Cardano’s Next Hard Fork Proposal
Intersect’s Hard Fork Working Group has put forward a proposal to name Cardano’s upcoming 2026 protocol upgrade. They’re suggesting it be called Protocol Version 11, or the “van Rossem” hard fork. This naming would honor DRep Max van Rossem, who passed away recently.
There’s a tradition here that goes back a while. Cardano has been naming its hard forks after DReps who made significant contributions to the ecosystem. It started with Byron and continued through Shelley, Allegra, Mary, Alonzo, Vasil, Valentine, Chang, and Plomin. The last three—Vasil, Chang, and Plomin—were all named after DReps who passed away, much like this current proposal.
Remembering Max van Rossem
From what people say, Max was someone who really cared about Cardano’s development. He had a sharp mind and was deeply committed to the project’s governance. Those who worked with him remember his contributions clearly.
He served as both a member and co-lead of the Constitutional Committee Election Working Group. That group oversaw the first fully elected Constitutional Committee, which was a big deal for Cardano’s governance structure. Max was also at the Constitutional Convention in Buenos Aires, representing the Dutch Cardano community.
One of his major achievements was helping to include Article VIII in the Cardano constitution. I think that shows how involved he was in the foundational documents that guide the network today.
Beyond governance, Max started AdaMoments. That project let Ada holders store personal memories—images, videos, text—as permanent moments on the Cardano blockchain. He also organized meetups and connected people within the Dutch community. It seems he was someone who believed in both the technical and human sides of blockchain.
Technical Improvements Coming
The actual hard fork, Protocol Version 11, was proposed late last year. It’s expected to bring several improvements without requiring a transition to a new ledger era. Cardano will stay within the Conway era.
Some of the planned updates include better node security, improved ledger consistency, and enhanced Plutus performance. There will be changes to reference input rules, the uniqueness of the VRF key, and Plutus primitives. These are funded through the treasury system, which means the community is essentially paying for its own upgrades.
What’s interesting is that these are intra-era changes. They’re fixes, refinements, and optimizations that don’t need a full era transition. That should make the upgrade process smoother than some previous hard forks.
Community Voting Process
Right now, there’s a poll running where Cardano community members can vote on the proposed name. It started on January 13 and will continue until February 14, 2026. That’s a pretty long voting period, which gives people time to consider the proposal.
The voting has some requirements though. DReps need to deposit at least 100,000 ADA to participate. As of the latest information, eight DReps have voted YES. They represent about 1.57% of the total stake, which translates to 91.24 million ADA out of 14.16 billion ADA total.
The last vote was cast about 20 minutes before this information was published. That suggests voting might be happening steadily, though it’s hard to say for sure without more recent data.
Once the voting ends, the results will go to the Technical Steering Committee for review and ratification. The Hard Fork Working Group plans to meet every two weeks to coordinate matters related to the hard fork. They’re also forming a think tank and an open working group for community members who want to participate in current and future mainnet hard forks.
Looking Ahead
All other details about the hard fork will be shared through the Intersect Knowledge Base. The working group approach seems designed to keep the community involved throughout the process.
The technical changes themselves should collectively improve script performance, reduce execution costs, and expand what builders can do on Cardano. There will also be improvements to governance correctness and transparency, which is always important for a decentralized network.
It’s worth noting that this hard fork requires network-wide coordination, but the integration burden should be lower than during era transitions. That’s probably a relief for developers and node operators who remember more complex upgrades.
What strikes me is how Cardano continues to balance technical progress with community traditions. Naming hard forks after contributors creates a sense of continuity and respect for those who helped build the network. At the same time, the technical upgrades keep moving forward, addressing real needs in the ecosystem.
Perhaps that balance is what keeps Cardano’s development process working as it does. The community remembers its contributors while still pushing forward with necessary improvements. It’s not perfect—no governance system is—but it seems to be functioning for now.
