Eternl: Path to Sustainability

Summary

RCADA votes YES on Eternl: Path to Sustainability - v2.

This is a cautious YES.

RCADA supports this updated proposal because Eternl remains an important user-facing access layer for Cardano, supporting payments, staking, governance participation, DApp interaction, hardware wallets, mobile users, and power users across the ecosystem.

RCADA’s support remains conditional and expectations-based. This proposal is not milestone-based, the main Eternl UI is not open source, and Tastenkunst GmbH remains both the submitting entity and fund administrator. These factors mean the community must rely heavily on transparent reporting, independent audit follow-through, and public accountability.

RCADA votes YES, while making clear that this support should not be interpreted as automatic approval of recurring wallet funding.

Key Considerations

This proposal is a resubmission of the earlier Eternl funding request that RCADA previously supported.
Eternl is established Cardano user infrastructure across web, browser extension, Android, and iOS.
Wallets are essential access infrastructure for staking, governance, DApp interaction, payments, hardware wallets, mobile users, and asset management.
The previous proposal received NO votes from Constitutional Committee members due to lack of clarity around audit funding.
This updated proposal clarifies that the audit allocation is for independent audits of treasury fund use and oversight metrics, not technical security audits.
The updated proposal specifies that independent parties unaffiliated with Tastenkunst GmbH or the Eternl team will review receipt, custody, conversion, spending, remaining balances, Pro-plan income relevant to repayment, and any refunds or repayments to the Cardano Treasury.
The Treasury ask is ₳2,350,000, intended to cover approximately $420,000 of annual operating costs.
The higher ADA amount reflects a lower ADA/USD conversion assumption, not an expanded USD operating budget.
Eternl proposes a Pro plan as a path toward sustainability while keeping a basic version free.
The proposal includes a Treasury repayment mechanism if remaining Treasury stablecoins plus Pro-plan income exceed annual operating needs.
The proposal also includes public wallet monitoring, on-chain Pro-plan metadata, published income reporting, and repayment or donation transaction hashes.
RCADA supports the sustainability experiment but does not view this as a precedent for automatic recurring wallet subsidies.
The proposal is not milestone-based and is self-administered by Tastenkunst GmbH.
Eternl’s main UI is not open source, which weakens the pure public-good framing.
RCADA expects strong public reporting on audit outputs, treasury wallet activity, conversion rates, repayment calculations, Pro-plan adoption data, and progress updates during the funding period.

What this action does

This Treasury Withdrawal proposal requests ₳2,350,000 to support 12 months of Eternl operations, maintenance, and improvements from August 2026 to July 2027.

The proposal funds:

frontend maintenance and cross-platform development;
backend infrastructure and operations;
user support;
day-to-day operations;
security-critical updates;
hardware wallet support;
governance tooling;
DApp interoperability;
hard-fork readiness;
audits and administration.

The budget is allocated as follows:

Category	Amount	Share
Frontend	₳1,292,500	55%
Backend	₳587,500	25%
Support	₳117,500	5%
Admin	₳305,500	13%
Audits	₳47,000	2%
Total	₳2,350,000	100%

Eternl plans to convert up to $420,000 worth of ADA into stablecoins and deposit it into a public company wallet for everyone to monitor. Any ADA above that amount will be returned to the Treasury.

Any ADA held before conversion or return will be held in an auditable account, will not be delegated to an SPO, and will be delegated to the predefined abstain voting option.

The proposal introduces a planned Pro subscription model for personal and company users. Every December and June, Eternl will assess whether remaining Treasury stablecoins plus paid plan income exceed the annual operating need. If they do, 100% of the surplus will be used to repay the Treasury until the full USD value of the proposal is repaid in ADA.

After full repayment, if Pro-plan income exceeds the annual operating threshold, Eternl commits to donating 50% of income above that threshold until an additional $210,000 worth of ADA has been donated to the Treasury.

The updated proposal also clarifies that the audit allocation covers periodic independent audits of treasury fund use and the implementation of oversight metrics. It is not a technical security audit budget.

Independent audits are expected in February 2027 and August 2027. These audits will review receipt, custody, conversion, spending, remaining balances, Pro-plan income relevant to repayment, and any refunds or repayments to the Cardano Treasury. Oversight metrics will include balances, conversion rates, transaction hashes, and Treasury repayment hashes.

Analysis Findings

Constitutional / Guardrails Assessment

✔ The proposal specifies a clear Treasury ask of ₳2,350,000.
✔ The proposal identifies the purpose of the withdrawal: 12 months of Eternl operations, maintenance, and improvements.
✔ The proposal provides a delivery period from August 2026 to July 2027.
✔ The proposal includes a budget breakdown.
✔ The proposal identifies Tastenkunst GmbH as administrator.
✔ The proposal discloses prior Catalyst, Intersect, and Treasury funding.
✔ The proposal includes a sustainability plan through Pro subscriptions.
✔ The proposal includes Treasury repayment and donation commitments.
✔ The proposal includes public reporting commitments for Pro-plan earnings and repayment/donation transaction hashes.
✔ The updated proposal clarifies audit fund use and oversight metrics.
✔ The updated proposal specifies independent fund-use audits in February 2027 and August 2027.
✔ The proposal states that the Eternl DRep will abstain on this proposal.
⚠ The proposal is not milestone-based.
⚠ The proposal is self-administered by Tastenkunst GmbH rather than an independent administrator.
⚠ Eternl’s main UI is not open source.
⚠ Future Treasury requests should demonstrate clear progress toward self-sustainability.

