Overview
DRepTalk DReps is a directory that helps ADA holders find and compare DReps, short for delegated representatives: people or groups who vote on governance decisions for the holders who choose them. The main list ranks active DReps by voting power, the amount of ADA delegated to each, and each entry has a Delegate button that hands your vote to that DRep through your own wallet1. A short quiz called Find your DRep points you to DReps who voted the way you would have on past proposals2.
The directory is one section of DRepTalk, a non-commercial forum for Cardano governance run by Tommy Kammerer, who is based in Germany3. Its figures are read from the public Cardano blockchain3, and the site's code is public on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 open-source license4. The forum side of the same site, DRepTalk Governance, is where DReps, stake pool operators and proposers discuss governance actions, meaning proposals put to an on-chain vote4.
Key Features
- See who holds the most voting power. The directory lists each DRep's voting power, share of the total, change since the last epoch (a five-day period on the network), and delegator count, and can be re-sorted by number of delegators1,5.
- A governance record for each DRep. Profile pages show how many concluded proposals a DRep voted on, how many votes came with a written rationale, when in a voting window they usually vote, and their Yes, No and Abstain split5,6.
- Find DReps who vote like you. Find your DRep asks for Yes, No or Abstain on up to 10 completed proposals and ranks DReps by how closely their real votes match, counting only those holding 25,000 to 50 million ADA so smaller representatives surface7.
- Quiz answers stay on your device. The matching quiz runs entirely in the browser, so DRepTalk's server never receives your answers7.
- Track who gained and lost delegation. Movers of the epoch lists the ten DReps with the largest gains and the ten with the largest losses in voting power compared with the previous epoch8.
What to Expect
ADA holders looking for a representative can start from the directory or the quiz. A DRep's profile adds their own statement of objectives, motivations and qualifications, a list of recent votes and rationales, and a chart of voting power over the latest 16 epochs, about 80 days on the network5,6. DRepTalk's help guide says the record describes patterns and does not grade anyone, and that voting early or late is a style, not a quality5.
Delegating means signing a delegation certificate, a short on-chain instruction, in your Cardano wallet9. Your ADA stays in the wallet and there is no deposit, only a small network fee9. Delegating your vote is separate from staking ADA with a stake pool, so you can do both9. DRepTalk never receives or stores private keys3.
People who want to become a DRep can register from the site with a wallet that supports CIP-95, the standard that connects wallets to governance websites. Registration locks a 500 ADA deposit, returned in full on retirement, and the same page edits a DRep's name, bio, links and avatar10. Badges recognize activity such as casting votes, publishing rationales and joining forum discussions11. The DRep groups page lists parties and councils recorded on chain, whose members may agree to vote together while each casts their own vote12.
