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

The company behind the Cardano blockchain, Input Output, is seeking to reduce its reliance on community funding by requesting approximately half of the amount it received last year. The firm has submitted nine proposals totaling $46.8 million for 2026, with a focus on scaling the network to increase its transaction capacity and expanding into Bitcoin DeFi. This reduced funding request marks the first step in a plan to phase out Input Output's dependency on community funds, with the goal of becoming self-sufficient through its own revenue. The proposals are divided into two main themes: scaling and Bitcoin DeFi. The larger funding allocation is for a consensus upgrade called Leios, which aims to increase Cardano's transaction processing capacity by 10 to 65 times, allowing for over 1,000 transactions per second. The second flagship proposal is for a system called Pogun, which aims to bring Bitcoin-based decentralized finance to Cardano, enabling bitcoin holders to borrow and earn yield on their holdings without relying on a centralized intermediary. Additional proposals cover performance improvements, security testing infrastructure, developer tools, and expanded API services. Each proposal outlines specific delivery leads and ties funding to delivery milestones, rather than releasing the funds upfront. 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 will test whether Cardano's governance treats Input Output like any other grant applicant or continues to approve its requests based on deference. Meanwhile, Input Output has cited 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 the network from $137.5 million to $142.7 million.