At a glance
- This proposal funds 6–9 months of work to mature Leios – Cardano's next consensus upgrade – from an early testnet prototype into a mainnet-ready release candidate.
- Leios delivers a safe, phased throughput increase on mainnet, scaling from 2x to 30x current capacity, with full capacity demonstrated on testnet first.
- The work is funded at ₳27,714,342. Every milestone is independently assured. Every unspent ada is returned.
- We're leading and delivering the work in 2026, alongside other node builders, as it is our responsibility to ensure compatibility with community infrastructure.
- DReps are asked to vote to approve this treasury withdrawal.
Where Cardano stands today
Cardano has processed transactions reliably since 2017. It runs a Nakamoto-style settlement layer, a formally verified smart contract platform, and an on-chain ratified governance structure.
The 2030 product strategy sets a specific target: scaling from roughly 800,000 transactions per month to over 27 million – a 30x increase – while staying economically self-sufficient as Reserve diminishes. What we need is a consensus upgrade that can meet this anticipated demand.
That upgrade is Leios.
The call: a network ready to scale
Cardano's current consensus protocol, Ouroboros Praos, was designed for security and decentralization. It delivers both. It was not designed for the throughput that a globally adopted layer 1 needs.
We've designed Leios to enhance Praos, not replace it. It adds endorser blocks and committee-based validation, which increase the number of transactions Cardano can process while preserving Praos's security model. The result: a 10–65x increase in throughput capacity, proposed and simulated in CIP-164, that is now being validated and stress-tested on a public testnet.
CIP-164 has been merged. Early devnets with a prototype implementation are available, and a public testnet is being prepared. This proposal funds what we're doing next.
Meeting the guide: IO alongside node builders
We're leading and funding the work in 2026, drawing on engineering teams across consensus, ledger, networking, cryptography, node and API development, and formal methods. The node builders we're working with are contributing specialist capacity on specific workstreams – with direct, demonstrated Cardano experience.
This isn't a change in direction. We're present, invested, and leading. Multiple capable teams contributing to critical infrastructure is how a healthy ecosystem works.
The plan: three objectives, one cycle
We've structured the Leios 26/27 cycle around three objectives.
Release candidate. A mainnet-ready Leios implementation progressed through software readiness levels 5–8. This includes a substantial rewrite of consensus components, the implementation of the Leios block structure for the Dijkstra era, completion of the conformance test suite against the Agda formal specification, and full integration into the primary node by Q4 2026.
High confidence. Systematic validation of the protocol through adversarial testing, parameter exploration, and continuous load testing on the public testnet. Red-team exercises, stake – and network-based attack testing, and an updated threat model with validated mitigations by Q4 2026.
Hard fork enablement and rollout. The hard fork will enable Leios at an initial capacity and further monitoring, development and protocol parameter updates will unlock phased increases in targets leading up to the rollout.
The test: from testnet proof to mainnet reality
Leios's full throughput capacity, demonstrated on testnet, will not land on mainnet overnight. That's by design.
Deployment follows a phased schedule: an initial modest capacity increase, with further levels to be reached through community consensus on protocol parameter updates. Each phase activates once the previous one is validated and the ecosystem adapts. The phased approach protects SPOs, builders, and users at every step.
The testnet will demonstrate the full 30x capacity first. Builders can run against it there. Mainnet then follows the graduation plan, each step backed by the adversarial testing and parameter validation that the high confidence objective delivers.
The reward: what Cardano looks like on the other side
When this proposal passes and we deliver, Cardano's network will look meaningfully different for everyone who builds on and uses it.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols constrained by capacity today will have the headroom to grow their liquidity and user bases. DApp developers currently managing around throughput limits will build without that ceiling. SPOs will operate a protocol in which fee revenue can grow to offset reserve diminishment – a trajectory that depends on the adoption of throughput capacity that makes this possible.
The 2030 target of 27 million monthly transactions requires at least 3x current capacity. Leios delivers 10x at the lower end of its validated parameter space. This proposal advances monthly transactions – one of Cardano's three core 2030 KPIs – and contributes to Pillar 1 (infrastructure and research excellence) and Pillar 5 (ecosystem sustainability and resilience).
The treasury funds this transition. Disbursement is milestone-gated, third-party assured, and on-chain auditable via Intersect's treasury reserve smart contract (TRSC) framework, with the Oversight Committee verifying key actions. DReps can be confident that every ada is released against delivered work. Any undisbursed funds are returned.
The road home: infrastructure that grows with Cardano
Leios is more than a throughput upgrade. It tells builders, institutions, and ecosystem participants that Cardano's infrastructure can scale with what's being built on it.
The devnet is live. CIP-164 is merged. Our team is ready. The governance process is how the next phase gets funded.
This proposal is how we're asking Cardano's community to make a deliberate, milestone-structured, accountable investment in the infrastructure on which everything else rests.
