Cardano Developer Submits Reduced Funding Proposal for 2026

The company behind the Cardano blockchain is seeking a smaller slice of funding from the community treasury, marking a shift towards reducing its dependence on community funds. Input Output has submitted nine proposals for 2026, focusing on scaling the network to increase transaction capacity and expanding into Bitcoin DeFi. The proposals include a consensus upgrade called Leios, which aims to increase Cardano's transaction processing capacity, and a system called Pogun, which will enable Bitcoin-based decentralized finance on the network. The funding requests are tied to specific delivery milestones, and the voting process will test the Cardano community's governance and its willingness to support Input Output's proposals.