The Van Rossem hard fork has been activated on the Cardano network: reducing the cost of smart contracts and preparing for scaling.
On July 18, the Cardano network officially transitioned to a new era — the Van Rossem hard fork was successfully activated on the mainnet. This update is primarily aimed at optimizing smart contract operations: as part of the upgrade, new Plutus pricing models have come into effect, significantly reducing the computational cost of executing contracts. For developers, this means not only lower fees but also improved efficiency in utilizing blockchain resources.
However, Van Rossem is merely an intermediate stage. The update also lays the infrastructural foundation for the next hard fork of the Dijkstra era. It is Dijkstra that will introduce the long-awaited Ouroboros Leios protocol, designed to radically increase network throughput without any compromise to consensus security. This is a critically important step for Cardano, as scaling remains one of the main challenges for first-generation blockchains.
From my perspective, the activation of Van Rossem demonstrates the development team's consistent approach to network evolution. Instead of abrupt leaps, they prefer phased improvements, which reduces the risk of errors and allows the market to adapt smoothly. The reduction in smart contract costs is a direct signal to DeFi projects: Cardano is becoming more attractive for deploying complex financial applications. If Dijkstra successfully implements Ouroboros Leios, we could see a significant influx of liquidity and users into the ecosystem, potentially revaluing ADA's current market capitalization.