers to as its “Voltaire governance era,” named after the French Enlightenment author and philosopher.

#Cardano decentralized governance in action: 99.5% participation of ADA 4.657B delegated stake https://t.co/yCpHQ7zCKe

— Romain Pellerin (@rom1_pellerin) April 25, 2025

According to reports from network developers, Cardano has adopted a “liquid democracy” governance model that provides ADA holders with flexibility in their engagement. In this model, token holders can delegate their governance authority to Delegated Representatives (DReps) while retaining full control of their funds.

The voting power of such representatives is proportionate to the amount of ADA they are assigned. ADA holders are not tied down to their decisions either—they can sell voting rights whenever they want, thus maintaining continuous control over who acts on their behalf.

DReps vote on all kinds of network-wide proposals, ranging from technical hard forks to treasury fund allocation decisions.

The governance functionality exhibited in this ballot came into full effect after the Plomin hard fork finished in January 2025. This network update enabled core functionality of Cardano’s governance system, such as treasury withdrawals, and made DReps’ role official in the ecosystem.

BREAKING:

Cardano has recorded a staggering 99.5% voter turnout in its latest governance vote.

Making Cardano one of the most decentralized and actively engaged ecosystems in the world. pic.twitter.com/M1tUP2kN1v

— TapTools (@TapTools) April 25, 2025

Following this technical upgrade, ADA holders had a number of participation choices. They were able to vote directly on proposals, delegate their voting power to a DRep of their choice, abstain entirely, or cast a formal vote of no confidence.

One such design consideration highlighted by developers included the aspect of preserving unchanged staking rewards for ADA holders that did not engage in governance activities. This practice reflects pre-hard fork operations, enabling smooth transition to the new governance system.

The large turnout for this initial significant vote indicates that the community has accepted Cardano’s governance model, which combines representative voting with freedom of action for individual token holders.

At the time of writing, ADA was trading at $0.72, up 15% in the last seven days, data from Coingecko shows.

Featured image from MoneyCheck, chart from TradingView