Governance

Conway era introduces significant on-chain governance features to the Cardano blockchain, as outlined in CIP-1694 . These features enable ADA holders to participate in on-chain decisions through a system of delegation and direct voting.

ADA Holder

An ADA holder can participate in on-chain governance by delegating the voting power to a Delegated Representative (DRep) or by becoming a DRep.

Delegating to a DRep

The following is an example of how you can delegate voting power to a DRep:


// you can convert a DRep ID to Credential
const drepId = "drep1_...";
const drepCredential = drepIDToCredential(drepId);
 
// transaction construction
await lucid
  .newTx()
  .delegate.VoteToDRep(rewardAddress, drepCredential)
  .complete();
 
// proceed with sign and submit tx...

Becoming a DRep

To become a Delegated Representative (DRep), you need a registered stake address. Here’s how you can register the stake address:


// you can query the reward address of the connected wallet
const rewardAddress = await lucid.wallet().rewardAddress();
 
// transaction construction
await lucid.newTx().register.DRep(rewardAddress).complete();
 
// proceed with sign and submit tx...

DRep

A Delegated Representative (DRep) can accept voting delegation and participate directly in governance actions.

Update Info

You can update DRep metadata like the following:


// you can query the reward address of the connected wallet
const rewardAddress = await lucid.wallet().rewardAddress();
 
// transaction construction
await lucid.newTx().updateDRep(rewardAddress, anchor).complete();
 
// proceed with sign and submit tx...

Deregistration

To deregister from a DRep, you can do the following:


// you can query the reward address of the connected wallet
const rewardAddress = await lucid.wallet().rewardAddress();
 
// transaction construction
await lucid.newTx().deregister.DRep(rewardAddress).complete();
 
// proceed with sign and submit tx...

Script DRep

For programmatic voting, you can create a script-based DRep:


// you can query the reward address of the connected wallet
const rewardAddress = await lucid.wallet().rewardAddress();
 
// transaction construction
await lucid
  .newTx()
  .register.DRep(rewardAddress)
  .attach.Script(script)
  .complete();
 
// proceed with sign and submit tx...

Use-cases:

Voting according to predefined community policies
Implementing voting thresholds based on specific metrics
Creating specialized voting strategies for institutions

Utility Functions

This sections covers convenience functions for common governance operations.

Register and Delegate to a DRep

This allows you to register and delegate to a DRep as a single action:


// you can query the reward address of the connected wallet
const rewardAddress = await lucid.wallet().rewardAddress();
 
// you can convert a DRep ID to Credential
const drepId = "drep1_...";
const drepCredential = drepIDToCredential(drepId);
 
// transaction construction
await lucid
  .newTx()
  .registerAndDelegate.ToDrep(rewardAddress, drepCredential)
  .complete();
 
// proceed with sign and submit tx...

Register and Delegate to a Pool and DRep

This allows you to register and delegate to a Pool and a DRep as a single action:


// you can query the reward address of the connected wallet
const rewardAddress = await lucid.wallet().rewardAddress();
 
// you need to provide the Pool ID
const poolId = "pool1_...";
 
// you can convert a DRep ID to Credential
const drepId = "drep1_...";
const drepCredential = drepIDToCredential(drepId);
 
// transaction construction
await lucid
  .newTx()
  .registerAndDelegate.ToPoolAndDRep(rewardAddress, poolId, drepCredential)
  .complete();
 
// proceed with sign and submit tx...

Delegate to a Pool and DRep

This allows you to delegate to a Pool and a DRep as a single action:


// you can query the reward address of the connected wallet
const rewardAddress = await lucid.wallet().rewardAddress();
 
// you need to provide the Pool ID
const poolId = "pool1_...";
 
// you can convert a DRep ID to Credential
const drepId = "drep1_...";
const drepCredential = drepIDToCredential(drepId);
 
// transaction construction
await lucid
  .newTx()
  .delegate.VoteToPoolAndDrep(rewardAddress, poolId, drepCredential)
  .complete();
 
// proceed with sign and submit tx...

Understanding Delegation Certificates

When you delegate your voting power, Evolution-SDK creates a certificate that is included in the transaction. Behind the scenes, this is handled by the Certificate.new_vote_deleg_cert() method in CML. The certificate contains:

Stake credential derived from your reward address
DRep you’re delegating to
Voting strategy (whether a specific DRep, Always Abstain, or Always No Confidence)