Mapping Agency with Graph Analysis in Cardano

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Mapping Agency with Graph Analysis in Cardano

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

60000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

6

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

No protocols or methods assess agency problems in Cardano. This may impact delegators (as principals) by entrusting stake pool operators, dReps, and protocol teams (as agents) with resources.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://qadao.io

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No dependencies

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

Apache 2.0 Licence - see https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal.

Analytics

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously funded (whether by you or others).

Our proposal is novel in two ways:

• We apply principal–agent theory—a mature framework in economics to study trust, signaling, and moral hazard in real-world delegation behavior.
• We combine graph-theoretic methods with public API data (Koios, Blockfrost) to capture dynamic networks of delegators, SPOs, and dReps. Instead of analyzing data aggregates, we model flows & alignment at the level of individual relationships.

This interdisciplinary approach allows us to measure agency problems and incentive alignment in ways that have not yet been explored in the Cardano.

Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.

Our MVP will be a web-based dashboard and an open dataset. It will demonstrate:

transition

• Delegation Flow Graphs: Visualizations of how ADA moves between pools across epochs.
• Agent Alignment Metrics: Early indicators such as delegator transition rates after fee/pledge changes, or divergence between dReps votes and delegators’ revealed preferences.

The prototype will be hosted publicly (GitHub Pages for the frontend, with datasets and Jupyter notebooks available on GitHub). All data pipelines will pull directly from public Cardano APIs, ensuring transparency and reproducibility.

Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.

We define success in evaluation & identification of agent-principal data with the following on-chain indicators:

• Delegator Retention : Reduction in average transition rates following agent-favorable signals
• Delegation Concentration: Changes in Gini/Herfindahl indices of stake distribution.
• Flow Responsiveness: Correlation between on-chain parameter changes & subsequent delegation flows.
• Governance Alignment: Share of delegators whose representatives’ votes match their stake choices

Access Impact: Public usage of our dashboard/data (GitHub stars, forked repos, unique visitors).

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

In the Cardano ecosystem there are no explicit protocols or methods to assess agency problems.

Our reasons for approaching agency problems are summarized as follows : Potential agency problems may exist between delegators (as principals) who entrust stake pool operators, dReps, and protocol teams (as agents) with resources. Delegators often rely on imperfect signals of quality (such as fees, pledges, metadata, block production, or past votes).

This may create risks of:

• Information Asymmetry: where new or small delegators lack reliable tools to assess pool/operator trustworthiness or governance alignment.
• Moral Hazard: where SPOs may act in their own short-term interest (e.g., raising fees, reducing reliability) once a stake is secured.
• Concentration & Cartelization: where delegation often herds toward large, visible pools, undermining decentralization goals (k-parameter, a0 incentives).
• Governance Misalignment: where representatives may vote against the preferences or economic interests of their delegators, thereby eroding trust in on-chain governance.
• Lack of Transparency in Agency Dynamics: While raw data is on-chain, there is no systematic analysis of how delegation flows evolve, why stake shifts occur, and which signals truly reduce agency risk.

This proposal aims to address these gaps by applying principal–agent theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal–agent_problem ) with graph analysis to Cardano’s delegation and governance networks.

We will use public APIs to build transparent datasets and tools to analyse the problem of hidden agency dynamics in trust, incentives, and alignment. The objective is to provide stakeholders with evidence-based insights into incentive design, delegators with better decision tools.

Consequently we aim to engage and benefit principals (delegators, voters etc) and agents (SPOs, dReps and protocol teams) with this analysis.

This is important to the Cardano ecosystem's resilience and decentralization goals.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

The success of this project will bring value to the Cardano Community by providing delegators with the tools to evaluate the agency of pools, representatives, and token issuers and thereby reducing information asymmetry. It will equip SPOs and dReps with evidence-based insights into how fees, pledges, and reliability affect delegation behavior. As mentioned above this will support progress towards greater decentralization and resilience by identifying risks of concentration, collusion, or misalignment.

