Cardano Activates Van Rossem Hard Fork to Enhance Smart Contracts and Prepare for the Dijkstra Era

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Cardano has activated the Van Rossem hard fork, upgrading from protocol version 10 to 11. The update garnered support from over 77% of DReps and 52% of staking pools, with 4.44 billion ADA voted in favor. The upgrade accelerates Plutus scripts, introduces new functionalities, and enhances node security, enabling developers to reduce costs and improve user experience. This upgrade represents progress toward the Dijkstra era and the Ouroboros Leios upgrade. Amid growing attention on altcoins to watch, the move has attracted investor interest. ADA rose 0.24% to $0.1652, as the Fear & Greed Index showed early signs of shifting toward greed. Daily trading volume reached $23.19 billion, up 28.3%.

The update was activated when the network transitioned from epoch 643, which operated on protocol version 10, to epoch 644, where protocol version 11 (V11) was activated. The update was approved by more than 77% of delegated representatives (DReps) and 52% of stake pool operators. A total of 4.44 billion ADA tokens were used in the voting.

The Van Rossem hardfork proposed several important technical improvements. First and foremost, it is set to enhance smart contract performance: developers promise to speed up Plutus script execution, introduce new built-in functions, and strengthen node security.

These changes are also designed to reduce operational costs for developers building decentralized applications on Cardano. As a result, developers will be able to deploy and run smart contracts at lower costs, which should enhance user engagement within the Cardano ecosystem. Developers assert that these improved scripts will accelerate the tokenization of real-world assets on the platform.

In addition to enhancing network performance, Van Rossem paves the way for Dijkstra, the next major era in Cardano’s roadmap. Dijkstra will prepare the network for another major upgrade—Ouroboros Leios. Ultimately, developers aim to significantly increase Cardano’s throughput while maintaining the network’s security and decentralization.

The hardfork is named after Dutch Cardano community leader Max van Rossem, according to Intersect, the organization established to coordinate the governance, development, and support of Cardano’s infrastructure. Van Rossem passed away in October 2025, contributing to the development of Cardano’s decentralized governance system—Voltaire.

The ADA coin responded to the update with relative calm, rising 0.24% in 24 hours to $0.1652. The coin's 24-hour trading volume increased by 28.3% to $231.91 billion. ADA's current market capitalization stands at $6.03 billion.

According to recent data from Santiment, large Cardano holders holding between 100,000 and 100 million ADA have accumulated over 25.6 billion coins— the highest total volume since February 2023.


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