Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has said the next phase of the network will be shaped by elections, treasury funding, and the outcome of nine proposals now before the community. In a post on X, Hoskinson said those proposals are what he believes are needed to get Cardano “back into the top ten and beyond.” His comments placed governance and execution at the center of Cardano’s near-term direction as the ecosystem moves deeper into community-led decision-making.
The remarks came as Input Output Global, the core development company behind much of Cardano’s technical work, asked the community to approve a reduced treasury budget for 2026. According to reports, IOG submitted nine proposals totaling $46.8 million, or about 166 million ADA, to support operations and upgrades over the coming year. That amount is about 52% lower than the prior year’s request, reflecting a shift toward a more independent governance structure.
Hoskinson also said decentralization means accepting both partial success and outright failure. He wrote that projects which succeed will be pursued, while those that fail will be shut down. That framing made clear that the voting process is not only about funding, but also about which parts of the Cardano roadmap the community wants to keep advancing.
Hoskinson Ties Cardano’s Next Phase to Votes and Funding
Hoskinson described elections and funding as reference points for measuring contribution, perceived value, and the place projects hold in the ecosystem. His comments suggest that Cardano’s next stretch will be defined less by unilateral direction and more by the outcome of governance decisions made through the network’s evolving structure.
The voting process is taking place through Intersect, Cardano’s member-based governance organization. Reports say Delegate Representatives, or DReps, can cast votes through the Ekklesia governance platform. The voting window runs from April 22 to May 24, 2026, with ratification expected shortly after the voting epoch closes.
That timeline matters because several of the proposed upgrades are tied to long-term scaling and developer growth. Hoskinson said the next few months will be “an interesting time,” a comment that reflected both the stakes of the vote and the possibility that different voices may lead if the community chooses another path.
Nine Proposals Form the Center of Cardano’s 2026 Roadmap
The nine proposals are grouped around network scaling, Bitcoin integration, and developer and economic infrastructure. The largest and most closely watched item is Leios, a consensus upgrade designed to raise Cardano’s throughput by about 10 to 65 times and eventually support more than 1,000 transactions per second. According to reports, a Leios testnet is scheduled for June 2026, with a mainnet launch candidate targeted by year-end.
Another major proposal is Pogun, which is aimed at bringing Bitcoin-based credit markets, yield tools, and trust-minimized bridge infrastructure into the Cardano ecosystem. Additional items include Babel Fees, which would let users pay transaction fees in native tokens instead of only ADA, and revenue models intended to give developers more flexible economic options.
The broader package also includes work on Hydra and Midgard for layer-2 scaling, upgrades to the Plutus smart contract environment, new developer tools such as cardano-init, higher-assurance verification systems, core maintenance and security monitoring, and expanded API and data services. Taken together, the package shows that the push toward the top ten is tied to throughput, usability, security, and broader ecosystem access rather than to one upgrade alone.
ADA Price Action Remains Tied to Governance and Structure
While the governance process moves forward, ADA price action is also drawing attention. According to the market details provided, Cardano has started to build higher lows after bouncing from the $0.23 area.
Analysts following the short-term structure said reclaiming the $0.25 to $0.26 range remains important for confirming stronger short-term control by buyers.
Source: X
If ADA price clears that area, the next resistance zone sits around $0.265 to $0.27, where selling pressure may increase again. A breakout above that band could open the way toward the next liquidity area near $0.28 to $0.30. On the downside, failure to hold recent recovery levels would leave the token vulnerable to another test of lower support.