The company that built Cardano just asked for half the money it wanted last year. Input Output, the engineering firm behind the Cardano blockchain, submitted nine funding proposals totalling $46.8 million for 2026. That is down from $97.5 million in 2025.
The smaller budget is not a sign of trouble. IO says it is deliberate. The company plans to shrink its treasury requests every year until it can fund itself independently. The goal is to hand more of the building work to smaller, specialised teams and reduce the network’s dependence on any single organisation.
Two big bets anchor the proposal. The first is Leios, a major speed upgrade that could make Cardano 10 to 65 times faster. The second is Pogun, a tool that would let Bitcoin holders earn yield and borrow through Cardano without giving up custody. Voting by roughly 1,000 elected delegates runs through May 24.
What Is the Cardano Leios Upgrade?
Cardano has always been known for doing things slowly and carefully. That approach has earned it a reputation for security but also for being slow compared to chains like Solana and Ethereum’s Layer 2 networks.
Leios is meant to fix that. The upgrade targets a 10 to 65 times increase in Layer 1 throughput, with a goal of processing more than 1,000 transactions per second. For context, Cardano currently handles a fraction of that. At 1,000 TPS, it would be competitive with the fastest chains in the market.
IO plans to launch a Leios testnet in June 2026 and deploy it on mainnet by the end of the year. A paired upgrade called UTXO HD is designed to make sure regular users can still run Cardano nodes on normal home computers even after the speed increase. That matters because keeping hardware requirements low is what keeps a blockchain truly decentralised.
What Is Pogun and Why Does Bitcoin DeFi Matter for Cardano?
The second headline proposal is Pogun, and this one is a bit more unusual. Pogun is essentially a Bitcoin DeFi engine built for Cardano. It bundles three things together: a lending market where Bitcoin holders can borrow without using margin, yield infrastructure so BTC holders can earn returns, and a trust-minimised bridge that moves Bitcoin onto Cardano without relying on a centralised middleman.
The pitch is simple. Bitcoin is the world’s most valuable digital asset, but most of it just sits in wallets doing nothing. Pogun wants to let BTC holders put their coins to work on Cardano’s DeFi rails without giving up control of their keys.
Pogun’s credit market is targeted for mainnet launch in Q2 2026. If it works, Cardano would become one of the few chains offering a full Bitcoin DeFi stack, potentially attracting liquidity from an asset class worth over $1.5 trillion.
What Else Is in the $46.8 Million Proposal?
Beyond Leios and Pogun, the nine proposals cover a range of developer and infrastructure improvements. Plutus script optimisation aims to cut smart contract overhead by about 25%. Layer 2 scalability work continues through Hydra and a partnership with Midgard Labs. Developer tools and API services through Blockfrost would be scaled up to handle the higher throughput that Leios brings.
Three smaller protocol changes are also included. CIP-159 adds native support for micro-fees, which would make tiny transactions practical. CPS-23 enables a multi-asset on-chain treasury. And Babel Fees would let users pay transaction costs in stablecoins instead of ADA, removing one of the biggest friction points for new users who do not want to hold ADA just to use the network.
Every proposal is tied to specific milestones. IO only gets paid as it delivers, not upfront. Think of it like paying a builder in stages as each part of the house gets finished.
How Does Cardano’s Governance Vote Work?
This is one area where Cardano genuinely stands apart from most blockchains. The funding decisions are not made by a foundation or a small group of insiders. They are voted on by roughly 1,000 elected delegates called DReps, who represent ADA holders in much the same way proxy representatives work in a publicly traded company.
Voting opened on Wednesday through Intersect, Cardano’s governance platform, and runs through May 24. Charles Hoskinson is expected to release a video this week making the case directly to delegates.
The outcome will be telling. If DReps approve the full slate, it signals trust in IO’s direction. If they push back or partially fund the proposals, it shows that Cardano’s decentralised governance is not just a formality but a real check on how community money gets spent. Either way, the vote itself is one of the most advanced examples of on-chain governance in crypto today.
What Does This Mean for ADA?
ADA is trading around $0.25, pressing into resistance at $0.26. The token has been stuck in a tight range for weeks, with network activity and TVL still modest compared to Ethereum and Solana. TVL on Cardano sits at about $142.7 million, up slightly from $137.5 million earlier this month.
The Leios upgrade, if delivered on time, could change that dynamic. A 1,000 TPS chain with low fees, Bitcoin DeFi, and stablecoin-denominated transaction costs would be a fundamentally different product than what Cardano offers today. But execution risk is real. Cardano has a history of taking longer than expected to deliver upgrades, and the community will be watching closely to see if IO hits its June testnet deadline.
For now, the $46.8 million budget cut is the clearest signal yet that IO is serious about making Cardano self-sustaining. Whether the network can grow fast enough to justify that independence depends on what the next six months look like.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Cardano Leios upgrade and when does it launch?
Leios is a consensus upgrade that targets a 10 to 65 times increase in Cardano’s transaction speed, aiming for over 1,000 TPS. The testnet is scheduled for June 2026 with mainnet deployment expected by the end of the year.
What is Pogun on Cardano?
Pogun is a Bitcoin DeFi engine being built for Cardano. It lets Bitcoin holders borrow, earn yield, and bridge BTC onto Cardano without using a centralised intermediary. The lending market is targeted for Q2 2026 launch.
How do Cardano treasury votes work in 2026?
Around 1,000 elected delegates called DReps vote on funding proposals through Intersect, Cardano’s governance platform. IO submitted nine proposals totalling $46.8 million. Voting runs through May 24, 2026, and funding is released in stages tied to delivery milestones.
