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

Input Output, the company responsible for building and maintaining the Cardano blockchain, is seeking significantly less funding from the project's treasury this year. The company has submitted nine proposals totaling $46.8 million for 2026, a substantial decrease from the $97.5 million requested in 2025. The proposals focus on enhancing Cardano's scalability and exploring Bitcoin DeFi opportunities. Cardano's treasury is funded by network fees, and community representatives vote on how to allocate these funds. Input Output has historically been the largest recipient of these funds due to its significant role in developing the blockchain's underlying software. However, the company aims to reduce its reliance on community funding and become self-sufficient through its own revenue. By the end of 2026, Input Output expects smaller teams to take over most of its in-house work, including firms like VacuumLabs and Midgard Labs that specialize in specific layers of the Cardano software. The proposals are divided into two main themes: scaling and Bitcoin DeFi. The first theme includes a consensus upgrade called Leios, which is expected to increase Cardano's transaction processing capacity by 10 to 65 times. This would make Cardano competitive with other major blockchains like Solana and Ethereum. The second theme involves a system called Pogun, which aims to bring Bitcoin-based decentralized finance to Cardano. This would allow Bitcoin holders to borrow and earn yield on their holdings through Cardano without relying on centralized intermediaries. Other proposals cover performance improvements to Cardano's smart contract engine, security testing infrastructure, developer tools, and API services. Each proposal outlines specific delivery leads and ties funding to delivery milestones. The voting process, which opens on Tuesday and runs through May 24, will be decided by roughly 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 its historical role in the project. 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.