Cardano Development Team Seeks Reduced Funding for 2026

Cardano's development team, led by Input Output, has submitted a revised funding request to the community treasury for 2026. The proposal, which is open for voting until May 24, seeks $46.8 million in funding, significantly lower than last year's request of $97.5 million.

The majority of the proposals focus on upgrading Cardano's transaction capabilities through the Leios consensus upgrade. This upgrade aims to boost network throughput to over 1,000 transactions per second, positioning Cardano as a serious competitor to other layer-2 solutions. Testing for Leios is set to begin in June, with full integration targeted by year's end.

Another prominent proposal centers on Pogun, a new system that aims to bring Bitcoin-based decentralized finance applications to the Cardano network. This feature will allow bitcoin holders to borrow funds or earn yields directly on Cardano, eliminating the need for centralized intermediaries. The launch of Pogun's lending component is planned for the second quarter of the year.

The proposals also address improvements for Cardano's smart contract performance and expansion of API services. By reducing its allocation from the community treasury, Input Output is taking a step towards greater independence and signaling a future where more development work is distributed to specialized teams.