Cardano developer aims for reduced portion of $46.8 million to enhance scalability and Bitcoin DeFi.

The engineering firm responsible for Cardano has submitted nine proposals amounting to $46.8 million for the 2026 voting cycle, a decrease from last year’s $97.5 million.

What to know:

• Input Output, the principal engineering organization behind Cardano, has reduced its funding request from the community treasury for 2026 to $46.8 million, approximately half of the $97.5 million requested the previous year, as it commences a transition away from dependence on community funds.
• The firm is looking for backing for nine proposals focusing on a significant consensus upgrade known as Leios, which it asserts could enhance Cardano’s throughput to over 1,000 transactions per second, as well as Pogun, a system designed to introduce Bitcoin-based decentralized finance to the network.
• A vote involving around 1,000 elected delegates is scheduled to run until May 24, which will assess if Cardano’s expanded governance treats Input Output like any other grant applicant now that alternative development and funding mechanisms are established.

Input Output, the private engineering firm that developed and continues to enhance the Cardano blockchain, is seeking roughly half the financial support it requested last year from the project’s community treasury.

The company presented nine proposals amounting to $46.8 million for 2026 on Tuesday, down from $97.5 million in 2025. Many of the proposals aim to scale Cardano to augment its transaction processing capability and expand into Bitcoin DeFi.

Cardano, similar to most significant blockchains, operates a shared funding pool supported by network fees, which community representatives vote to allocate for development initiatives. Input Output has historically been the largest beneficiary as it employs the majority of the engineers developing the foundational software.

The reduced request marks the initial definite move in a strategy to eliminate that reliance. Input Output stated it now intends to decrease its annual request each year until it can support itself through its own revenue, with community funds redirected to a wider array of smaller engineering teams.

By the conclusion of 2026, Input Output anticipates that smaller, more specialized teams will assume most of the responsibilities it currently handles internally, including companies like VacuumLabs and Midgard Labs that concentrate on specific layers of the Cardano software.

Scaling and Bitcoin DeFi

The nine proposals are categorized into two main themes. The larger portion funds a consensus upgrade named Leios, which Input Output claims will enhance Cardano’s transaction processing capacity by 10 to 65 times, aiming for over 1,000 transactions per second.

In comparison, this would elevate Cardano from a relatively slower chain to one that competes with Solana and the swiftest Ethereum layer-2 networks based solely on throughput. Leios is slated for a test release in June and full implementation by the end of the year.

The second major proposal finances a system called Pogun, which seeks to introduce Bitcoin-based decentralized finance to Cardano. In practical terms, this would allow bitcoin holders to borrow and earn yield on their assets through Cardano without transferring custody to a centralized intermediary. Pogun’s lending feature is targeted for public launch in the second quarter.

Smaller proposals address performance enhancements for Cardano’s smart contract engine, security testing frameworks, developer tools, and expanded API services.

Each proposal identifies specific delivery leads and ties funding to delivery milestones rather than disbursing funds upfront. This approach resembles paying a contractor in phases as different aspects of a home are completed, rather than providing the entire budget at the outset of construction.

Voting commenced on Tuesday and will continue until May 24. Decisions are made by approximately 1,000 elected delegates known as DReps, who represent ADA holders similarly to proxy representatives in a publicly traded corporation. Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Input Output, is expected to release a video this week directly addressing those delegates.

The voting process will evaluate whether Cardano’s governance, which has significantly expanded over the past two years, treats Input Output as any other grant applicant or continues to approve its requests predominantly out of deference.

Last year’s proposal for $97.5 million was approved, but in the meantime, the Cardano Foundation has taken over the project’s grant-funding division, and Intersect, the governance body managing this vote, has taken responsibility for the core Cardano software. These changes indicate that alternatives to Input Output exist now in a way they did not during previous voting periods.

In addition, Input Output noted advancements within the ecosystem in its announcement. A new Cardano stablecoin, USDCx, reached 14.6 million tokens in circulation shortly after its launch. Total assets deposited on Cardano, a common measure of a network’s utilization, increased from $137.5 million to $142.7 million during the same timeframe.

Whether the complete set of proposals is approved, receives partial funding, or is entirely restructured by DReps will indicate how much the Cardano community’s perspectives have evolved now that the means to fund development independently from Input Output are available.