Cardano van Rossem hard fork goes live as 85% of blocks run v11

Cardano's van Rossem hard fork governance action hit mainnet on June 16, the first upgrade initiated through the Voltaire on-chain framework.

"This is the culmination of months of work coordinated through the Intersect Hard Fork Working Group with contributors from Input Output, Cardano Foundation, Emurgo, Midnight and Ensurable Systems," Intersect said in its weekly update published June 19. The decision to proceed was made by the Hard Fork Working Group in collaboration with the Intersect Technical Steering Committee.

Network readiness metrics are running ahead of any prior Cardano upgrade. Some 85% of block production was running on Protocol Version 11 in Epoch 638, according to Cexplorer data cited by Intersect. Exchange readiness stood at approximately 36.86% by liquidity, with Bybit, OKX, KuCoin, Gate.io and Crypto.com all confirming full readiness. The Plutus cost model parameter update — which lowers the computational cost of smart contract operations — was enacted on mainnet on June 18 at 21:45 UTC.

The hard fork moves Cardano to Protocol Version 11, an intra-era upgrade that enhances Plutus performance, adds advanced cryptographic primitives and tightens ledger rules and SPO security without launching a new ledger era. The upgrade honors late contributor Max van Rossem. Voting requires approval from DReps, SPOs and the Constitutional Committee; as of June 19, DRep approval stood at 22.91% against a 60% threshold, with the ratification window open until July 18. The Constitutional Committee election for four seats is also underway, with candidate registration closing June 21 and DRep voting running from June 23 through July 23.

ADA traded at $0.16 as of June 19, down 1% over the prior 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. The token's 4-hour chart shows the EMA50 at $0.17 and EMA200 at $0.20 acting as overhead resistance, with the relative strength index at 36.24 leaving room for further downside before a sustained recovery, per TradingView data.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.