SPO Topology — Interactive Map

Cardano Reward System / The Holistic Reading by

Solution Evaluation Four CIPs evaluated against the V2 milestones — problems validated, root-level fix recommended first; analytical directions discussed in the §4 of the synthesis

Intro & Conclusion of the 4 CIPs Coverage matrix, cumulative findings, root-level-fix-first recommendation on the bundle

Stake-Cap Layer — Bind Pledge on σ′

CIP evaluation synthesis Two stake-cap shapes, same intentIndex CIP-0050 — Pledge Leverage Validated problem; root-level A(ν, π) repair recommended firstRoot-fix first CIP-0037 — Dynamic Saturation Validated problem; same target as CIP-0050, root-level fix firstRoot-fix first

Fee Layer — Operator/Member Split

CIP evaluation synthesis Pricing-as-viability conflationIndex CIP-0023 — Fair Min Fees Validated problem; folds into CIP-0082 stage 2Folds in CIP-0082 — Improved Rewards Scheme Validated problem; viability at source, k-raise after a stake-cap preconditionRoot-fix first

Solution Design

Induced Problems

Mainnet Diagnostic What mainnet is actually doing — Reward-Flow evidence, the staking census, and the prior report

The Diagnostic Full narrative — observations, problem induction, and sub-report links The Staking CensusNew The four game player populations of Cardano's reward pipelineEvidence

Reward Flow

ReservesNew Treasury & pool-pot distributionStage 1 PoolsNew Distribution gaps across the pool populationStage 2 Operators/DelegatorsNew The operator's cut versus the delegator shareStage 3

Sandbox

SPO TopologyNew Interactive map — every active pool's hosting provider, region, ASN, saturation tierPlay

Past Analysis

Nov 2025 — Analysis of Cardano's Incentive Mechanism Lopez de Lara · prior mainnet diagnosticSD-L PDF

The Intended Game The intended mechanism — formal spec, narrative companion, and the academic antecedents the design rests on

Plain-prose narrativeNew Companion to SL-D1 — fills the narrative gap the formal spec left open Delegation Incentives Design Specification Kant · Brünjes · Coutts — 2019SL-D1 PDF

Research Papers

Reward Sharing Schemes for Stake Pools Brünjes · Kiayias · Koutsoupias · Stouka — 2020RSS-2020 PDF Incentives Against Power Grabs Kiayias et al. — 2021IAPG PDF Balancing Participation & Decentralization Kiayias et al. — 2024BPD PDF Reward Sharing in PoS with No-Pool-Choice Delegators Kiayias et al. — AFT 2025AFT-2025 arXiv

Cardano Constitution v2 The governance document the protocol operates under (ratified at epoch 609) — every milestone in the V2 spec must comply with it