IO: Consensus Initiative
**Proposal as pdf: [https://ipnso-com.ipns.dweb.link/?cid=QmPdBp8QjKaPdYdvwLxzDiCxX85hGx8H6rxbSvTTuLkcx2](https://ipnso-com.ipns.dweb.link/?cid=QmPdBp8QjKaPdYdvwLxzDiCxX85hGx8H6rxbSvTTuLkcx2)** Cardano needs a step change in throughput to meet its 2030 ambitions, and Leios is how it gets there. This proposal funds the path from public testnet to a mainnet-ready release candidate — delivering a 10–65x increase in transaction capacity. Why this scale matters: Cardano's 2030 strategy targets growth from roughly 800,000 monthly transactions to over 27 million. At sustainable utilization levels, that requires at least 6x current capacity. Leios delivers 10x or more — giving significant room to grow. It works by enhancing Cardano's existing Ouroboros Praos consensus with Endorser Blocks and committee-based validation, increasing throughput without compromising decentralization or making stake pool operations unviable. The current budget cycle (ending June 2026\) delivers an early public testnet. This proposal picks up from there and focuses on three objectives. First, a release candidate: maturing the implementation through substantial engineering, conformance testing against formal specifications, and integration into the primary node. Second, high confidence: systematic validation through parameter exploration, load testing, and adversarial red-teaming on the public testnet. Third, hard-fork enabling: everything within IO's control to make the Leios hard fork possible, including stable interfaces for ecosystem tools (DB-Sync, Mithril, Blockfrost), SPO and developer workshops, governance artifact preparation, and contingency procedures. The proposal explicitly excludes external dependencies like the community hard-fork vote from its acceptance criteria — those are captured as risks, not promises. Intersect administers all funds through milestone-based smart contracts with independent oversight. Unspent funds return to the Treasury. **Treasury Ask:** ₳27,714,342
Reasoning
Written after the vote was cast
What this asks for, and from whom
Input Output asked for 27,710,000 ADA for the Consensus Initiative, work on Cardano's core consensus layer.
What would have to be true for this to be a good use of treasury funds
Consensus is the chain. Ouroboros and its ongoing evolution are the foundation everything else rests on, and this is the deepest infrastructure category there is.
What specifically concerns me
The size, and the concentration of consensus work in a single organization. That is a decentralization question as much as a budget question. I voted yes because consensus work cannot be crowd-sourced or deferred, and because throughput and finality decide long-term survival among competing chains.
What I am asking of the proposer if this passes
It was enacted. Support alternative node implementations reaching consensus parity, so this expertise stops being concentrated in one place. Funding the incumbent and funding client diversity are not in conflict, and I want both.