Major Exchanges Prepare for Cardano's Upcoming Protocol Update

Cardano is nearing completion for its anticipated Protocol Version 11 upgrade, known as "van Rossem." This upgrade is significant in the evolution of the Cardano ecosystem.

Current Status of the Upgrade

Recent data indicates that the layer-1 blockchain is almost fully prepared for the V11 hard fork. The final approval from the Constitutional Committee (CC) is still pending, but major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Coinbase have already expressed their readiness to support the upgrade.

Features of the van Rossem Hard Fork

This upgrade is named after late Cardano community contributor Max van Rossem and aims to acknowledge his influence on the project's governance structure. The V11 hard fork is categorized as an "intra-era" hard fork, allowing developers to implement new features and enhancements without transitioning to a new blockchain era. This minimizes potential disruptions to the protocol.

Notably, the van Rossem hard fork is set to introduce several innovations, including:

• More affordable smart contracts
• ZK-ready cryptography
• New built-in functions

Testing and Stakeholder Support

The completion of the van Rossem upgrade hinges on decentralized approval from various independent stakeholders. Cardano has effectively executed the hard fork on its Preview and Preprod testnets, confirming stability ahead of the main launch.

Current on-chain metrics reveal robust support for the upgrade, with Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) quickly advancing their infrastructure. As of now, 88% of the blocks minted over the past week utilized the V11 node software, signifying solid operational readiness.

Both Binance and Coinbase, leading entities in the cryptocurrency exchange landscape, have endorsed the hard fork, as the necessary voting thresholds from Delegated Representatives (DReps) and SPOs have been achieved.