Cardano Community Approves $70M Treasury Grant to Boost Interoperability, Scalability, and Dev Experience

In a groundbreaking move, the Cardano community has directly approved the allocation of over $70 million in treasury funds to drive the blockchain’s core development. This marks the first time community members have taken full control of protocol funding through on-chain governance.

The proposal, submitted by Input Output Engineering (IOE), focuses on three major development areas: interoperability, scalability, and the developer experience.

Proposal Passes with Strong Support

The proposal received overwhelming backing, with 74.01% of 200 registered votes in favour. While seven DReps opposed it and another seven abstained, the vast majority voted to proceed. Following this approval, Cardano will release 96.81 million ADA, valued at approximately $70.9 million, from its treasury. The funds will support IOE’s development efforts in stages.

The Cardano community just made history.
For the first time ever, core development funding has been directly approved by the community – ushering in a new era of decentralized governance.
Thank you all for your support. This is more than a vote of confidence, it’s a shared…
— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) August 2, 2025

Tim Harrison, Executive Vice President of Ecosystem and Community at Input Output, described the event as a historic milestone. He emphasized that the community’s decision reflects a “vote of confidence” and lays the groundwork for transparent, collaborative progress across the Cardano ecosystem.

“This vote of confidence empowers us to move forward with shared responsibility, full transparency, and a renewed commitment to building an open, resilient ecosystem,” Harrison stated.

What the Development Plan Covers

IOE’s plan addresses critical areas of Cardano’s growth. First, it will upgrade Ouroboros Leios to boost throughput, enabling faster and more efficient transactions. Second, enhancements to Mithril will reduce bootstrap times and promote adoption across the network.

The roadmap also includes updates to Hydra and Project Acropolis. In parallel, the team aims to optimize overall network performance, improve sync speeds, lower RAM consumption, and reduce costs for stake pool operators (SPOs).

Transparent Funding and Milestone-Based Payments

Although the community has approved the funding, IOE will only receive payments after achieving clearly defined milestones. Intersect, a member-based Cardano organization, will independently manage the disbursement process. Each quarter, Intersect and IOE will set specific goals, and payments will follow once IOE meets them.

To ensure transparency, IOE will publish monthly engineering updates and provide quarterly breakdowns of its progress and budget usage. This reporting process allows the community to track how treasury funds are being spent in real time.

Earlier in 2025, a funding dispute erupted when the Cardano Foundation suggested cutting Intersect’s proposed IOE funding by 30%. The move sparked criticism from some community members who believed it undermined the efforts of IOE. However, the Cardano Foundation defended its decision, asserting that it came from a place of objective review and not bias.

Despite the earlier debate, the recent vote illustrates a strong alignment between IOE’s roadmap and the Cardano community’s vision for the protocol’s future.

Final Thoughts: A New Chapter in Cardano Governance

This $70.9 million funding decision not only reinforces IOE’s role in leading core development but also signals a new era for Cardano, one where the community plays an active and direct role in shaping the protocol’s future. By embracing transparency, accountability, and milestone-driven funding, Cardano sets a precedent for decentralized ecosystem growth.