Assessment: Conditional Pass

Process & Governance Quality

✔ The proposal addresses important user-facing infrastructure continuity.
✔ This resubmission directly responds to the Constitutional Committee concern around audit clarity.
✔ The updated audit explanation materially improves the transparency and accountability profile of the proposal.
✔ Eternl has an existing user base and operational track record.
✔ The repayment/donation mechanism is a meaningful improvement over a simple operating subsidy.
✔ Public wallet monitoring, on-chain Pro-plan metadata, published income reporting, and repayment/donation transaction hashes are positive transparency features.
⚠ The absence of milestone-based delivery increases reliance on operational reporting.
⚠ Self-administration increases the importance of public wallet monitoring, independent audit follow-through, and transparent accounting.
⚠ Closed-source UI limits the strength of the public-good argument.
⚠ This should be treated as bridge support, not a standing expectation of annual Treasury funding.

Assessment: Mixed to Strong, improved by audit clarification

Impact & Risk Analysis

User infrastructure value: High
Governance tooling value: Medium to High
Continuity importance: High
Treasury ask size: Medium
Sustainability path credibility: Medium
Repayment alignment: Medium to High
Audit clarity improvement: High
Closed-source/public-good concern: Medium
Self-administration risk: Medium
Recurring dependency risk: Medium

RCADA believes Eternl provides important Cardano access infrastructure and that this updated proposal’s audit clarification, repayment framework, public wallet monitoring, on-chain Pro-plan metadata, published income reporting, and repayment/donation commitments create a reasonable basis for public oversight.

However, future support should depend on demonstrated progress toward sustainability, transparent use of funds, delivery against the stated operational commitments, and evidence that Eternl continues to provide meaningful value to the wider Cardano community.

Assessment: Important user infrastructure / cautious bridge support

Ratings (Decision Support Only)

Dimension	Score (1–5)
Constitutional clarity	4
Governance quality	4
Execution credibility	4
Ecosystem value	4
Risk balance	3
Overall score	🟡 76% — Cautious YES, improved by audit clarification

RCADA Rationale

RCADA votes YES on this updated Eternl Path to Sustainability Treasury Withdrawal.

This proposal is a resubmission of the earlier Eternl funding request that RCADA previously supported. The core purpose remains the same: to provide 12 months of operational runway for Eternl while the team transitions toward a more sustainable revenue model through paid Pro plans. Eternl remains an important user-facing access layer for Cardano, supporting payments, staking, governance participation, DApp interaction, hardware wallets, mobile users, and power users across the ecosystem.

The main difference in this resubmission is that the proposal now directly addresses the concern that led to Constitutional Committee NO votes on the previous action: lack of clarity around audit funding. The updated metadata clarifies that the audit allocation is for independent audits of treasury fund use and oversight metrics, not for technical security audits. It also specifies that independent parties unaffiliated with Tastenkunst GmbH or the Eternl team will review receipt, custody, conversion, spending, remaining balances, Pro-plan income relevant to repayment, and any refunds or repayments to the Cardano Treasury in February 2027 and August 2027. This materially improves the transparency and accountability profile of the proposal.

RCADA also notes that the higher ADA amount reflects a lower ADA/USD conversion assumption, not an expanded USD operating budget. The proposal continues to target approximately $420,000 for 12 months of operations. The commitment to convert only up to that USD amount into stablecoins, return any excess ADA to the Treasury, hold funds in an auditable account, avoid SPO delegation, and delegate to the predefined abstain voting option are positive safeguards.

We continue to view Eternl’s sustainability plan as important. The proposal does not simply ask the Treasury to permanently subsidise a wallet; it sets out a pathway where Pro-plan revenue may replace Treasury support over time. The repayment framework, public wallet monitoring, on-chain Pro-plan metadata, published income reporting, and repayment or donation transaction hashes create a reasonable basis for public oversight.

That said, RCADA’s support remains conditional and expectations-based. This proposal is not milestone-based, the main Eternl UI is not open source, and Tastenkunst GmbH remains both the submitting entity and fund administrator. These factors mean the community must rely heavily on transparent reporting, independent audit follow-through, and public accountability. RCADA therefore expects Eternl to publish clear audit outputs, treasury wallet activity, conversion rates, repayment calculations, Pro-plan adoption data, and progress updates during the funding period.

On balance, RCADA believes this updated proposal meets the standard for support. It preserves continuity for a widely used Cardano wallet, strengthens access to governance and DApp participation, responds constructively to the previous constitutional concern, and includes a credible transition path toward self-sustainability.

RCADA votes YES, while making clear that this support should not be interpreted as automatic approval of recurring wallet funding. Future support should depend on demonstrated progress toward sustainability, transparent use of funds, delivery against the stated operational commitments, and evidence that Eternl continues to provide meaningful value to the wider Cardano community.

RCADA’s full vote assessment can be found here: “https://brolloks.github.io/rcada-drep-votes/.”