Cardano’s Latest Hard Fork: Is It Worth the Hype or Just Another Fad?

by

In a rather spirited post on the platform X, our dear Intersect-a charming little club for all things Cardano-has graciously offered us a glimpse into the impending grandeur that is Protocol version 11. One must wonder, however, if such an upgrade is akin to polishing a brass doorknob on a sinking ship.

As it goes, this so-called intra-era hard fork is deemed a minuscule enhancement, promising to leave the transaction shape unscathed. Ah, the effort required for such a monumental upgrade is said to be minimal-though one cannot help but imagine the Herculean labor behind the scenes.

– Intersect (@IntersectMBO) January 29, 2026

The Protocol 11 upgrade brings with it a veritable cornucopia of performance boosts for Plutus, introducing new cryptographic wizardry through a series of built-ins-oh, how delightful!-while ensuring that existing contracts remain as intact as your Aunt Mildred’s fruitcake from last Christmas.

Of course, a hard fork is a necessity, lest we find ourselves mired in stagnation like a forgotten pot of porridge. Thus, this proposed upgrade, charmingly dubbed the van Rossem Hard Fork in honor of the illustrious Max van Rossem, is set to offer a modest suite of enhancements focused on security, governance, and Plutus capabilities. A veritable banquet of improvements, I dare say!

Node releases coming

Our friends at Intersect are currently in the embryonic stages of this upgrade process, caught up in the thrilling tasks of socialization and planning. Who knew that technology could be so delightfully social?

Following some chit-chat with the hard fork working group, the enigmatic Input Output Engineering (IOE) teams have tantalizingly hinted at not one, but two releases of the Cardano node. How positively riveting!

The first, the Pre-Release Cardano node 10.6.2, is slated for an appearance within a week. This pre-release promises to embrace the hard fork functionality, aimed at getting those juicy new features into the hands of the eager community for a spot of SanchoNet testing-because who doesn’t love testing, right?

The second installment, Cardano node 10.7.0, is expected to grace us with its presence in three weeks. This lovely creature will be the mainnet hard fork-ready candidate release, poised to elegantly separate the Preview and PreProd environments before making its grand debut on the mainnet. Finally, we shall witness the formal benchmarking and performance tests-truly, a spectacle worthy of the finest theatre!

The goal of the Cardano node 10.6.2 release is to kickstart the proceedings and engage stakeholders before we prepare a hard fork candidate node. Meanwhile, 10.7.0 stands proudly as a candidate, contingent upon the successful deployment of testnets and the ceremonial benchmarking. What a fine dance this all is!

Read More

2026-01-29 18:57