Cardano's parent company applies for $46.8 million in funding for network scaling and Bitcoin DeFi development

Jinse Finance reported that on April 23, Input Output (the parent company of Cardano) has reduced the amount of funds it is requesting from the community treasury for 2026 to $46.8 million, roughly half of the $97.5 million it applied for last year. This move comes as the company begins to gradually reduce its dependence on community funding. The nine proposals it currently seeks support for mainly revolve around a major consensus upgrade called Leios. Reportedly, this upgrade could raise Cardano's throughput to over 1,000 transactions per second. The proposals also include Pogun, a system designed to bring Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi) to the network. Voting by approximately 1,000 elected representatives will continue until May 24. This will test whether Cardano’s expanded governance mechanism, after the introduction of alternative development and funding structures, will treat Input Output in the same way as other funding applicants.