Cardano created its genesis block on September 23, 2017, marking the network's launch. Over nine years, the network has processed more than 123 million transactions and activated 11 major upgrades, including the Alonzo upgrade, which introduced smart contract functionality, and the Chang upgrade, which brought on-chain governance online. The Cardano Foundation highlighted that the network currently has 2,890 stake pools and has processed 36,322 votes across 158 governance actions. Future updates are planned, including Dijkstra Phase 1 (expected Q4 2026) and Peras (expected Q2 2027).