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

Input Output, the company responsible for building and maintaining the Cardano blockchain, has requested approximately half the funding it received last year from the community treasury. The nine proposals, totaling $46.8 million, focus on scaling the network to increase transaction capacity and exploring Bitcoin DeFi opportunities. This reduced funding request marks the first step in Input Output's plan to decrease its dependency on community funds and become self-sufficient. The company expects smaller teams to take over most of its current work by the end of 2026. The proposals are divided into two main themes: a consensus upgrade called Leios, which aims to increase Cardano's transaction processing capacity, and a system called Pogun, which seeks to bring Bitcoin-based decentralized finance to the network. Other proposals cover performance improvements, security testing, and expanded API services. Each proposal is tied to specific delivery milestones, and voting will be open until May 24. The outcome of the vote will test the Cardano community's governance and its willingness to support Input Output's requests.