Blockfrost has outlined a new indexing initiative for Cardano as the network prepares for the higher data demands expected under Leios, a proposed scaling upgrade. In materials published by Input Output Group on X and on Blockfrost’s proposal site, the infrastructure provider said its new “Project Cayley” is designed to decentralize blockchain data indexing by letting operators handle only selected portions of chain data rather than the full dataset.
According to the proposal, the shift is aimed at reducing infrastructure burdens that could otherwise rise sharply if Cardano throughput increases. Blockfrost said it already serves about 90% of all free-tier API traffic on Cardano, making its stack an important access layer for developers building applications on the network. The company is also seeking treasury funding of ₳7,916,667 to support both Cayley’s development and continued operation of its free community tier.
The announcement comes with a broader pitch around sustainability and decentralization. Blockfrost argues that if indexing remains dependent on full-chain infrastructure, costs could become a barrier to participation for smaller operators, particularly in a post-Leios environment where monthly data growth could reach terabyte scale.
The team @blockfrost_io introduces Project Cayley, a decentralized indexing layer for Cardano.
→ Slice-based indexing (index only what you need)
→ Lower infra costs, more operator participation
→ Modular, multi-chain design (incl. Bitcoin)Built to scale Cardano’s data layer… pic.twitter.com/gSbscvZ4Mz
— Input Output Group (@IOGroup) April 27, 2026
Blockfrost Pitches Cayley for Leios Scale
In the video accompanying the announcement, Beatrice Anihiri, Blockfrost community manager, said the current model works today but may not remain practical as Cardano scales. “Right now, if you want to serve blockchain data on Cardano, you have to index the entire chain. And it works for right now, but Cardano is getting ready for Leios, which is a major scaling upgrade that’s going to massively increase the amount of data on the chain,” Anihiri said. “So for developers and node operators, that means more storage, more compute, and more costs just to keep doing what they’re already doing.”
Blockfrost’s answer is what it calls decentralized slice indexing. Instead of requiring every infrastructure provider to process the full ledger history, Cayley would let operators choose narrower segments to serve, including recent block windows, a specific Cardano era, or a targeted dataset such as a policy ID. According to Anihiri, “a slice can be anything,” with the goal of matching indexing workloads to what each operator can realistically support.
The proposal describes Cayley as a modular architecture that could extend beyond Cardano to Bitcoin and other networks. Input Output Group, which shared the launch post on X, said the system is “built to scale Cardano’s data layer for the Leios era.” Blockfrost’s own timeline sets an MVP release for the Mandoline indexer with initial Cardano support in Q2 2026, followed by a GraphQL API layer in Q3 2026 and a Bitcoin extension in Q4 2026.
Slice Indexing Aims to Cut Cardano Costs
Blockfrost says the practical advantage of the design is cost reduction without changing the developer-facing experience. In the video, Anihiri said, “From developer standpoint, nothing changes. The API, the SDK, and the responses are the same. But what changes is the cost. Because with Cayley, serving data becomes more affordable, meaning that more operators can join.”
That lower-cost pitch is central to the treasury request. On its proposal page, Blockfrost said a full-chain indexer could face terabytes of monthly growth and infrastructure costs that “multiply year over year” if Leios-level throughput is realized. The funding request covers not only development of Cayley, but also continued support for Blockfrost’s free tier, including engineering staff for 24/7 incident response, maintenance, developer support, and infrastructure required to maintain a 99.9% uptime target.
Blockfrost also framed the initiative as a decentralization play tied to its existing operator network. “Behind the build is our engineering team at Blockfrost, but we’re also building this with the community,” Anihiri said in the video. “Right now we have a network of independent node operators called IceBreakers who are already running our infrastructure and serving 100% of our transaction traffic and all of our code is public so anyone can see what we’re building, use it or even contribute to it.” In a statement on the proposal page, node operator Ken-Erik Ølmheim added that the model would allow operators to run infrastructure “tuned to real demand,” rather than competing only on uptime.
The proposal ultimately presents Cayley as both a scaling response and a governance funding case. Blockfrost says it has funded open access to Cardano data for years and is now asking the treasury to help carry that burden while a more distributed indexing model is built out. As phrased in the proposal by Anihiri, “This proposal asks the treasury to share that responsibility, while we build the decentralized architecture that makes the question of ‘who pays’ irrelevant.”
If approved and delivered on schedule, Cayley would give Cardano a more modular data-serving layer just as throughput demands rise, while also broadening participation among smaller operators. Whether the treasury endorses that plan remains an open question, but the underlying issue Blockfrost raises is clear: scaling block production also means scaling the infrastructure that lets developers and applications read chain data efficiently.
AI Transparency Note: This article was prepared with the assistance of an AI system based on the sources listed and was reviewed, edited, and approved by a human editor before publication. All quotes, data points, and factual claims are intended to be grounded in the cited source material; however, errors cannot be ruled out entirely.
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