The evolution of blockchains now involves both their governance and their technical advances. In this context, Cardano has just reached an important milestone with the activation of the Van Rossem update, presented as the first hard fork in its history entirely validated by an on-chain governance process. This development, deployed without network interruption, brings several improvements intended for developers, strengthens the security of the protocol and prepares the next technical developments of the ecosystem.
In brief
- Cardano activates Van Rossem, its first hard fork fully validated by on-chain governance, without network interruption.
- The update introduces five CIPs aimed at reducing Plutus smart contract costs and improving performance.
- The network is strengthening its security with new rules on VRF keys used by staking pools.
- Large ADA holders are accumulating more, while the market remains cautious after the update activation.
- Van Rossem is preparing Ouroboros Leios, a future development intended to significantly increase the network’s processing capacity.
Cardano takes a new step with a hard fork validated by on-chain governance
On July 18, 2026, Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork, moving the network to version 11 of its protocol. The deployment took place without reported incidents and is a continuation of the Conway era. Unlike a complete overhaul of the institutional functioning of the network, this development modifies several internal components of the registry while retaining the existing governance architecture.
This hard fork is distinguished above all by its mode of adoption. For the first time, all stages, from proposal to activation, were based on the on-chain governance system. Delegates approved the proposal at 77.63%, well above the required threshold of 60%. Staking pool operators also agreed with 52.7% of the votes, while the Constitutional Committee approved the update with six votes in favor.
The various ballots ended on July 13, five days before the official activation. This procedure marks an important evolution in the way the network now makes its decisions, since major updates no longer depend on centralized coordination provided by Input Output, but on a vote directly recorded on the blockchain.
Technical improvements for developers and smart contracts
With this development, Cardano incorporates five Improvement Proposals (CIPs) intended to strengthen network performance and enrich the tools available to developers. The goal is to reduce the cost of executing Plutus smart contracts, accelerate multiple processing on the blockchain, and integrate new cryptographic capabilities directly into the protocol.
THE five improvements introduced are the following:
- CIP-133: adds multi-scalar multiplication to the BLS12-381 cryptographic curve, allowing a large number of digital signatures to be verified simultaneously;
- CIP-138: introduces a native array type to more efficiently store and manipulate on-chain data;
- CIP-153: optimizes the management of multi-asset assets, in order to improve their processing on the network;
- CIP-132: speeds up list manipulation thanks to the new dropList function;
- CIP-109: incorporates modular exponentiation, used in some advanced cryptographic operations.
These developments respond to the needs expressed by developers of decentralized applications. In particular, they make it possible to execute smart contracts more efficiently, while simplifying certain operations that previously required calculations carried out off-chain. Teams working on zero-knowledge proofs, multi-signature wallets or even compliance tools now have functionalities directly integrated into the protocol.
At the same time, these optimizations improve the overall performance of the Plutus environment. According to developers, they reduce script execution costs while speeding up their processing. This development also prepares the network to accommodate more complex applications, without changing the functioning of the governance introduced with this update.
Strengthened security and a network better prepared for future volumes
Beyond performance, Cardano also strengthens several mechanisms related to ledger security. Node operators must now follow a new rule regarding verifiable random function keys, better known by the acronym VRF.
Each staking pool must now use a unique VRF key associated with its own identity. This measure prevents the reuse of the same key across multiple pools and thus removes a potential weakness that could be exploited in attacks targeting the network. This development helps to strengthen the integrity of the overall functioning of the blockchain.
The hard fork also improves ledger consistency rules to maintain perfect synchronization between different nodes, even when transaction volume increases. Before activation, Intersect MBO, responsible for coordinating the working group dedicated to this update, monitored the level of preparation of the staking pools as well as that of the exchange platforms. Both categories of actors displayed a high level of participation before the final deployment.
Investors are accumulating while the network is already preparing its next evolution
After activation, Cardano saw the price of ADA move in a relatively calm market. The token stood at $0.16462, down 0.88% over twenty-four hours. At the same time, trading volume decreased by 54.81% to $179.93 million, reflecting limited reaction from investors in the short term.
On-chain data published by Santiment, however, shows a different dynamic among the largest holders. Wallets holding between 100,000 and 100 million ADA have increased their reserves to their highest level since 2023. Together, they now control more than a quarter of the circulating supply, while holders of smaller volumes have reduced their positions during the same period.
The hard fork also constitutes an essential technical step before the arrival ofOuroboros Leios. This future evolution of the consensus, currently tested until 2026, aims to significantly increase the throughput of the network with an announced objective of more than 1,000 transactions per second.
Developers working with Aiken and other Plutus compatible languages can already leverage the new built-in features, while the Lace wallet has released a compatible version. Pool operators must now use an updated version of the software in order to stay in sync with the network.
The coming weeks will above all allow us to observe whether these technical developments encourage more sustained activity on the blockchain. Indicators related to total value locked, number of transactions and deployment of new decentralized applications should offer a first measure of actual adoption of the improvements introduced by Van Rossem.
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