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

Input Output, the private company responsible for building and maintaining the Cardano blockchain, is requesting roughly half the funding it sought last year from the project's community treasury. The company has submitted nine proposals totaling $46.8 million for 2026, down from $97.5 million in 2025, with a focus on scaling the network and expanding into Bitcoin DeFi. This reduction in funding is part of a plan to reduce Input Output's dependence on community funds, aiming to sustain itself on its own revenue and allow community funds to support smaller engineering groups. 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 opens on Tuesday and runs through May 24, will be decided by roughly 1,000 elected delegates and will test the Cardano governance system.