Input Output has submitted nine treasury proposals worth $46.8 million for 2026, cutting its funding request for Cardano by more than half from the $97.5 million it sought for 2025. The package centers on two priorities: the Leios scaling upgrade and Pogun, a system designed to bring Bitcoin-based DeFi activity onto Cardano.
Like other major blockchains, Cardano maintains a shared treasury funded by network fees, with community representatives voting on how money is allocated. Input Output has historically been the largest recipient because it employs most of the engineers working on Cardano’s core software. This year’s lower request is part of a stated plan to reduce that reliance over time and shift treasury support toward a wider group of smaller engineering teams.
Leios targets a major throughput increase
The largest set of proposals is tied to Leios, a consensus upgrade that Input Output says could raise Cardano’s transaction processing capacity by 10x to 65x, with a target of more than 1,000 transactions per second. The company said a test release is scheduled for June, followed by full deployment by year-end.
If delivered as described, that would move Cardano from a comparatively slower chain into direct throughput competition with Solana and the faster Ethereum layer-2 networks.
Pogun aims to connect Bitcoin holders to DeFi on Cardano
The second flagship proposal funds Pogun. The system is intended to let bitcoin holders borrow against their assets and earn yield through Cardano without handing custody to a centralized intermediary. According to the proposal timeline, Pogun’s lending component is targeted for public release in the second quarter.
Smaller requests in the package cover smart contract engine performance, security testing infrastructure, developer tooling, and expanded API services. Each proposal identifies delivery leads and links funding to milestones instead of releasing the full amount upfront.
Vote will show how Cardano’s governance now treats Input Output
Voting opened on Tuesday and will run through May 24. The outcome will be decided by roughly 1,000 elected DReps, who represent ADA holders in Cardano’s governance system. Input Output founder Charles Hoskinson is expected to publish a video this week to make the case directly to those delegates.
The result carries significance beyond the dollar amount. It will show whether Cardano’s governance structure, which has broadened over the past two years, now evaluates Input Output like any other grant applicant. Last year, the company’s $97.5 million proposal passed. Since then, the Cardano Foundation has taken over the project’s grant-funding arm, while Intersect, the governance body running this vote, has assumed stewardship of core Cardano software.
Input Output also pointed to recent ecosystem growth. Cardano stablecoin USDCx reached 14.6 million tokens in circulation within weeks of launch, while total assets deposited on the network increased from $137.5 million to $142.7 million. Whether the current proposal slate is approved in full, partially funded, or reworked by DReps, the vote will offer a clear read on how the community wants development funding handled now that alternatives to Input Output are in place.