Cardano has moved closer to its next network upgrade after the van Rossem hard fork initiation governance action was submitted on mainnet.
Summary
- Cardano’s van Rossem hard fork action reached mainnet governance for Protocol Version 11 review now.
- The intra-era upgrade adds features while preparing Cardano’s Dijkstra era and future Leios mainnet rollout.
- The hard fork name honors Max van Rossem after broad DRep support from community voters.
The proposal marks the next step toward Protocol Version 11, an intra-era upgrade designed to add new features while preparing the network for the next major era, Dijkstra. That later phase is expected to bring Leios to the Cardano mainnet.
Cardano van Rossem hard fork reaches mainnet governance
Intersect said the van Rossem hard fork initiation governance action has been submitted on Cardano mainnet. The move follows weeks of testing, governance work, and infrastructure preparation across Cardano’s Preview and Preprod networks.
Gov.tools lists the proposal as a hard fork action for Protocol Version 11, known as the “van Rossem” hard fork. The action was submitted on June 16 during Epoch 637.
The upgrade is not an era change. It is an intra-era hard fork, which means it can add improvements while keeping Cardano inside the current era. That reduces the level of disruption for wallets, exchanges, stake pool operators, and decentralized applications.
Dijkstra and Leios path comes next
The van Rossem upgrade lays groundwork for Dijkstra, the next major era in Cardano’s roadmap. Dijkstra is expected to prepare the network for Leios, a scaling design aimed at higher throughput.
Previous testing focused on the Plutus Cost Model parameter update and hard fork readiness. The Preview network moved to Protocol Version 11 in May, while Preprod later followed after its own governance steps.
The mainnet Plutus Cost Model update was submitted on May 26 and later ratified. Its enactment was scheduled for June 18 at 21:45 UTC, according to the timeline cited in ecosystem coverage.
As previously reported by crypto.news, Cardano’s Lace wallet received updates before the Van Rossem fork. That report said the upgrade targets Protocol Version 11 and is expected to improve Plutus performance, ledger consistency, and node-level security.
Max van Rossem dedication enters metadata
The hard fork is named after Max van Rossem, a Cardano community member who died in October 2025. Intersect described him as a developer, stake pool operator, DRep, Constitutional Convention delegate, and builder in the ecosystem.
The naming followed an earlier governance action titled “Name Protocol Version 11 hard fork – van Rossem.” Intersect said the action received 83.62% DRep support and 4.44 billion ADA backing.
The proposal metadata includes a dedication to van Rossem. Intersect’s earlier memorial note described him as someone who “asked hard questions,” “built,” and “showed up.”
The naming gives the upgrade both a technical and community role. It links Protocol Version 11 to Cardano’s ongoing governance process while preserving a record of one contributor’s work.
Governance timeline now drives activation
The next step is ratification of the hard fork initiation action. Potential ratification dates include June 23, June 28, July 3, July 8, July 13, and July 18.
If the action passes quickly, the hard fork could be enacted as early as June 28. Other possible enactment dates include July 3, July 8, July 13, July 18, and July 23.
The governance action is due to expire on July 18. That gives delegated representatives, stake pool operators, and the Constitutional Committee a limited window to complete the process.
As crypto.news reported earlier, Cardano governance has also faced pressure from disputes over research funding and treasury spending. The van Rossem process now gives the ecosystem another test of its on-chain governance system.
