Cardano has completed the activation of the Van Rossem hard fork, introducing Protocol Version 11 on its mainnet as of July 18, 2026. This upgrade represents a major step in the blockchain's ongoing development and was confirmed by Intersect, the organization responsible for supporting Cardano's governance and evolution.
Network Upgrade Details
The transition took place between epochs 643 and 644, moving Cardano from Protocol Version 10 to 11 without any network disruptions. Intersect credited the Hard Forking Working Group for coordinating the upgrade, which involved extensive collaboration with stake pool operators, decentralized app teams, developers, exchanges, and other partners across various testing and production environments.
This collective effort entailed months of preparation to ensure the update was deployed safely and smoothly, maintaining uninterrupted operations on the Cardano network.
Improvements and Future Infrastructure
The Van Rossem upgrade brings significant technical enhancements, most notably lowering smart contract execution costs. This reduction aims to improve efficiency for decentralized applications and reduce expenses for developers using Cardano's platform.
also Protocol Version 11 lays the foundational infrastructure needed for Cardano's upcoming scalability upgrade, Ouroboros Leios, which is designed to increase transaction throughput substantially while upholding security and decentralization principles.
Leios Testnet and Next Steps
The activation of Protocol Version 11 follows the recent rollout of the Leios testnet, a precursor to the mainnet implementation of this major scalability solution. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has highlighted the importance of these upgrades for the platform's future capabilities.
Market reaction: Cardano's token price experienced minimal fluctuation on the day of the upgrade activation.
