Cardano Community Votes Yes: Major Network Upgrades Funded for 2025 Push

Cardano's decentralized governance just flexed its muscles—ADA holders overwhelmingly approved treasury funding for critical protocol upgrades. This isn't just maintenance; it's a strategic play to outpace Ethereum's glacial Layer 2 rollout.

Upgrades target scalability and smart contract efficiency

The community-backed proposal funnels millions in ADA reserves into core developer teams. Priorities include optimizing Plutus scripts and enhancing Hydra's Layer 2 capabilities—direct shots at Ethereum's scaling woes.

Meanwhile, traditional finance still can't decide if crypto is 'digital gold' or a Ponzi scheme. Their loss.

Cardano community greenlights funding to support network upgrades

The approved funding is expected to go to major upgrades, focusing on scalability, developer experience, and interoperability. The key developments will include Ouroboros Leios for increased throughput, Hydra for fast and cheap transactions, Mithril improvements for reduced bootstrap times, and Project Acropolis for modular node architecture, which will enable greater flexibility and easier onboarding of new CORE developers.

In addition, there are also plans for performance optimization, which is expected to improve sync times and reduce RAM usage, and nested transactions, which will provide a technical foundation for more advanced smart contracts and seamless interoperability. According to Tim Harrison, the EVP Community & Ecosystem at Input Output, this development is a milestone for the platform.

Harrison noted that for the first time, major protocol developments will be funded directly by the community. He noted that the MOVE empowers the firm with the needed confidence to move forward, adding that they need to show “full transparency, shared responsibility, and a renewed commitment to building an open, resilient ecosystem.”

New updates will lay the groundwork for better performance

These upgrades are expected to lay the groundwork for a more scalable, accessible cardano with better performance, unlocking new capabilities for builders and users. Aside from delivering on its promises, Cardano is also expected to support wider participation by onboarding external vendors, with most of them expected to join from the Cardano Developer Ecosystem Coalition (CDEC).

According to its press statement, Cardano expects to build capacity, transfer knowledge, and help contributors stand as independent proposers in future funding rounds, strengthening decentralization over time. The funding structure is expected to integrate milestone-based payments administered by Intersect, with releases based on verified delivery. IOE will provide monthly updates, engineering timesheets, and quarterly budget reports that will be checked by the community.

“Securing this funding is just the start,” said Ricky Rand, General Manager, Input | Output Engineering. “This is a vote of confidence in Cardano’s future—and a model for how decentralized funding and delivery can work at scale. The real work begins now—delivering with integrity, reporting with transparency, and building with and for the community.”

Reacting to the update, Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, took to blogging platform X to show his support for the development. He thanks the crypto community for their unwavering support, urging them to let them get it done. Meanwhile, crypto community members have also supported the move, with a user noting that the future of the chain is now in the hands of ADA holders, which is a good thing for the project and a vote of confidence for Hoskinson.

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