Cardano Developer Seeks Reduced Funding for Expansion and DeFi Integration

The company behind the Cardano blockchain, Input Output, is seeking a substantially lower amount of funding from the project's community treasury for 2026. The proposed amount of $46.8 million is roughly half of what was requested the previous year. This reduction is part of a broader plan to decrease dependency on community funding, with the ultimate goal of Input Output becoming self-sustainable through its own revenue. The proposals focus on enhancing the scalability of the Cardano network and exploring Bitcoin DeFi opportunities. A key proposal involves the Leios consensus upgrade, which promises to increase transaction processing capacity significantly, potentially positioning Cardano as a competitor to other major blockchain networks in terms of throughput. Another significant proposal is for Pogun, a system designed to integrate Bitcoin-based decentralized finance into Cardano, allowing bitcoin holders to participate in lending and yield-earning activities without relying on centralized intermediaries. Smaller proposals address improvements to the smart contract engine, security, and developer tools. Each proposal is tied to specific delivery milestones, ensuring that funding is released based on the achievement of these milestones. The voting process, which involves roughly 1,000 elected delegates representing ADA holders, will determine the fate of these proposals and reflect the community's evolving governance and priorities.