Input Output, the development company behind the Cardano blockchain, will start handing over control of critical network components to external specialist firms in August, marking a pivotal step in the network’s multi-year decentralization plan. The Haskell node software, Plutus smart contract platform, Daedalus wallet, and Hydra scaling technology will transition to independent teams, with full handover expected by 2027.
The move aims to reduce reliance on a single entity, enshrining a “Built by many, owned by all” philosophy. At least three independent node implementations in Haskell, Rust, and Go will run in parallel, supervised by community bodies Intersect and Pragma. Companies Se7en Labs, known for Solana infrastructure work, and Teragone, already leading development of the Mithril signature protocol, are among the first to take over specific components.
Founder Charles Hoskinson described the restructuring as the final stage of the Voltaire era—a governance and decentralization phase launched in 2024. “Our partners are ready, and the ecosystem now has many diverse options,” he said. The announcement comes one day before the Van Rossem hard fork activates on July 18 at 21:44 UTC, ratifying Protocol Version 11 with 77.63% delegated community approval. The upgrade introduces new Plutus built-in functions to cut smart contract execution costs.
ADA’s price traded around $0.165 on Friday, up roughly 2%, though it remains nearly 95% below its 2021 all-time high. Futures open interest stood at $193 million with a long-to-short ratio of 2.84, indicating traders anticipate a potential spike. Input Output will refocus on research and new ventures via IO Labs and IO Ventures, leaving the community to test whether the decentralized engineering model can outperform its predecessor.
