Cardano has handed control of its network directly to its users. On Saturday, July 19, 2026, the Cardano mainnet officially activated the van Rossem hard fork upgrade, advancing the system from Protocol Version 10 in epoch 643 to Protocol Version 11 as it entered epoch 644.
This is no ordinary code update. The transition marks the first hard fork in Cardano’s history to be driven purely by community governance. Network execution is no longer coordinated by Input Output (IOHK), the company that designed and steered Cardano’s roadmap since day one.
Cutting Smart Contract Execution Costs
On paper, Protocol Version 11 delivers direct improvements to the network’s core engine. Its primary focus targets the Plutus programming language infrastructure and an updated Plutus Cost Model. Through these technical adjustments, the network aims to reduce smart contract execution costs, enabling ecosystem applications to run much more cost-effectively for both developers and users.
Yet van Rossem does not serve as a standalone upgrade. Instead, this hard fork lays the early foundation for the next transition phase known as the Dijkstra hard fork era. It is this subsequent era that will eventually integrate the primary data-processing engine, Ouroboros Leios, into Cardano blocks.
Leios Target Set for Late 2026
Ouroboros Leios is a scaling proposal designed to modernize the Ouroboros proof-of-stake consensus utilized by Cardano. The proposal’s objective is clear: drastically boost transactions per second. The condition is absolute: this surge in processing speed must be achieved without compromising Ouroboros’ fundamental security guarantees in the slightest.
The Leios infrastructure is projected to launch on mainnet in late 2026. This capacity upgrade directly supports long-term ambitions recently outlined for the network. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson previously revealed plans to attract $1.6 trillion in Bitcoin liquidity to flow into and be utilized across the Cardano ecosystem.
To accommodate such a massive external liquidity influx, Cardano requires ample processing throughput capable of withstanding a continuous stream of transactions. Through this weekend’s community-driven execution, the first stepping stone toward that capacity has officially been laid.
Sourced from Cointelegraph.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
