Cardano Foundation Increased Spending on Core Areas by 15% Last Year

Cardano Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that develops and supports the Cardano network, said it spent $22.1 million on its three core areas last year, a 15% increase from 2023.

The money was allocated to adoption, operational resilience and education, according to the report, which is available to view on-chain via the Cardano Foundation's Reeve tool. That's up from $19.22 million the year before.

Assets rose to $659.1 million worth of crypto from $478.24 million as crypto prices rose. The price of bitcoin BTC$89,404.69, which now accounts for about 15% of its holdings, climbed about 120% in 2024 while ADA ADA$0.4187 added 42%. ADA's share of of assets dropped to 77% from 83%, according to the report.

"The Foundation’s primary income stream comes from staking rewards, which in 2024 totalled 17.1 million ADA from its 599.2 million ADA holdings—a return of 2.7%," the company said. "Importantly, the delegation strategy prioritises stake pools that contribute meaningfully to the ecosystem, reinforcing the Foundation’s role as a responsible participant in Cardano’s decentralized infrastructure."

In 2024, the foundation allocated over half of its expenditure — $15 million — toward adoption initiatives. These efforts included collaborations with organizations such as NASA, Barcelona FC, and the United Nations Development Programme, aiming to expand Cardano's real-world applications.

Operational resilience received $3.8 million, funding enhancements like the launch of an open-source Cardano.org platform and the introduction of the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol, which connects Cardano to over 115 blockchains.

The organization employed more than 100 people by year-end.

"As stewards of an open-source ecosystem that is building for the long-term future of blockchain, we recognize that sharing not only our achievements but also how we allocate resources is fundamental to building trust and ensuring long-term success," Frederik Gregaard, the foundation's CEO, told CoinDesk.