Cardano has officially activated the Van Rossem hard fork, moving its mainnet to Protocol Version 11 at the epoch boundary on July 18, 2026. This marks a historic milestone as the first upgrade fully approved through the network’s Voltaire onchain governance system, shifting away from the earlier coordination model led by founding development groups.
The upgrade was ratified on July 13 after meeting required governance thresholds, with 77.63% support from delegated representatives (DReps) and 52.7% from stake pool operators (SPOs), alongside approval from the Constitutional Committee. Technical teams completed weeks of testing on Preview and Preprod networks before the mainnet enactment.
Van Rossem introduces new Plutus capabilities and cost model changes aimed at making smart contract operations cheaper and more efficient. It also includes technical updates to improve Plutus performance and lays the foundation for the Dijkstra era hard fork, which will introduce Ouroboros Leios—a proof-of-stake upgrade designed to significantly increase transaction throughput while preserving security. Development on Leios continues, with prototype builds and testnet stabilization already in progress.
By executing the upgrade through community-driven governance, Cardano reinforces its commitment to decentralization. The same governance system recently led to the rejection of a 7.8 million ADA funding request for the 2026 Cardano Summit, illustrating the community’s direct impact on ecosystem decisions.
