Cardano (ADA) Van Rossem hard fork officially launched: The first voted upgrade to community governa

Key Highlights

The Van Rossem hard fork was successfully deployed on the Cardano Network on July 18, and the protocol version was upgraded to 11

This is the first blockchain upgrade in Cardano history approved through decentralized community governance rather than the Input Output command.

Smart contract execution costs are reduced and Plutus built-in functions are enhanced.

After the network upgrade, ADA prices hover around US$0.1663, rising about 1.2% in the past day.

Large wallet addresses holding 100,000 to 100 million ADA tokens have accumulated more than 25.6 billion tokens, Reaching its highest level since early 2023

Cardano (ADA) price

The Cardano blockchain successfully implemented the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, and the entire network migrated to protocol version 11. The deployment was completed at 21:44 UTC, with only a brief ten-minute interruption in block production, with zero impact on end users.

This upgrade is significant because it is the first time that Cardano has executed a hard fork without obtaining the Input Output instruction from the founding entity. From the initial proposal, community discussion to final approval, the entire process is completed entirely through the decentralized governance infrastructure that Cardano established during the Voltaire phase.

The entrusted representative passed decisively with 78.97% of the votes in favor, far exceeding the required threshold of 60%. The Constitutional Council unanimously supported it. Although the equity pool operators have great differences, they still passed the measure with 53.02% of the votes in favor.

Prior to formal approval, the network requires at least 85% of its equity pool to run compatible node software. Blockchain indicators confirm that approximately 93% of block production nodes had been upgraded to version 11 before the activation deadline.

Delegate Jason Appleton highlighted this governance achievement on X, saying: "The best thing is that it was approved on-the-chain by the community delegate before activation. This is an upgrade through governance rather than command." This shift fundamentally changed the trajectory of Cardano-token holders can now exercise their votes directly on agreement modifications rather than passively accepting top-down decisions from centralized leadership.

Technical improvements to version 11

From a technical perspective, version 11 is an intra-era enhancement. It operates within the existing Conway governance structure without changing transaction formats, minimizing the integration burden on the entire ecosystem.

This enhancement standardizes Plutus built-in functions in all three platform iterations, allowing traditional smart contracts to take advantage of modern capabilities. In addition, it has strengthened ledger verification protocols, including implementing security measures to prevent multiple equity pools from using the same encrypted identity credentials.

Ordinary ADA token holders will not feel any significant changes. Wallet apps do not need to be updated, standard transaction fees remain the same, and payment processing methods are completely consistent.

Paving the way for future scalability

In addition to immediate improvements, Van Rossem has also built critical infrastructure for the upcoming hard fork in the Dijkstra era. The hard fork will deploy Ouroboros Leios, an ambitious extension framework designed to significantly increase transaction throughput while maintaining security guarantees. Developers expect this major upgrade to come during 2026.

Cryptocurrency analyst Sssebi observed on X that the ADA recently closed above the 50-day moving average and described the technical structure as "currently bullish" and expected that if the token maintains its current support, it is "highly likely" to rebound towards the $0.20 price area.

ADA is currently trading at approximately $0.1663, up approximately 1.2% in the past 24 hours. Large-value wallet addresses holding 100,000 to 100 million ADAs have accumulated more than 25.6 billion tokens, which is the highest accumulation level since February 2023.

Looking ahead, Input Output plans to transfer ownership of key infrastructure components, including the Plutus development platform and Daedalus wallet software, to independent organizations starting in August this year.