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

The company behind the Cardano blockchain, Input Output, is requesting a substantially lower amount of funding from the community treasury this year. The nine proposals, totaling $46.8 million, focus on enhancing the network's scalability and exploring Bitcoin DeFi opportunities. This reduced funding request marks the first step in Input Output's plan to decrease its reliance on community funds and become self-sustaining. The proposals are divided into two primary themes: scaling the network to increase transaction processing capacity and integrating Bitcoin DeFi. The Leios consensus upgrade aims to boost Cardano's transaction capacity by 10 to 65 times, while the Pogun system seeks to enable Bitcoin-based decentralized finance on the network. Smaller proposals address performance improvements, security testing, and developer tools. Each proposal is tied to specific delivery milestones, ensuring that funding is released in stages. The voting process, which begins on Tuesday and runs through May 24, will be decided by approximately 1,000 elected delegates representing ADA holders. The outcome will indicate whether Cardano's governance treats Input Output as any other grant applicant or continues to approve its requests based on its historical role in the project.