Cardano Developer Submits $46.8 Million Funding Proposal for Enhanced Scalability and DeFi Integration

Input Output, the primary engineering company responsible for developing and maintaining the Cardano blockchain, has submitted nine proposals to the community treasury, seeking $46.8 million in funding for 2026. This amount marks a substantial decrease from the $97.5 million requested in 2025. Several proposals focus on enhancing Cardano's scalability and expanding its presence in Bitcoin DeFi. The Cardano network, like other major blockchains, maintains a community-funded treasury, which is allocated through a voting process. Historically, Input Output has been the largest recipient of these funds due to its significant role in developing the underlying software. However, the company now aims to reduce its reliance on community funding, with plans to decrease its annual requests until it can sustain itself through its own revenue. By the end of 2026, Input Output expects smaller, specialized teams to take over a significant portion of its current workload, including firms such as VacuumLabs and Midgard Labs. The submitted proposals can be grouped into two primary themes: scaling and Bitcoin DeFi. The most substantial proposal funds the development of Leios, a consensus upgrade designed to increase Cardano's transaction processing capacity by 10 to 65 times, targeting over 1,000 transactions per second. This upgrade is scheduled for a test release in June and full deployment by the end of the year. The second flagship proposal supports the development of Pogun, a system aimed at integrating Bitcoin-based decentralized finance into Cardano. This system would enable bitcoin holders to borrow and earn yield on their holdings through Cardano without relying on centralized intermediaries. Smaller proposals cover various improvements, including performance enhancements to Cardano's smart contract engine, security testing infrastructure, developer tools, and expanded API services. Each proposal outlines specific delivery leads and ties funding to delivery milestones, rather than releasing funds upfront. The voting process, which begins on Tuesday and runs through May 24, will be decided by approximately 1,000 elected delegates, known as DReps, who represent ADA holders. The outcome of this vote will test whether Cardano's governance treats Input Output as any other grant applicant or continues to approve its requests based on its historical significance. The Cardano Foundation has taken over the project's grant-funding arm, and Intersect, the governance organization, has assumed stewardship of core Cardano software, providing alternatives to Input Output. Input Output has also highlighted progress within the ecosystem, including the launch of a new Cardano stablecoin, USDCx, which has reached 14.6 million tokens in circulation, and an increase in total assets deposited on Cardano from $137.5 million to $142.7 million.