On July 18th, Cardano completed a major upgrade called the Van Rossem hard fork. This upgrade, now known as Protocol Version 11, makes smart contracts on the network faster and less expensive, while also improving the security of the nodes that support it.
The switchover went well, but the key now is whether ADA can maintain this progress and see its price increase over time.
Great news! The van Rossem hard fork is now live on the Cardano Mainnet! 🎉 We want to thank the Hard Forking Working Group for their incredible work in making this happen, especially for coordinating all the different partners, stake pool operators, and decentralized applications.
— Intersect (@IntersectMBO) July 18, 2026
What the Van Rossem Hard Fork Brings to Cardano
A hard fork is a fundamental and lasting update to the rules governing a blockchain network, affecting all users simultaneously. The Van Rossem hard fork, recognizing developer Max van Rossem for his contributions, launched at approximately 9:45 PM UTC.
The recent upgrade went smoothly and lasted just ten minutes, without affecting users or their assets. Notably, this was the first significant update that was completely authorized by Cardano’s new community-driven governance process, known as Voltaire.
These upgrades focus on making smart contracts better by speeding up how Plutus runs, adding new features, refining how costs are calculated, and improving the security of the network nodes.
These updates are designed to reduce the cost of building apps on decentralized networks. With lower fees and improved programming capabilities, we can expect faster growth in areas like decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the tokenization of real-world assets.
Van Rossem isn’t a fundamental change to the network like past major updates. Instead, it’s an improvement within the current system, operating under the existing Conway rules. This provides developers with faster and more efficient tools right away.
Intersect, the team leading Cardano’s development, highlighted the event as evidence that decentralized decision-making is becoming more effective.
More than 77% of delegated representatives (DReps) and 52% of stake pool operators backed it.
Cardano community representatives officially approved the upgrade through a voting process on the blockchain itself, rather than by a central authority, according to Jason Appleton in a post on X.
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This update is happening as Input Output changes how it operates. Starting in August, they will be letting other companies manage important parts of the system, like the Plutus platform and the Daedalus wallet.
Can Van Rossem Deliver a Sustained ADA Rally
Following its recent upgrade, ADA experienced a brief price increase. Currently trading around $0.1663, it’s up about 1.2% over the last day (according to BeInCrypto). However, the key question is whether Charles Hoskinson can maintain this positive trend long-term. Past performance suggests being careful.
Cardano updates, or ‘hard forks,’ usually create a buzz at first, but that excitement tends to fade if they aren’t accompanied by genuine improvements and expansion within the Cardano network. Ultimately, how successful these updates are hinges on various different things.
Increased activity from developers, the launch of new decentralized applications (dApps), and the rising value of assets locked in DeFi are all positive signs. Improvements like the upcoming Ouroboros Leios upgrade, designed to handle more transactions, are also important for growth.
As a crypto investor, I’ve been keeping an eye on some interesting activity with Cardano (ADA). It looks like the big players – those holding between 100,000 and 100 million ADA tokens – have been buying up a lot of ADA recently. In fact, they now hold over 25.6 billion tokens, which is the most we’ve seen since February last year. This accumulation by these ‘whales’ could be a significant signal for future price movement.
Experts remain hopeful, but careful. While this improvement strengthens the basics, whether prices continue to rise will rely on more people using the technology and new investments – not just this update itself.
Van Rossem represents another step in Cardano’s research-driven roadmap.
The future of Cardano’s competition with Solana and other new blockchain platforms depends on whether it can demonstrate significant increases in the number of daily users, transaction volume, and developer involvement.
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2026-07-19 19:52