Cardano Community Approves $71M Treasury for Protocol Upgrades

Cardano’s community has approved a $71 million treasury allocation in ADA to fund a year-long roadmap of protocol enhancements led by core developer Input Output Engineering (IOE). The funding, totaling 96 million ADA, was authorized by the community with a 74% approval rate following a vote that garnered 200 votes in favor, six against, and seven abstentions [1]. This marks the first time the Cardano community has directly approved treasury funds for core development [2].

The funds will be disbursed in stages, contingent on the achievement of predefined milestones monitored by Intersect, a governance body within the Cardano ecosystem. IOE will be required to submit monthly progress reports, detailed timesheets, and quarterly budget updates to ensure transparency. Additional oversight will be provided through smart contracts and a dedicated committee [2]. External vendors from the Cardano Developer Ecosystem Coalition will also contribute to the development process, promoting decentralization and expanding the network’s contributor base [1].

Among the key upgrades outlined in the proposal is the enhancement of Hydra, Cardano’s scalability layer, which is designed to facilitate faster and cheaper transactions. Another major initiative, Project Acropolis, aims to make the Cardano node more modular and accessible to developers, potentially attracting new contributors to the platform. The upgrades also include performance improvements to reduce RAM usage and operating costs for stake pool operators, while setting the stage for more sophisticated smart contract capabilities and seamless interoperability with other blockchain networks [3].

Currently, Cardano processes blocks every 20 seconds on average, with a transaction cost of approximately 0.34 ADA. The proposed changes are expected to make the network more scalable, cost-efficient, and competitive with other major blockchains such as Solana and Ethereum, both of which are also rolling out significant upgrades in 2025 [3].

Despite the approval, the proposal sparked debate among community members, with concerns raised about the size of the funding request and the allocation process. Some questioned whether the proposal should have been divided into smaller, individually voted components. A competing proposal from the Cardano Technical Steering Committee was submitted but not supported by Intersect [2].

This development comes amid broader scrutiny of Cardano’s governance and transparency, particularly following earlier allegations against founder Charles Hoskinson. Hoskinson has denied accusations that he misappropriated $600 million in ADA by manipulating the Cardano ledger. An audit of IOE’s ADA holdings is expected to be released in the near future [3].

The allocation underscores the community’s commitment to evolving the Cardano protocol and maintaining its position as a leading blockchain platform. With enhanced scalability, improved developer tools, and greater interoperability on the horizon, the investment is expected to drive further adoption and ecosystem growth [1].

Source:

[1] Cryptonews (https://cryptonews.com/news/cardano-team-secures-71m-approval-to-advance-network/)

[2] AInvest (https://www.ainvest.com/news/cardano-community-approves-71m-key-network-upgrades-2508/)

[3] Cardano (https://cardanofeed.com/cardano-secures-96-million-ada-treasury-funding-to-propel-major-network-upgrade-784)