Svmuu News: Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, 2026, at 21:44:51 UTC, upgrading the network to Protocol Version 11. No downtime was reported. This upgrade is part of the changes within the Conway ledger era and is designed to reduce the cost of running Plutus smart contracts, enhance ledger security, and introduce new cryptographic tools.
Van Rossem includes five Cardano Improvement Proposals (CIPs) covering BLS12-381 multi-scalar multiplication, on-chain array types, optimizations for multi-asset value processing, accelerated list operations, and built-in modular exponentiation. Staking pools are now prohibited from reusing the same verifiable random function key across the network; each pool must hold a unique key bound to its identity.
This upgrade was completed through Cardano’s on-chain governance process, with the entire process—from proposal to activation—driven by on-chain voting. Delegates approved the proposal with 77.63% support, staking pool operators supported it at 52.7%, and the Constitutional Committee voted 6-0-0-1.
The combined balance of wallets holding between 100,000 and 100 million ADA has risen to its highest level since 2023, currently controlling more than a quarter of the circulating supply of ADA. Cardano will next move forward with Ouroboros Leios and plans to achieve a target of over 1,000 transactions per second during testing in 2026.