Cardano Developer Seeks Reduced Funding for Expansion and Bitcoin DeFi Integration

Input Output, the company responsible for building and maintaining the Cardano blockchain, is seeking a substantially lower amount of funding from the project's community treasury compared to the previous year. The company has submitted nine proposals totaling $46.8 million for 2026, marking a decrease from the $97.5 million requested in 2025. These proposals focus on enhancing Cardano's scalability to increase its transaction processing capacity and exploring Bitcoin DeFi opportunities. Cardano, similar to other major blockchains, has a shared pool of funds generated from network fees, which are allocated by community representatives through a voting process. Historically, Input Output has been the largest recipient of these funds due to its significant role in developing the underlying software. However, the company aims to reduce its dependency on community funds by decreasing its annual funding requests until it can sustain itself through its own revenue. By the end of 2026, Input Output expects smaller, specialized teams to take over most of its in-house work, including firms like VacuumLabs and Midgard Labs that focus on specific aspects of the Cardano software. The proposals are grouped into two main themes: scaling and Bitcoin DeFi integration. A key proposal, known as Leios, aims to significantly increase Cardano's transaction processing capacity, potentially making it competitive with other fast Ethereum layer-2 networks and Solana. Another significant proposal, Pogun, seeks to introduce Bitcoin-based decentralized finance to Cardano, allowing bitcoin holders to borrow and earn yield on their holdings without relying on centralized intermediaries. Smaller proposals cover 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, ensuring a more staged approach to releasing funds. Voting on these proposals is set to begin and will be decided by roughly 1,000 elected delegates, known as DReps, who represent ADA holders. The outcome of the vote will indicate whether Cardano's governance treats Input Output differently now that alternative grant applicants and governance structures are in place.