Cardano Hard Fork Approaching: Here Is Latest Update

TL;DR

Cardano is set to implement the Van Rossem hard fork to Protocol Version 11, enhancing performance and security. The upgrade is expected to occur in late June 2026.

Key points

Cardano preparing for intra-era hard fork to Protocol Version 11
Van Rossem hard fork enhances Plutus performance and node security
Upgrade projected for late June 2026

Van Rossem hard forkIntersect

Cardano is preparing for an intra-era hard fork to Protocol Version 11, which enhances Plutus performance, ledger consistency and node security.

Named Van Rossem hard fork, the upgrade avoids an era transition to minimize integration burdens while introducing enhanced primitives, VRF key uniqueness and updated reference input rules.

This update is projected to take place in late June 2026, with steady progress made in preparation and ecosystem readiness.

Last week we announced Cardano on @Dune.

Since launch, community members have already started building their own dedicated Cardano dashboards.

Meanwhile, the Pentad team has been busy improving the Cardano Ecosystem Overview Dashboard based on your feedback.… pic.twitter.com/V04tboCDUu

— Intersect (@IntersectMBO) April 11, 2026

Intersect, a member-based organization in the Cardano ecosystem, shares the latest update on the hard fork process.

10.7.0 release faces setback

The benchmarking of the 10.7.0 pre-release identified a significant memory regression, with around 6 GB of additional RAM usage appearing over a 15-day period. Benchmarking ensures that new node versions are stable, performant and ready to support the network under realistic conditions before they move closer to mainnet readiness.

The cause of issue is believed to have been identified by Cardano's performance and testing teams, and a local fix has already been implemented. Integration benchmarking with the performance team is planned over the next few days to confirm whether the issue is resolved without requiring any downstream API changes.

Consequently, the 10.7.0 version will not be promoted to a mainnet-ready release but instead, the fixes are expected to be included in a 10.7.1 release, alongside a fix for a separate consensus issue that has been causing occasional failures.

While it is a meaningful issue, the positivity is that it was identified early. Intersect indicated that the projected late June 2026 enactment date remains unchanged. If the 10.7.1 release can sail through without API changes, there is still enough flexibility in the timeline to absorb the delay.

Q&A

What is the Van Rossem hard fork in Cardano?

The Van Rossem hard fork is an intra-era upgrade to Protocol Version 11 that improves Plutus performance, ledger consistency, and node security.

When is the Cardano hard fork scheduled to occur?

The Cardano hard fork is projected to take place in late June 2026.

What improvements will the Cardano hard fork bring?

The hard fork will introduce enhanced primitives, VRF key uniqueness, and updated reference input rules to the Cardano ecosystem.