Cardano Community Approves First-Ever Core Development Funding Worth $71 Million

Cardano governance has a $71 million, equivalent to 96.8 million ADA tokens, from the treasury to fund Input Output Engineering’s (IOE) 2025 core development roadmap.

The ratified action received strong support from both Delegated Representatives (DReps) and constitutional committee members, marking a key milestone in decentralized funding.

The governance vote began on July 18 and was scheduled to conclude on August 17. However, the proposal well ahead of the deadline, garnering 74.01% support from DReps. A total of 3.76 billion ADA in voting power backed the measure, exceeding the required 67% approval threshold.

Only 23.86 million ADA voted against the proposal, while 7.49 billion ADA abstained. An additional 1.12 billion ADA in stake did not participate. Voting was limited to DReps, as stake pool operators (SPOs) are not currently authorized to vote on treasury withdrawals under the existing governance system.

The action was reviewed by the Cardano Constitutional Committee, composed of seven member organizations. Five members, Cardano Foundation, Cardano Atlantic Council, Eastern Cardano Council, IOG, and Intersect, voted in favor of the proposal. Emurgo and the Cardano Japan Council did not cast votes.

The committee confirmed that the proposal met all constitutional criteria for treasury funding, clearing the way for ratification.

The approved 96.8 million ADA will be used to execute IOE’s development roadmap for 2025. Key initiatives include Ouroboros Leios for higher throughput, Hydra for low-latency transactions, and Project Acropolis to re-architect the Cardano node for improved flexibility and developer onboarding.

Funds will be distributed based on milestone delivery, with oversight provided by Intersect, a member-based organization. Disbursements will occur only after deliverables are independently verified. Oversight will be implemented through smart contracts and a dedicated monitoring committee.

IOE has committed to transparency by publishing monthly progress reports, engineering timesheets, and quarterly budget summaries.

Notably, this vote represents the first time core development funding has been approved directly by the Cardano community under its on-chain governance framework.