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# CIP-50 FAQ
- URL: https://is.bbhmm.net/cip-50-faq/
- Published: 2025-07-23T10:13:57.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-16T16:40:46.000Z
- Description: Debunking common misconceptions regarding CIP-50 and its current rebirth.
- Author: stef
- Tags: 04. Resources

### Curious about CIP-50 Rebirth?

Find the full CIP [here](https://is.bbhmm.net/cip-50-rebirth/)

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### What contingencies do you have in mind if CIP-50 has an unexpected centralising effect?

We don’t see how that could happen, but if it did we could simply raise L to lessen the effect.

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### Won’t CIP-50 raise the barrier of entry for small pools?

Not really. There will be a marginal increase, proportional to the amount of stake a pool controls, but running a pool on Cardano will still be orders of magnitude cheaper than other chains.

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### Doesn’t CIP-50 flatten the rewards curve so that everybody gets the same rewards (i.e. a0 to 0)? 

No. The original CIP-50 got rid of a0 but ours doesn’t. We have parameter change governance actions now, so if the community wants that they can simply set it to 0.

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### What initial value should L be set to and why?

![](https://is.bbhmm.net/content/images/2025/07/talking_points_table.png)

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### Why can’t we just raise a0 to make pledge more effective?

Because a higher a0 doesn’t increase rewards for high pledged pools, it LOWERS rewards for the vast majority of pools that don’t have extremely high pledge. It would likely be very unpopular.

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### Why can’t we just set a0 to 0 to make the playing field perfectly equal?

Because then pledge would actually be COMPLETELY irrelevant.

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### How does CIP-50 help small pools?

It gives them another frontier to compete on: pledge. Starting out they might not have a lot of delegators, but if they pledge well then they will beat out a lot of others. If they don’t have a lot of pledge, they can still start out with a small amount and add to it as they grow organically. Additionally, the BILLIONS of ADA currently sitting in pools with ZERO pledge will have to go somewhere, and there’s a good likelihood that a lot of it will flow to small pools.

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### Does CIP-50 benefit large private pools?

No. As long as any pool has a sufficient pledge-to-stake ratio then it won’t make a difference. There will be no direct effect on any pool with more than 300k pledge (assuming L of 250)