In brief
Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, reaching protocol version 11 with zero downtime.
It's the network's first major upgrade ratified entirely through on-chain community governance, without any centralized company directing the process.
The fork lowers Plutus smart contract execution costs and bundles five technical improvements, including new cryptographic tools and a security fix requiring every stake pool to use a unique cryptographic key.
Cardano has hard forked, implementing the Van Rossem upgrade over the weekend and transitioning the network to protocol version 11.It’s not the first time Cardano has executed a hard fork—but it is the first time it’s done so without the intervention of the blockchain’s founding development company, Input Output. That makes how it happened at least as important as what the upgrade does.A hard fork—a permanent, mandatory update to a blockchain's core rules, applied simultaneously across every computer running the network—is a pretty serious deal. Throughout Cardano’s history, it’s been Input Output that’s decided on these kinds of network changes.Van Rossem, which sets the stage for improved scalability and lower costs on the network, is the first major Cardano upgrade ratified entirely through on-chain governance, meaning elected community members, server operators, and an oversight committee voted it live.The fork carries the name of Max van Rossem, a Dutch Cardano contributor who passed away in October 2025. A developer, elected representative, node operator, and constitutional delegate, Van Rossem helped design the very governance system that just activated this upgrade.Three separate bodies signed off. Delegated representatives known as “DReps”—community members elected to vote on behalf of Cardano holders, similar to elected delegates in a parliament—approved it at 77.63%, clearing the 60% threshold. Stake pool operators—the companies and individuals running the servers that keep Cardano running—backed it at 52.7%, just above the required 51%.The Constitutional Committee, a seven-member board that verifies upgrades comply with Cardano's founding document, also approved the proposal. Cardano has been building toward this governance model since the Chang hard fork in 2024, which first introduced on-chain voting, followed by the Plomin hard fork in early 2025, which gave token holders real decision-making power.What the upgrade actually doesVan Rossem is an intra-era upgrade—a targeted improvement that doesn't rebuild Cardano's core structure. Its main goal is lowering Plutus execution costs. Plutus is Cardano's smart contract programming language—the code engine behind every DeFi app, NFT marketplace, and on-chain payment tool built on the network.Cheaper execution means developers can run more complex apps for less.The upgrade bundles different technical proposals, including new cryptographic tools for verifying digital signatures faster and a security fix requiring every stake pool to use a unique cryptographic key—closing a known attack path.
