Cardano Activates Van Rossem Hard Fork, Moves to Protocol 11

Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, 2026, at 21:44:51 UTC, moving the network to Protocol Version 11 with no reported downtime. The upgrade was approved through onchain governance: delegated representatives voted 77.63% in favor, stake pool operators recorded 52.7% support and the Constitutional Committee recorded a 6-0-0-1 vote. Those votes closed on July 13, five days before activation at the epoch boundary.

Van Rossem packages five Cardano Improvement Proposals. CIP-133 adds multi-scalar multiplication over the BLS12-381 curve to enable verification of many signatures at once. CIP-138 introduces a native array type for onchain data. CIP-153 improves handling of multi-asset values. CIP-132 adds a dropList function to speed list operations. CIP-109 provides modular exponentiation as a built-in operation. Developers reported the combined changes reduce Plutus script execution costs and speed script processing.

The upgrade includes security and ledger-rule changes for node operators. Stake pools must use a unique Verifiable Random Function key tied to each pool identity rather than reusing a key across the network. Ledger consistency checks were tightened to help keep nodes synchronized as transaction volume grows. Operators must run updated node software to remain in consensus; the wallet provider Lace released a compatible update prior to activation.

Cardano described Van Rossem as an intra-era update within the Conway ledger era that does not change the network’s governance structure. The upgrade was completed through onchain voting rather than a foundation-set timeline. Intersect MBO, which coordinated the Hard Fork Working Group, reported broad readiness among stake pools and exchanges ahead of the activation.

Market response was muted. ADA traded at about $0.16462 after the fork, down 0.88% over 24 hours, while 24-hour trading volume fell 54.81% to $179.93 million. Onchain data showed wallets holding between 100,000 and 100 million ADA increased their combined balances to the highest level since 2023 and now control more than a quarter of circulating supply; smaller holders reduced positions during the same period. ADA remained below its 200-day simple moving average of $0.25601, with technical support near $0.16185. As of Sunday at 9:45 a.m. EDT, ADA traded between $0.1651 and $0.17 per coin.

Van Rossem is a preparatory update for Ouroboros Leios, a parallelized consensus upgrade undergoing testing through 2026 that targets throughput gains of roughly 30 to 65 times current levels and aims to exceed 1,000 transactions per second. Developers using Aiken and other Plutus-adjacent languages will gain direct access to the new built-ins. Observers will track metrics such as total value locked, transaction counts and decentralized application launches to measure developer activity after the cheaper Plutus execution becomes available.