Hoskinson: Cardano could lose research lab if vote fails

Cardano faces the possible closure of its core research lab and the loss of key scientists if an on-chain treasury proposal for 32.9 million ADA fails in a vote that ends June 8. The proposal would fund Input Output Global (IOG)-led research into post-quantum cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs and scalability work. At current prices, 32.9 million ADA equals roughly $7.9 million.

The research agenda is led by IOG chief scientist Aggelos Kiayias and involves teams at universities in Edinburgh, Tokyo, Oxford and Buenos Aires. Planned projects include work on Ouroboros Leios, defenses against quantum-era attacks, and zero-knowledge proof development intended to strengthen Cardano’s consensus and privacy features.

On-chain totals show about 81% of active delegated-representative stake opposing the proposal and roughly 18% in favor, leaving the measure below the 67% approval threshold required by Cardano’s Voltaire governance rules. Voting is open through June 8.

Charles Hoskinson addressed the result of some Japanese delegated representatives voting against the request and urged ADA holders to reassign voting power to delegates who support the program before the deadline. “We are deeply saddened that some Japanese dReps voted against our research proposal. If this proposal does not pass, we want the entire Japanese community to fully recognize that Cardano will lose its scientists, and our lab will be forced to close,” he warned. He added that years of scientific work and significant funding invested in Cardano’s research reputation would be at risk: “Cardano is the science coin. That’s our brand. We spent hundreds of millions of dollars and a decade to earn the right to say that. You don’t throw it away.”

Several delegated representatives have criticized the proposal’s format, arguing it resembles a bundled annual budget rather than a set of auditable milestones. Those delegates have asked for a procurement process that would allow competing teams to bid through open requests for proposals instead of granting automatic renewal to IOG.

If the measure fails, IOG has outlined options including seeking private funding, submitting a revised, narrower proposal with clearer milestones, or reducing the scale of its academic and engineering work. Any of those responses would change how Cardano finances the teams responsible for its consensus protocol and related research.

Cardano’s governance assigns voting power to delegated representatives based on ADA stake. Proponents of the proposal have emphasized its goals of protecting the network against future cryptographic threats and advancing scalability and privacy, while opponents call for more granular oversight and competitive bidding for research contracts.