Inside Cardano’s ‘Van Rossum’ hard fork, and what it means for users

The Van Rossem hard fork moved Cardano to version 11 on Saturday. And for the first time, Cardano's community voted in the upgrade, not the company that built it.

Melinda 14 hours ago 3 minutes read

Inside Cardano’s ‘Van Rossum’ hard fork, and what it means for users

The Van Rossem hard fork moved Cardano to version 11 on Saturday. And for the first time, Cardano’s community voted in the upgrade, not the company that built it.

By Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Nikhilesh De

Jul 20, 2026, 2:31 p.m.

4 min read

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Cardano hard fork marks first upgrade approved without Input Output in charge (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Summary

Cardano’s Van Rossem hard fork activated on July 18, moving the network to protocol version 11 and lowering smart contract execution costs while preparing for a future scalability upgrade.
The upgrade is the first in Cardano’s history to be proposed, debated and ratified entirely through its onchain governance system, rather than by founding developer Input Output, marking a shift in who controls protocol changes.
While everyday ADA transactions remain unchanged for now, the fork enables cheaper, more capable smart contracts and lays procedural and technical groundwork for the planned Ouroboros Leios scaling upgrade expected in 2026.