Cardano ratified the van Rossem hard fork on July 13 through its Voltaire on-chain governance framework, with enactment set for July 18. It is the first Cardano hard fork initiated and approved entirely through decentralized governance rather than by founding entities, advancing the network to Protocol Version 11 with cheaper smart contracts.
Cardano ratified the van Rossem hard fork on July 13 through its Voltaire on-chain governance framework, and enactment is scheduled for July 18. What sets this upgrade apart is how it got here: it is the first Cardano hard fork that founding entities like Input Output or the Cardano Foundation did not orchestrate top-down. Instead, the community initiated, debated, and ratified it entirely through decentralized governance.
What the upgrade changes
The van Rossem hard fork advances Cardano to Protocol Version 11, an intra-era change within the Conway ledger era. It adds new built-in functions to the Plutus platform and reduces smart contract execution costs.
The governance action was first submitted to the mainnet on June 16, during Epoch 637. From submission to ratification took roughly four weeks. The upgrade is named after Max van Rossem, a Cardano community contributor who passed away in early 2026.
How the vote worked
The Hard Fork Working Group, led by Intersect MBO, coordinated the technical and procedural logistics, and Input Output, the Cardano Foundation, and Emurgo all participated. Three groups had to sign off: Delegated Representatives, the Constitutional Committee, and Stake Pool Operators. DReps vote on behalf of ADA holders who delegate their voting power.
The Plutus cost model for testnets was ratified with 68.57% DRep approval by June 13. Before hitting mainnet, the upgrade went through testnet enactments between May and June 2026, and node readiness peaked at approximately 84% by mid-June.
What comes next
The van Rossem hard fork is designed to lay groundwork for the Dijkstra era, Cardano's next major developmental phase. Dijkstra will bring Leios, a scaling solution that promises to significantly increase Cardano's throughput.
The figures also mark where friction remains. That 84% node readiness reading means roughly 16% of nodes were not fully prepared as of mid-June, and the source notes that the 68.57% approval rate shows a meaningful minority of DReps dissented.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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