Cardano Developer Seeks Reduced Funding for Expansion and Bitcoin DeFi Integration

Input Output, the company responsible for developing the Cardano blockchain, is seeking a reduced amount of funding from the project's community treasury for 2026. The company has submitted nine proposals totaling $46.8 million, which is roughly half of what it requested last year. The proposals focus on scaling the Cardano network to increase its transaction processing capacity and expanding into Bitcoin DeFi. This reduced funding request is part of the company's plan to become less dependent on community funds and to enable smaller, specialized teams to take on more development work. The proposals include a consensus upgrade called Leios, which aims to increase Cardano's transaction processing capacity, and a system called Pogun, which aims to bring Bitcoin-based decentralized finance to Cardano. The voting process, which is open to roughly 1,000 elected delegates, will determine whether the proposals are approved and will test the Cardano community's governance and willingness to support Input Output's development work.