Samiz Bayan

We're excited to announce the Draper Dragon @OrionFund, an Ecosystem Fund focused on scaling Cardano-native and Cardano-integrated companies. Three pillars of ecosystem growth will activate to derisk, scale, and grow the space: - Direct Investments, led by Draper Dragon, intended to back builders driving measurable growth across Bitcoin DeFi, RWA, institutional DeFi, payments, privacy, and more. - Venture Studio, our in-house team incubating and accelerating Cardano projects with product development, technical integration, and go-to-market support. - Startup Acceleration & Talent Pipeline, powered by @draper_u, building and mentoring a new generation of Cardano founders through hands-on residency and accelerator programs. Together, we aim to create a measurable impact on Cardano's adoption and drive institutional growth within the ecosystem. We are excited to lead the next chapter of @Cardano

We're headed to Bitcoin Vegas 2026 this week! 🎰 Join our exclusive brunch at The Venetian hosted alongside @DraperVC, @BTCFiNetwork, @gardenfi, @GoMaestroOrg and hear from @TimDraper live. Meet the institutional investors, capital allocators, miners, and founders building the next generation of UTXO financial infrastructure. RSVP below 👇

Our BitcoinFi Accelerator teams have been heads down for six weeks building the next wave on Bitcoin. Demo Day will be live for them to showcase. See you there. bitcoinfi.network/demoday @DraperVC @SupernormalFDN @BTCFiNetwork @MezoNetwork @GoMaestroOrg @fairmint @rise_pay @OrionFund

Over the past few days we have been absorbing all of the feedback regarding the Cardano Summit 2026 & Token2049 treasury proposal. Thank you to all those that have provided constructive criticism and thoughtful questions. As many have pointed out, the proposal for 2026 is bigger, bolder and consequently more expensive than for 2025. This shift was much debated but ultimately won out because we want to send a message: No matter the circumstances, Cardano is open for business. We view this as an anti-cyclical investment to support the Cardano vision that the community voted for last year. But we knew this would raise differing opinions in this market. And if the DReps decide against it, we will refocus our efforts and push on. But we must be clear that there will be no modified Cardano Summit proposal. There simply isn't time on the calendar to reengineer an event of this size. For the more detail oriented, we have collated a set of answers to the most common questions here: forum.cardano.org/t/cardano-summ…

Another successful Governance Hour in the books, diving into Cardano x Draper Dragon: Orion Fund. Huge thanks to @samizb for joining us and sharing deeper insights into what’s ahead and what the ecosystem can expect next. Lots to look forward to! Missed it? No worries, catch the full episode below 👇

Cardano governance has approved a treasury-backed venture fund. 50M ADA allocated in the first tranche to the Draper Dragon Orion Fund. A shift toward structured capital deployment within the ecosystem. Full breakdown: medium.com/tap-in-with-ta…

Attending my first @teamz_inc and was very fortunate to meet some of the best in @Cardano @F_Gregaard @phillip_pon @jj_siler and @SebastienGllmt @samizb @OrionFund @DraperDragon @Cardano_CF @emurgo_io @Emurgo_Japan @Emurgo_Ken

Cardano and @DraperDragon today announce the initial phase of the strategic $80M Draper Dragon Ecosystem Fund, the @OrionFund, to drive institutional adoption. The Cardano Foundation is proud to serve as constitutional administrator, providing essential technical and ecosystem support to align with the core principles of the Cardano network.

The @OrionFund will be one of the wisest YES votes that Cardano DReps ever decide to cast. How do I know? Because I'm on the inside. I'm part of Draper's BitcoinFi Accelerator right now for Charms, and I'm experiencing exactly the benefits they would provide to Cardano projects with this fund. It's not JUST the money. They provide you with tailored guidance so you can actually launch a successful product, and will plug you into their partner and investor network so you can properly raise and expand your business. Just a few weeks ago, we announced a partnership with @GoMaestroOrg, for example. That warm connection was established through Draper, and likely wouldn't have happened without them. We also had a lot of conversations with crypto investors and other startups. We could ask about what products worked and what didn't, what to write in a pitch deck, and how to work together. Draper will actually work with you to make you successful, and why wouldn't they? They have equity in you; it is in their financial interest to do so, and they have the expertise to do it properly. This is something you just won't find in another Catalyst-style grant program. It is going to open doors for Cardano projects that just weren't available to them before, and force players in the eco to really tighten up their operations and perform. If you want Cardano eco to mature, it needs a professional incubator and investors who care and are incentivized to turn them into business titans. Draper is just that.

the @OrionFund has passed the constitutionality check & has 40.61% DRep support! Let's get this over the line before Easter weekend? tagging 10 large DReps that have yet to vote for an easter miracle @emurgo_io @YoroiWallet @BlockdaemonHQ @jasonappleton @SebastienGllmt @ArmyofSpies @phil_uplc @bigpey @Wiiinnie @ItsDave_ADA