Cardano executes first decentralized hard fork
Cardano activated its Van Rossem upgrade through entirely on-chain voting, proving its decentralized governance model works even as its native token remains flat.
Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, moving to protocol version 11 with zero downtime. The upgrade marks a structural shift for the network: it is the first major update ratified entirely through on-chain community governance rather than directed by its founding developer, Input Output.
For institutional investors, decentralized governance is a critical risk metric for blockchain assets. The vote demonstrates that Cardano's governance model, built incrementally since the Chang hard fork in 2024 and the Plomin upgrade in early 2025, functions as designed. Elected community delegates approved the proposal at 77.63%, clearing the 60% threshold. The server operators securing the network backed it at 52.7%, just above the required 51%. A seven-member Constitutional Committee also verified the proposal's compliance.
On a technical level, the upgrade lowers execution costs for Plutus, the network's smart contract language. "Protocol Version 11 adds constant-time array indexing, native Value handling, faster list traversal, and new cryptographic primitives," according to a July 20 post from Input Output Group. The update also mandates unique cryptographic keys for all stake pools to close a known attack vector, while keeping the underlying transaction shape unchanged.
Despite this structural milestone, the market reaction has been muted. ADA trades flat at around $0.1662, giving the network a $6 billion market capitalization. The token's technical chart remains bearish, with the 50-day exponential moving average sitting below the 200-day. Momentum is neutral, with the RSI at 48.8 and trend strength measured by the ADX sitting at a weak 16.1.
Beneath the flat price action, large holders are positioning differently than retail traders. Whale wallets holding between 100,000 and 100 million ADA have increased their balances to the highest level since 2023, according to Santiment data. Smaller holders have simultaneously reduced their exposure.
The Van Rossem update also serves as a prerequisite for Cardano's next major scalability overhaul, Ouroboros Leios. A public testnet for the upgrade launched on June 23. Founder Charles Hoskinson expects Leios, which targets throughput exceeding 1,000 transactions per second, to reach the mainnet before the end of 2026. That timeline aligns with Input Output's planned handoff of core development to external specialist teams starting in August.
