Cardano Hard Fork Activated July 18 via Community Vote, Protocol Version 11

Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, reaching protocol version 11 with zero downtime. It is the network's first major upgrade ratified entirely through on-chain community governance, without Input Output—Cardano's founding development company—directing the process.

Delegated representatives (DReps) approved the upgrade at 77.63%, surpassing the 60% threshold, while stake pool operators backed it at 52.7%, exceeding the required 51%. The fork lowers Plutus smart contract execution costs and bundles five technical improvements, including new cryptographic tools and a security requirement for every stake pool to use a unique cryptographic key.