Cardano completes the first hard fork in its history that is completely chain-governed

The evolution of blockchain now depends on both technological breakthroughs and the improvement of governance mechanisms. In this context, Cardano has just ushered in an important milestone-the official activation of the Van Rossem upgrade, which is regarded as the first hard fork in its history that is fully verified by the on-chain governance process. The upgrade was completed without network disruption, bringing multiple improvements to developers, enhancing protocol security, and paving the way for subsequent technical development of the ecosystem.

Core Points

Cardano activates Van Rossem, its first hard fork fully verified by on-chain governance without disrupting network operations. The upgrade introduces five CIP's designed to reduce Plutus smart contract costs and improve performance. The network has enhanced security by developing new rules for VRF keys used in pledge pools. Large ADA holders continue to increase their holdings, while the market remains cautious after the upgrade is activated. Van Rossem is ready for a future upgrade to Ouroboros Leios, which aims to significantly improve network processing capabilities.

Cardano reaches a new milestone: hard fork verified by on-chain governance

On July 18, 2026, Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork to upgrade the network protocol to version 11. The deployment occurred without any incidents and continued the line of the Conway era. Unlike completely reshaping the network institutional architecture, this upgrade modifies multiple internal components of the ledger while retaining the existing governance system.

The most eye-catching thing about this hard fork is the way it was adopted. For the first time, all stages from proposal to activation rely on the on-chain governance system. Delegates passed the proposal with a support rating of 77.63%, well above the required threshold of 60%. The pledge pool operator also voted in favor with a vote of 52.7%, while the Constitutional Council approved the upgrade with six votes in favor. All voting ends on July 13, five days before the official activation. This process marks a major shift in the way network decision-making is made-major updates no longer rely on centralized coordination of inputs and outputs, but are completed directly through votes recorded on the blockchain.

Technical Improvements for Developers and Smart Contracts

This upgrade incorporates five Improvement Proposals (CIP) designed to improve network performance and enrich developer tools. The goal is to reduce the execution costs of Plutus smart contracts, accelerate multiple processes on the blockchain, and integrate new cryptographic capabilities directly into the protocol. The five improvements introduced are as follows:

CIP-133: Adding multiple scalar multiplications to the BLS12 -381 encryption curve allows simultaneous verification of a large number of digital signatures. CIP-138: Introduce native array types for more efficient storage and processing of on-chain data. CIP-153: Optimize the management of multi-asset tokens and improve their processing efficiency on the network. CIP-132: Accelerate list processing with the new dropList function. CIP-109: Integrate modular exponential operations for some advanced cryptographic operations.

These improvements respond to the needs of decentralized application developers. Not only do they make smart contract execution more efficient, they also simplify certain operations that previously required off-chain computing. Teams working on zero-knowledge certificates, multi-signature wallets, or compliance tools now have functionality that is integrated directly 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 processing. This upgrade also prepares the network to carry more complex applications without changing the governance features introduced by this upgrade.

Enhance security, prepare networks for future traffic

In addition to performance, Cardano has also enhanced multiple mechanisms related to ledger security. Node operators must now comply with a new rule on verifiable random function keys (VRF). Each pledge pool must use a unique VRF key tied to its own identity. This measure prevents the same key from being reused in multiple pools, eliminating potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited to attack the network. This move will help strengthen the security of the overall operation of blockchain.

This hard fork also improves ledger consistency rules to ensure perfect synchronization between nodes even as transaction volume increases. Prior to activation, the Intersect MBO, which coordinates the upgrade working group, monitored the readiness of the pledge pool and exchange platform. Both types of participants demonstrated a high degree of engagement before final deployment.

Investors increase their holdings, the network is ready for the next upgrade

After activation, Cardano's ADA prices fluctuated in a relatively calm market. The token price stabilized at $0.16462, falling 0.88% in 24 hours. At the same time, trading volume fell 54.81% to US$179.9 million, reflecting limited short-term investor response. However, online data released by Sanitation shows that large holders show different dynamics. Wallets holding between 100,000 and 100 million ADA will increase reserves to the highest level since 2023. Together, they controlled more than a quarter of the liquid supply, while investors holding smaller amounts reduced their positions over the same period.

This hard fork is also a necessary technical step before the arrival of Ouroboros Leios. Future upgrades to this consensus mechanism are currently being tested and will last until 2026 and are designed to significantly increase network throughput, with a stated goal of more than 1000 transactions per second. Developers using Aiken and other Plutus-compatible languages can already apply the new integration features, and a compatible version of Lace Wallet has been released. Pool operators now must use an updated software version to stay in sync with the network. In the coming weeks, we will focus on whether these technological improvements can promote increased activity on the blockchain. Metrics related to total lock-in value, transaction volume, and new decentralized application deployments will, for the first time, measure the actual adoption of the improvements introduced by Van Rossem.