Cardano's delegated representatives rejected a 12.29 million ADA funding request from Input Output's Pogun, a credit and liquidity product designed to bring Bitcoin into decentralized finance. The governance vote demonstrated that affiliation with Cardano's founding builders does not guarantee access to the network's treasury.
The proposal received 35.67% support from delegated representatives, or DReps, while 64.33% voted against. The Constitutional Committee separately recorded full approval with seven yes votes, but the DRep vote determined whether the withdrawal could proceed. The funding request expired without ratification.
Input Output framed Pogun as a commercial opportunity for Cardano. The proposal offered the network a revenue share of 20% of earnings until the initial 12.29 million ADA was repaid, followed by a perpetual 5% return on Cardano-related products. The repayment threshold was set at $2.95 million in quarterly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
DReps declined to expose the treasury to a venture with uncertain revenue and adoption prospects. They also rejected the defined revenue participation outlined in the proposal.
Charles Hoskinson stated on September 18, 2026 that Input Output will select the best network for each product rather than following an automatic Cardano-first policy. He described Cardano as the strongest technical choice for Bitcoin DeFi but indicated that future products would be deployed based on technical and commercial fit across multiple networks.
Hoskinson said RealFi would launch on Cardano in October 2026 and Pogun would arrive within 90 days of his broadcast, or by approximately mid-December. He noted that Pogun could still generate transaction fees and volume for Cardano if deployed on the network, though without the rejected revenue share structure.
Input Output retains commercial freedom to negotiate with competing networks and direct incentives toward partners willing to provide capital or distribution. Cardano's governance institutions control treasury spending while Input Output controls product deployment decisions.
The outcome reflects both governance success and strategic trade-off. The vote protected the treasury from a speculative investment but required Cardano to compete for Input Output's future products on technical and commercial merit rather than historical relationship.
