Cardano Foundation Reduces Funding Request to $46.8M for Scaling and Bitcoin DeFi Initiatives

The engineering organization behind Cardano, Input Output Global (IOG), has submitted nine proposals for its 2026 funding cycle, requesting a total of $46.8 million. This marks a significant reduction from the $97.5 million sought last year, signaling a strategic pivot towards more focused investments in scaling solutions and the integration of Cardano's platform with Bitcoin Decentralized Finance (DeFi). The reduced funding underscores a maturing ecosystem prioritizing efficiency and targeted impact. Key initiatives are expected to enhance transaction throughput via Layer 2 solutions and explore interoperability to leverage Bitcoin's security within Cardano's DeFi ecosystem. This move, part of Cardano's decentralized governance model, will be put to a community vote, aiming to drive innovation and attract new users by bridging the gap between two of the largest crypto networks.