The Cardano Foundation has canceled its 2026 annual conference after the blockchain’s governance community rejected a revised proposal to allocate 7.8 million ADA tokens, worth $1.84 million, to fund the event.

The vote closed Friday, May 31, 2026. The revised proposal secured 65.2% support from Delegated Representatives (DReps), falling short of the 66.67% threshold required to pass. A total of 135 voters supported proceeding with the event, 61 opposed it, and 24 abstained.

The Cardano Foundation announced the cancellation on Saturday, June 1, 2026, via X. “Governance requires not only participation, but also a commitment to accept collective decisions,” the Foundation stated. “The Cardano community has spoken and we respect the outcome.”

The rejection marks the second failed attempt to secure treasury funding for the Cardano Summit, originally scheduled for October 5-6, 2026, in Singapore. A first proposal on May 9 sought approximately 14 million ADA tokens but received support from only 10% of DReps voting.

Governance Dispute Escalates

The vote reflects months-long tension between Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and DReps over treasury spending. DReps are individuals or organizations that ADA holders delegate their voting power to, serving as the primary governance mechanism for the blockchain.

DReps have signaled preference for tighter spending controls on the Cardano Foundation’s conference operations. The revised proposal reduced the initial ask by roughly 44%, but still failed to gain sufficient support among voting delegates.

Cardano’s network has generated $356,400 in fees year-to-date in 2026, compared with $8.35 million in 2022. The blockchain’s token market capitalization stands at $8.8 billion, with $129 million in total value locked across its protocol, ranking 28th among blockchains by TVL.

TOKEN2049 Alternative Emerges

While the Cardano Summit faces cancellation, EMURGO, the investment and commercial arm behind the Cardano blockchain, passed a separate governance proposal to represent the ecosystem at TOKEN2049 in Singapore on October 7-8, 2026.

Hoskinson is currently gauging interest in scaling up the TOKEN2049 booth and hosting an “embedded MiniSummit” as an alternative to the standalone Cardano Summit. The status of that proposal remains under consideration.

The Foundation did not specify whether the Cardano Summit will be rescheduled or permanently discontinued.