Input Output Global
Core software developer behind the Cardano blockchain, founded by Charles Hoskinson.
On the record
Checkpoint: Handover of node, Plutus, and Hydra development to independent teams begins
The call
Input Output is giving up direct control of the code it built, shrinking its budget, and watching its own community vote down its funding, while Cardano keeps losing ground to Solana and Ethereum.
Input Output Global is the company that built and maintains Cardano, a cryptocurrency network that competes with Ethereum and Solana. The company is voluntarily handing over its core engineering work (the software that runs the network) to independent teams starting in August 2026, while the community that funds it has voted roughly 87% against its research plans and the ADA token has lost 94 to 95 percent of its peak value. Cardano has also been outpaced 100 to 600 times over by Solana and Ethereum in actual usage, with no signs of catching up, so the company faces shrinking money, shrinking community approval, and a network that is falling further behind its rivals. The key moment to watch is whether Input Output can hand off its engineering work smoothly in August 2026 and find new sources of funding outside of the community treasury by the end of 2026, because if either stumbles, the company may have no clear role in the ecosystem it created.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI is not the main pressure here; the bigger issue is Input Output handing its own coding work to outside teams and cutting staff. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Ethereum Foundation and Solana/Anza. Solana and Ethereum run 100 to 600 times more activity than Cardano, and that gap has not closed despite years of Cardano development. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Its treasury and voting system are written into Cardano's own rules, so no rival can simply switch off its funding or replace it overnight.
What would change this call
August 2026 handover of node, Plutus, and Hydra to independent teams completes or stalls. Shows whether Input Output can retain a funded, defensible engineering role or is being phased out.
Outcome of the May 2026 research funding vote (running around 87% opposed). Shows whether the community will keep funding Input Output's research budget going forward.
Whether IO Labs or IO Ventures reports non-ADA-denominated revenue from paying enterprise or government clients by end-2026. Shows whether Input Output can survive independent of ADA treasury funding and price.
Outcome of the May 2026 research funding vote (running around 87% opposed). Shows whether the community will keep funding Input Output's research budget going forward.
Whether IO Labs or IO Ventures reports non-ADA-denominated revenue from paying enterprise or government clients by end-2026. Shows whether Input Output can survive independent of ADA treasury funding and price.
Key numbers
- ADA down 94 to 95% from its all time high
- 2026 treasury ask cut to $46.8M from $97.5M in 2025
- May 2026 research funding proposal rejected by ~87% of voters
Named risks
- Community governance rejecting IO funding proposals, cutting research budget.
- Execution risk in handing core infrastructure to independent teams starting Aug 2026.
- ADA and NIGHT token volatility undermines treasury-funded compensation model.
- Security incidents like the ~515M NIGHT bridge exploit damage ecosystem trust.
- US regulatory uncertainty delays institutional adoption of ADA/Cardano.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum Foundation | losing to | Cardano TVL ~$70M vs Ethereum's $55B+ as of mid-2026 |
| Solana (Anza) | losing to | Cardano TVL dwarfed by Solana's $4B+ as of July 17, 2026 |
| Cardano Foundation and EMURGO | contesting | Developer-relations stewardship shifting to Cardano Foundation by end of 2026 |
Questions people ask
- Is Input Output (IOHK/IOG) profitable in 2026?
- Input Output has no disclosed traditional revenue; it is funded mainly by Cardano's on-chain treasury and ADA holdings. For 2026 it requested $46.8M from the treasury, down from $97.5M in 2025, explicitly to cut treasury dependence, per KuCoin, April 23, 2026.
- Is Input Output laying off staff?
- No formal layoffs have been announced. Input Output reports 600+ staff across 50+ countries as of July 19, 2026, but announced on July 17, 2026 it will hand core infrastructure work (node, Plutus, Hydra) to independent outside teams starting August 2026 through 2027.
- Could AI replace Input Output's engineers?
- Code-heavy delivery work like node maintenance and tooling is exposed to AI-assisted coding, and Input Output is already outsourcing this work to external teams from August 2026. Its cryptographic research, led by ACM Fellow Aggelos Kiayias, is harder to automate.
- Who is Input Output's biggest competitor?
- Ethereum Foundation and Solana's Anza are the main rivals. As of mid-2026, Cardano's DeFi TVL was about $70M versus Solana's $4B+ and Ethereum's $55B+, a gap of roughly 100 to 600 times, per CoinDesk, July 17, 2026.
- Who owns Input Output?
- Input Output is privately held, founded in late 2014 by Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood, former Ethereum team members. Hoskinson deliberately avoided venture capital funding, so there is no disclosed institutional investor or public equity stake.
- What happened to Cardano's Midnight NIGHT token?
- NIGHT launched in December 2025 with a 24B token supply and 8M+ unique wallets in its distribution phase, but crashed about 90%, from roughly $150 to $0.02, shortly after its Binance listing, per Yellow.com, December 17, 2025.
Timeline
- 2026-07-20BlockSec reports ~515M NIGHT lost in exploit of Wanchain's Cardano bridge
- 2026-07-19ADA trades $0.16-0.19, market cap ~$6.3-7B, rank #17-20; IO reports 600+ staff
- 2026-07-18Van Rossem hard fork activates, upgrading Cardano to Protocol Version 11
- 2026-07-17IO announces handover of core infra (node, Plutus, Hydra) to outside teams from August 2026
- 2026-05-22IO research proposal faces ~86.72% opposition; Hoskinson vows no resubmission if defeated
- 2026-04-29IO reports delivering 16 of 18 treasury-funded commitments for Q4 2025-Q1 2026
- 2026-04-27IO reports Cardano DeFi TVL at $127M-$142M for Q1 2026
- 2026-04-23IO halves 2026 treasury ask to $46.8M, down from $97.5M in 2025
- 2025-12-17Midnight's NIGHT token crashes ~90%, from $150 to $0.02, after Binance listing
- 2025-08-04Cardano community approves ~96.81M ADA (~$71M) treasury funding for 2025 core-dev roadmap
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Charles Hoskinson
- Newsroom (2025-11-10)
- Home - Input (2026-07-19)
- Blockchain R&D & Cryptography
- Cardano Budget 2025 TW passed summary (2025-09-05)
- Cardano Community Approves $71 Million Treasury Funding (2025-08-04)
- Cardano's IOG Seeks $46.8M for 2026 (2026-04-23)
- Cardano hands core software over to outside developers (2026-07-17)
- IOG Declares No Resubmission (2026-05-22)
- What did IO deliver for Cardano in Q4 2025, Q1 2026? (2026-04-27)
- Guide to the NIGHT token launch and Redemption (2025-12-03)
- Cardano's NIGHT Crashes From $150 to $0.02 (2025-12-17)