Impact will be measured in quantitative terms from on-chain metrics such as -

• Delegator transition rate (the rate at which ADA or delegators reallocate between pools across epochs) as a proxy for trust and incentive alignment in Agency theory.
• Stake distribution metrics - tracking stake distribution over time using established inequality and diversity metrics such as the Gini coefficient to capture how evenly ADA is spread across pools and the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) to measure concentration of stake in dominant pools.
• Delegation flow responsiveness - by analyzing how stake movements between pools change following operator signals such as fee adjustments, block production reliability, or pledge updates. This provides an evidence-based view of which signals reduce uncertainty and build trust in the staking ecosystem.
• Governance alignment score: - proportion of delegators aligned with their representatives’ votes.

Outputs and opportunities that result from your project will be shared via -

• Public Repository (GitHub): All code, data pipelines, and processed datasets will be available under the Apache 2.0 permissive license.
• Community Presentations: Regular updates shared in Cardano forums and on QADAO media (https://x.com/qa_dao & https://www.youtube.com/@qadao))
• Research Dissemination: An Academic-style writeup will be submitted to open repositories such as arXiv (https://arxiv.org/)) and ResearchHub (https://www.researchhub.com/))

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

We bring a blend of technical, research, and community-focused expertise that positions us well to deliver this project:

Technical Expertise

• Skilled in data analysis with practical experience public APIs.
• Proficient in graph/network analysis, statistical modelling, and reproducible data pipelines using Python, Neo4j, and visualization libraries.
• Familiar with on-chain metrics frameworks (Gini, HHI, entropy indices) and able to apply them rigorously to Cardano datasets.
• Research & Academic Background
• Able to apply economic and governance theories (e.g., principal–agent models) to real-world decentralized ecosystems.
• Experienced in producing peer-reviewed quality research outputs, reports, and open-source methods suitable for both academic and community audiences.

Project Delivery Experience

• Previous track record of multi-month data-driven governance projects.
• Experienced in working with distributed teams and stakeholders, ensuring accountability through clear documentation and version control (GitHub, open reports).

Fund Management & Accountability

• To ensure responsible handling of funds, we will follow a transparent and structured process:
• Conversion & Treasury Management: Core expenses (resources, infrastructure) will be converted to fiat at regular intervals to avoid volatility risk, with a small reserve held in ADA.
• Transparent Budget Tracking: Use of GitHub Project tools to match expenses against milestones and allocated budgets..
• Deliverable-Based Funding: Each milestone includes clear acceptance criteria and evidence, ensuring funds correspond to demonstrable outputs.

Why we are best suited

This project requires someone who can translate complex theory (economics, governance) into technical, on-chain data analysis, and package results into tools the Cardano community can actually use.

Our background spans research rigor, data engineering skill, and community engagement, making us well positioned to bridge those worlds. Combined with a clear, transparent fund management process, this ensures that the project will be delivered on time, within scope, and with full accountability to the Cardano ecosystem.

We have successfully participated in completing 16 previous Catalyst proposals (as an individual or part of a team). See https://www.lidonation.com/en/project-catalyst/users/23 for details.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Data Infrastructure Setup

Milestone Outputs

Development of a robust data ingestion pipeline that connects to Koios and Blockfrost APIs, with scripts for automated retrieval of epoch, pool, and delegation data. Outputs will include standardized data schemas, storage in a reproducible format (e.g., JSON/CSV), and initial documentation to enable reuse by researchers and the Cardano community.

Acceptance Criteria

The pipeline must reliably fetch, validate, and store data for multiple epochs without failure, handle API rate limits, and ensure consistency across sources. Scripts should be easily configurable, support incremental updates, and be reproducible on a clean environment using only the provided documentation.

Evidence of Completion

Publicly accessible GitHub repository containing Python scripts, environment configuration files (requirements.txt ), a small sample dataset from at least 3 consecutive epochs, and a README documenting setup, usage, and reproducibility instructions. Demonstration of successful retrieval will be shown via published logs and summary statistics of the ingested data

Delivery Month

1

Cost

6000

Progress

10 %

Milestone Title

Graph Construction & Metrics Framework

Milestone Outputs

Graph schema design for delegator–pool and pool–pool relationships, along with construction scripts. Delivery includes baseline graph-theoretic metrics such as degree distribution, betweenness, and clustering coefficients. Documentation and notebooks demonstrating generation of graphs from raw data will be provided.

Acceptance Criteria

Ability to generate complete delegation and pool-projection graphs for multiple epochs, with reproducible metrics across runs. Graph outputs must be exportable in standard formats (such as GraphML/CSV/JSON)

Evidence of Completion

Jupyter (Python) notebooks published in the GitHub repo with sample graphs, visualization screenshots, and metric tables. Scripts and documentation must enable third parties to replicate graphs for at least 3 epochs.

