Cardano activates Van Rossem hard fork via onchain governance, introducing Plutus improvements and lower smart-contract costs.
Regulation & Gov ·
Cardano has activated the Van Rossem hard fork, bringing Protocol Version 11 online through onchain governance—a first for the network. The upgrade introduces new Plutus capabilities and adjustments to cost models designed to reduce the expense of executing smart contracts, while establishing technical foundations for the upcoming Dijkstra era.
The distinction here lies in the approval mechanism: this marks Cardano's first hard fork to be approved entirely through onchain voting rather than through traditional developer or foundation decision-making. This shift reflects a move toward more decentralized governance for protocol changes.
What remains to be seen is how meaningfully the cost improvements affect real-world smart-contract deployment and usage patterns on Cardano, and what specific features or capabilities the Dijkstra era will introduce beyond the technical groundwork now in place.