Cardano Completes First Fully On-Chain Governance Hard Fork

ChainCatcher report: Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, 2026, at 21:44:51 UTC, upgrading the network to protocol version 11 with no reported downtime. This upgrade is part of the Conway ledger era and aims to reduce Plutus smart contract execution costs, enhance ledger security, and introduce new cryptographic tools. Van Rossem incorporates five Cardano Improvement Proposals (CIPs), including BLS12-381 multi-scalar multiplication, on-chain array types, optimized multi-asset value handling, accelerated list operations, and built-in modular exponentiation. Stake pools are now prohibited from reusing the same verifiable random function (VRF) key across the network; each pool must hold a unique key bound to its identity. The upgrade was enacted through Cardano’s on-chain governance process, with proposal to activation driven entirely by on-chain voting. Delegated representatives approved the proposal with 77.63% support, stake pool operators supported it with 52.7% approval, and the Constitutional Committee voted 6-0-0-1. The combined balance of wallets holding between 100,000 and 100 million ADA has reached its highest level since 2023, now controlling over a quarter of ADA’s circulating supply. Cardano will next advance toward Ouroboros Leios, with a target of exceeding 1,000 transactions per second during testing in 2026.