Delivery Month

2

Cost

6000

Progress

10 %

Milestone Title

Incentive & Delegation Dynamics Analysis

Milestone Outputs

Analytical models measuring delegation mobility (transition rates), retention rates, and responsiveness to operator signals (fee adjustments, pledge changes, block production reliability). Outputs include statistical correlation studies and time-series plots.

Acceptance Criteria

Demonstrated correlation between operator signal events and delegation flows, with at least one reproducible analysis pipeline per signal type. Analysis must capture both inflows and outflows of stake

Evidence of Completion

Technical report in the repository including datasets, regression/correlation results, and plots. Python notebooks and scripts enabling replication of the signal-responsiveness analysis will be included.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

6000

Progress

10 %

Milestone Title

Stake Distribution & Concentration Study

Milestone Outputs

Computation of stake distribution indices — Gini coefficient, Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI), and entropy — tracked across multiple epochs. Outputs include datasets of index values, time-series plots, and reproducible methods documentation.

Acceptance Criteria

Stake distribution indices must be reproducible from the provided scripts using the raw API data, and results must include a number of consecutive epochs. Scripts must validate correctness with examples.

Evidence of Completion

Data tables and time-series plots published in the GitHub repo, with Jupyter (Python) notebooks explaining computation methods. Documentation of index definitions and usage provided for the community.

Delivery Month

3

Cost

12000

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Governance Alignment & Resilience Modeling

Milestone Outputs

Prototype development of a governance alignment score (comparing delegator stake patterns to representative voting) and a resilience analysis simulating SPO failure scenarios. Outputs include datasets, algorithms, and preliminary notebook prototypes with visualizations.

Acceptance Criteria

Demonstrated calculation of governance alignment for at least one governance dataset, plus simulation of delegation redistribution under at least one SPO failure scenario. Outputs should be replicable by community users.

Evidence of Completion

Interim report published in repository including alignment score examples and resilience graphs. Notebook screenshots or commits and prototype code accessible via GitHub.

Delivery Month

5

Cost

12000

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Public Notebooks & Final Report

Milestone Outputs

Fully functional Python notebooks hosted online, presenting delegation flows, concentration metrics, alignment scores, and resilience simulations. Outputs also include an open dataset and a final research report summarizing methodology, findings, and recommendations.

Acceptance Criteria

Python Notebooks are accessible via a public URL, provide at least 3 core modules (flows, stake distribution, governance/resilience), and allow non-technical users to explore results. The final report must be peer-accessible and archived.

Evidence of Completion

Live hosted Notebooks (GitHub Pages or equivalent), GitHub release of final dataset and code, published final report (on GitHub/Arxiv), and dissemination posts in Cardano forums and town halls.

Delivery Month

6

Cost

18000

Progress

30 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Milestone 1 – Data Infrastructure Setup (6,000 ADA)

• Research & Data Engineering : 3,000 ADA (designing pipeline, API integration, testing)
• Infrastructure/Hosting: 1,000 ADA (cloud storage, compute credits for API calls, backups)
• Documentation & Reproducibility: 1,500 ADA (setup guides, Docker images, validation scripts)
• Contingency/Overhead: 500 ADA (API subscription tiers, unexpected infra costs)

Milestone 2 – Graph Construction & Metrics Framework (6,000 ADA)

• Development: 3,500 ADA (graph schema design, code for graph construction, metrics calculation)
• Visualization Tools/Software Licenses: 1,000 ADA (Neo4j desktop/server, visualization libraries support)
• Testing & Validation: 1,000 ADA (cross-checking reproducibility across epochs)
• Documentation: 500 ADA (graph format standards, notebooks with examples)

Milestone 3 – Incentive & Delegation Dynamics Analysis (6,000 ADA)

• Research : 3,000 ADA (modeling delegation mobility, churn, retention)
• Statistical Analysis Tools/Compute: 1,000 ADA (Jupyter/Colab Pro+, cloud compute for time-series models)
• Validation & Quality Assurance: 1,500 ADA (cross-validation, peer review of results)
• Reporting Outputs: 500 ADA (technical paper draft, plots, figures)

