Cardano Governance Proposal Seeks to Reduce Minimum Pool Fee to 75 ADA

A Cardano governance proposal submitted on September 11 seeks to lower the minimum fixed cost that stake pools must declare from 170 ADA to 75 ADA. The change would be decided by delegators (DReps) and the Constitutional Committee, with voting ending in epoch 661 on October 11.

What the proposal changes

The proposal removes the voting requirement that previously forced a simultaneous change to Plutus memory limits, allowing the fee reduction to be considered on its own. If approved, pool operators could set a fixed cost of 75 ADA, keep the current 170 ADA, or choose any higher amount.

Potential impact on delegators

Delegators benefit only if a pool that earns rewards actually lowers its fixed charge. For a pool that receives roughly 300 ADA in gross rewards from a single block, a 170 ADA fee consumes about 57 % of the reward before margins are applied, while a 75 ADA fee would reduce that share to 25 %.

Risks for small pools

Small pools often depend on the fixed fee as a predictable income source, especially when block production is irregular. Reducing the floor could leave a larger portion of rewards for delegators but would also diminish the operator’s guaranteed revenue, potentially making it harder for under‑staked pools to stay viable.

Governance status

In a cached DRepTalk tally checked on September 23, yes votes represented 11.7 % of counted DRep stake (far below the 67 % threshold) and two of seven committee members voted yes (28.6 % against a 66.7 % threshold). These numbers may change before the voting deadline.

Historical context

When the minimum fee was previously lowered from 340 ADA to 170 ADA in October 2023, the most common declared fee remained at 340 ADA, indicating limited adoption of the lower floor. The current proposal may face a similar response.

Next steps

If the proposal passes, the real test will be whether pool operators adopt the lower fee and whether the change improves the sustainability of small pools without compromising operator income.