UTxO RPC by TxPipe: Maintaining Cardano's Integration Standard, Year 2
TxPipe
ID: 69f9d3db0a4abf2b3c1da737
This proposal requests 420,000 ADA (plus a 105,000 ADA contingency reserve) to fund **a part-time maintainer for UTxO RPC **([https://github.com/utxorpc](https://github.com/utxorpc)) over 12 months at an annual rate of $105,000 USD, continuing the open-source maintenance initiative funded through Intersect's treasury process in the previous cycle. The new grant period would begin after the closure of the existing contract, ensuring uninterrupted maintenance coverage. UTxO RPC is an open interface specification designed to standardize interactions with UTxO-based blockchains. It defines common methods, data structures, and communication patterns using Protocol Buffers, and provides SDKs in multiple languages (Rust, Go, Node.js, .NET, Haskell, Python) to simplify blockchain integration for developers. It has been adopted by key ecosystem workstreams including Amaru, Dingo, and the Haskell Cardano node, validating it as a standard across the ecosystem. The project maintains 10+ repositories covering the core specification, language-specific SDKs, documentation, and provider integrations. The project remains fully open-source under Apache 2.0 and actively welcomes contributions from the broader developer community. The maintainer's work is organized across three areas, to ensure UTxO RPC remains usable, reliable, and up to date as a standard for blockchain integration across the ecosystem: - Essential maintenance of the codebase, including dependency updates, Cardano protocol compatibility, performance improvements, bug fixing and documentation. - Community support includes issue triage, review of external contributions, enhancements driven by ecosystem feedback, and public communication with the developer community. - And as an important addition to the maintenance scope, we'll focus on upgrading UTxO RPC compatibility with AI-driven development workflows by providing AI-friendly documentation and integration resources.
- Competes with other proposals in this batch: hydra-txpipe-pallas-rust-libraries-year2.json, hydra-txpipe-oura-event-pipeline.json, hydra-txpipe-dolos-lightweight-data-node.json.
Scorecard
How this score works
Each criterion is worth between 1 and 4 points. The score is the points earned out of the points on criteria that have been answered — shown as a percentage. Green is 75% or higher, Amber is 50–74%, and Red is below 50%.
Some criteria are checked automatically against the proposal data (open source, doxxed team, treasury return clauses, etc.). Others are human-judgment calls — value for money, public good, whether the deliverables are realistic. Those stay blank until a DRep ticks them.
Criteria can also be marked Not applicablewhen they don't fit the proposal — for example, "open source" doesn't apply to a DAO governance proposal with no software output. Those are excluded from the score entirely, neither helping nor hurting.
Green requires 80% coverage. If less than 80% of the applicable criteria (by points) have been answered, the verdict stays at Amber — "pending review" — even when every answered criterion passes. This proposal's coverage is currently 68% (13 of 19 applicable criteria answered). The auto-calculated band would have been Green, but coverage is below the threshold so the verdict is shown as Amber to flag that judgment criteria are still pending.
Vote intent
Export & audit
↓ Download scorecard.mdRaw payload · Treasury (true) / Admin (intersect)
{
"_meta": {
"schema_version": "1.2.0",
"ingested_at": "2026-05-11",
"source_url": "https://hydra.intersectmbo.org",
"proposal_id": "69f9d3db0a4abf2b3c1da737",
"title": "UTxO RPC by TxPipe: Maintaining Cardano's Integration Standard, Year 2",
"proposer": "TxPipe",
"administrator": "Intersect",
"estimated_duration_months": 12,
"requested_budget_ada": 540750,
"requested_budget_usd": 135188,
"ada_usd_rate_proposer": 0.25
},
"identity": {
"doxxed": true,
"doxxed_notes": "TxPipe, Santiago Carmuega as lead maintainer.",
"doxxed_set_by": "ai"
},
"metadata": {
"open_source": "yes",
"open_source_notes": "Apache 2.0. 10+ public repositories at github.com/utxorpc covering core specification, language-specific SDKs (Rust, Go, Node.js, .NET, Haskell, Python), documentation, and provider integrations.",
"open_source_set_by": "ai",
"has_prior_delivery": true,
"has_prior_delivery_notes": "Year 2 continuation of Intersect 2025 budget contract EC-0007-25 (220,914 ADA) — current contract on track. TxPipe 30 Catalyst proposals (24 delivered, 6 on schedule). UTxO RPC has been adopted as a query interface by Amaru, Dingo, and the Haskell Cardano node — significant ecosystem validation as a standard.",
"has_prior_delivery_set_by": "ai",
"admin_model": "intersect",
"admin_model_set_by": "ai",
"duplicate_of_existing_solution": {
"value": "no",
"confidence": "high",
"set_by": "ai",
"notes": "UTxO RPC is the only standardized Protocol Buffers interface for UTxO-based blockchain interactions in the Cardano ecosystem, with multi-language SDK coverage. Adopted as a query interface by multiple node implementations (Amaru, Dingo, Haskell Cardano node) validating it as a shared standard. Year 2 maintenance continuation."
}
},
"ask": {
"usd_peg_vs_market": "neutral",
"usd_peg_vs_market_notes": "0.25 ADA/USD market rate. Note: this proposal's FX contingency formula text references '0.175' floor while WP3 calculation uses 0.20 floor — likely a copy-paste artifact in the prose, the structured contingency reserve is consistent with the 0.20 floor pattern used across TxPipe proposals (105K ADA).",
"usd_peg_vs_market_set_by": "ai",
"milestone_payments_disclosed": true,
"milestone_payments_disclosed_set_by": "ai",
"milestone_schedule_disclosed": "amounts_and_dates",
"milestone_schedule_disclosed_notes": "Four quarterly milestones with consistent acceptance criteria.",
"milestone_schedule_disclosed_set_by": "ai"
},
"treasury_return": {
"has_return_clause": true,
"has_return_clause_set_by": "ai",
"treasury_favourability": "moderate",
"treasury_favourability_notes": "FX contingency mechanism with milestone-by-milestone evaluation and return of unused portion. Treasury-favorable.",
"treasury_favourability_set_by": "ai"
},
"relationships": {
"competes_with": [
"hydra-txpipe-pallas-rust-libraries-year2.json",
"hydra-txpipe-oura-event-pipeline.json",
"hydra-txpipe-dolos-lightweight-data-node.json"
],
"competes_with_notes": "Same proposer parallel maintenance proposals.",
"competes_with_set_by": "ai"
},
"ecosystem_demand": {
"evidence_level": "strong",
"evidence_level_confidence": "high",
"evidence_level_set_by": "ai",
"active_users_known": true,
"active_users_examples": [
{
"name": "Amaru",
"kind": "integrator",
"notes": "Cardano node implementation — uses UTxO RPC as query interface"
},
{
"name": "Dingo",
"kind": "integrator",
"notes": "Cardano node implementation — uses UTxO RPC as query interface"
},
{
"name": "Haskell Cardano node",
"kind": "integrator",
"notes": "Reference node implementation — adopted UTxO RPC as query interface"
}
],
"developer_demand_signals": [
"Multi-language SDK coverage (Rust, Go, Node.js, .NET, Haskell, Python) — six language tracks",
"Adopted by three node implementations as standard query interface",
"Year 1 maintenance contract delivered on schedule"
],
"adoption_risk_notes": "Strong adoption signal — named adoption by three node implementations including the Haskell reference node validates UTxO RPC as an ecosystem standard. Multi-language SDK breadth indicates real cross-stack adoption beyond Rust. Continuation of a working maintenance contract."
},
"incumbents": {
"has_existing_solution": "no",
"has_existing_solution_confidence": "high",
"has_existing_solution_set_by": "ai",
"existing_solutions": [],
"differentiation_claim": "Only standardized Protocol Buffers interface for UTxO-based blockchain interactions with SDKs in six languages (Rust, Go, Node.js, .NET, Haskell, Python). Validated as ecosystem standard through adoption by Amaru, Dingo, and Haskell Cardano node.",
"differentiation_credibility": "high",
"differentiation_credibility_notes": "No competing standardized RPC specification in the Cardano ecosystem. Year 2 maintenance of a working, adopted standard."
},
"risk_flags": {
"aggressive_peg": false,
"self_administered_no_oversight": false,
"incumbent_already_delivering": false,
"no_evidence_of_demand": false,
"competes_with_in_batch": false,
"concentration_risk": false
},
"id": "hydra-txpipe-utxo-rpc-integration-standard",
"source": {
"hydra_id": "69f9d3db0a4abf2b3c1da737",
"channels": [
"hydra"
]
}
}