Cardano is decentralizing its development, handing over key blockchain components to external teams starting in August 2026.
Cardano is embarking on a significant shift in its development strategy by transferring oversight of key blockchain components to external teams as part of its decentralization efforts. Input Output, the organization behind Cardano, announced this transition on Friday, which will commence in August and continue into 2027.
This move will see independent companies, including Se7en Labs and Teragone, take charge of crucial elements such as the Haskell node, Plutus smart contract platform, and Daedalus wallet. Additionally, community oversight will be implemented for at least three implementations of Cardano across different programming languages, including Haskell, Rust, and Go.
Charles Hoskinson, CEO of Input Output, emphasized that this transition is essential for the evolution of the network. He stated, "The final stage of the Voltaire era is the complete decentralization of node and reference blueprint development." This strategy follows earlier efforts to transfer governance and protocol decisions to the community.
Input Output plans to refocus its resources on research and new projects through its divisions, IO Labs and IO Ventures. The decision comes in the context of declining network activity, with only $70 million in total value locked compared to over $4 billion for competitors like Tron and Solana. The ADA token has also experienced a drastic decline, currently trading at around 16 cents, down nearly 95% from its peak of $3.10 in September 2021.
Hoskinson acknowledged the challenges facing Cardano, describing them as necessary “growing pains” for the network. He highlighted the need for specialized teams to effectively set goals and manage resources as the network seeks to enhance its development capabilities.
As part of this initiative, Input Output will assess whether these independent teams can maintain software development without causing delays or coordination issues. Hoskinson expressed pride in reaching this new stage, stating that the ecosystem now has multiple diverse options for its development needs.