Milestone 4 – Stake Distribution & Concentration Study (12,000 ADA)

• Research: 6,000 ADA (longitudinal analysis of stake distribution indices across epochs)
• Development: 3,000 ADA (automation of index computation, reproducible scripts)
• Infrastructure: 1,500 ADA (storage & compute for multi-epoch datasets)
• Dissemination: 1,500 ADA (publication of interim report, community town hall presentation, visualization exports)

Milestone 5 – Governance Alignment & Resilience Modeling (12,000 ADA)

• Research : 5,000 ADA (designing alignment score model, SPO failure simulations)
• Development Labour: 3,500 ADA (prototype algorithms, resilience modeling tools)
• Visualization & Dashboard Prototype: 2,000 ADA (interactive test notebooks with graphs)
• Documentation & Interim Report: 1,500 (methods writeup, governance analysis summary)

Milestone 6 – Public Dashboard & Final Report (18,000 ADA)

• Full Notebook Development: 8,000 ADA (frontend + backend integration, hosting, testing)
• Research & Report Writing: 4,000 ADA (final synthesis paper/report, policy notes, methods archive)
• Hosting & Long-Term Maintenance: 3,000 ADA (servers, APIs, monitoring for 12+ months)
• Community Dissemination & Workshops: 2,000 ADA(presentations at Cardano town halls, SPO groups, governance forums)
• Contingency/Overhead: 1,000 ADA (unforeseen scaling/hosting needs)

Total: 60,000 ADA

• Research resources: 60%
• Development & Infrastructure: 30%
• Dissemination & Community Engagement: 10%

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

This project directly addresses one of Cardano’s most important challenges: ensuring trust, decentralization, and accountability in staking and governance. By combining principal–agent theory with graph analysis and transparent on-chain metrics, it delivers new tools, data, and insights that the community currently lacks. The outputs — including an open dataset, reproducible methods, and a public dashboard — will benefit delegators, SPOs, governance representatives, researchers, and developers alike.

The funding requested is proportionate to the effort and skills required:

• Specialist labour costs make up the bulk of the budget (~60%). Research and development require expertise in blockchain data analysis, applied economics, and graph/network science. These roles typically command freelance rates of £300–£500 per day in the UK/EU academic and data science market. At an estimated 120–150 person-days of work across 6 months, this equates to £36,000–£45,000, which aligns with the labour allocations in our plan.
• Development and infrastructure costs (~30%) cover cloud compute, API subscription tiers, data storage, and dashboard hosting. These are necessary to process multi-epoch datasets (tens of GBs), run statistical models, and provide the community with live, accessible notebooks.
• Dissemination and community engagement (~10%) ensures findings are communicated back into Cardano spaces (town halls, SPO groups, governance forums), amplifying the project’s value.

Value for Money Justification

• Proportional to Market Rates: Based on UK research and data science consulting rates (£350–£450/day), and software engineering freelance averages (£300–£400/day), the budget reflects fair and not inflated compensation.
• Comparable Project Costs: Community-funded blockchain research projects of similar scope (e.g., analyses funded in Catalyst or by research collectives) typically range between £40k–£80k for 6–9 months of work, so this proposal sits at the lower end of that benchmark.
• Sustainability of Outputs: The investment creates long-lasting community assets: open datasets, reusable pipelines, and a dashboard that can run beyond the project timeline with modest maintenance.
• Leverage of Public APIs: Because we use Koios and Blockfrost, we avoid building costly custom infrastructure — ensuring funds are spent on analysis and value creation, not redundant backend systems.

Ecosystem Value Created

• Delegators gain transparent evidence to guide delegation decisions.
• SPOs receive insights on how pledges, fees, and performance actually influence stake flows.
• Governance representatives can measure alignment with delegators, strengthening legitimacy.
• Researchers and developers inherit a reproducible, open dataset and graph framework for future work.
• The wider community benefits from a tool that tracks decentralization (via Gini, HHI, entropy) and resilience in real time.

This makes the project not only a reasonable investment given labour and infrastructure costs but also a multiplier of value, as outputs will be reusable and extendable by the Cardano ecosystem at no additional cost.

Furthermore these estimates are given in pound sterling when the actual remuneration will be in ADA. This means the project team will be subject to high short-term price volatility and are accepting a currency risk.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes