Cardano Developer Submits Reduced Funding Proposal for 2026

Input Output, the company responsible for building and maintaining the Cardano blockchain, is seeking a substantially smaller portion of the project's community treasury for 2026. The firm has submitted nine proposals totaling $46.8 million, representing a nearly 50% reduction from its $97.5 million request in 2025. These proposals focus on enhancing Cardano's scalability and exploring Bitcoin DeFi opportunities. Cardano's community treasury, funded by network fees, is allocated through a voting process. Historically, Input Output has been the primary recipient of these funds due to its significant role in the blockchain's development. However, the company now aims to reduce its dependence on community funding by gradually decreasing its annual requests until it can sustain itself through its own revenue. The proposals are divided into two main categories. The first involves a consensus upgrade called Leios, which is expected to increase Cardano's transaction processing capacity by 10 to 65 times. This upgrade aims to make Cardano more competitive with other major blockchains in terms of throughput. Leios is scheduled for a test release in June and full deployment by the end of the year. The second major proposal involves a system called Pogun, which aims to integrate Bitcoin-based decentralized finance into Cardano. This system would allow bitcoin holders to borrow and earn yield on their holdings without relying on centralized intermediaries. The lending component of Pogun is expected to be released publicly in the second quarter. Other proposals cover various improvements, including enhancements to Cardano's smart contract engine, security testing infrastructure, developer tools, and API services. Each proposal outlines specific delivery leads and ties funding to the achievement of milestones, rather than providing upfront funding. Voting on these proposals will begin on Tuesday and run through May 24, with decisions made by approximately 1,000 elected delegates representing ADA holders. The outcome of the vote will test the effectiveness of Cardano's governance model and its ability to treat Input Output as any other grant applicant. The Cardano ecosystem has shown significant progress, with the launch of a new stablecoin, USDCx, reaching 14.6 million tokens in circulation within weeks. Total assets deposited on Cardano have also increased from $137.5 million to $142.7 million. The result of the vote will indicate how the Cardano community's perspective has shifted, given the existence of alternatives to Input Output for funding development.