Cardano Developer Seeks Reduced Funding of $46.8 Million for Expansion and Bitcoin DeFi Integration

The company behind the Cardano blockchain is seeking to reduce its funding reliance on the project's community treasury. Input Output has submitted nine proposals for 2026, amounting to $46.8 million, which is roughly half of the $97.5 million requested in 2025. The proposals primarily focus on enhancing Cardano's scalability and exploring Bitcoin DeFi opportunities. The Cardano network, like other major blockchains, has a community-funded treasury that 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 blockchain's underlying software. However, the company now aims to reduce its dependency on community funding and become self-sustaining through its own revenue. By the end of 2026, Input Output expects smaller, specialized teams to take over most of its in-house work, including companies like VacuumLabs and Midgard Labs that focus on specific aspects of the Cardano software. The submitted proposals are grouped into two main themes: scaling and Bitcoin DeFi integration. The first theme involves a consensus upgrade called Leios, which is expected to increase Cardano's transaction processing capacity by 10 to 65 times, potentially exceeding 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 theme involves a system called Pogun, which aims to bring Bitcoin-based decentralized finance to Cardano, allowing bitcoin holders to borrow and earn yield on their holdings without relying on centralized intermediaries. Pogun's lending component is targeted for public release in the second quarter. Other proposals cover performance improvements 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 opens on Tuesday and runs through May 24, will be decided by approximately 1,000 elected delegates representing ADA holders. The outcome of the vote will test whether Cardano's governance treats Input Output like any other grant applicant or continues to approve its requests based on deference. Meanwhile, Input Output has reported progress in 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.