Hard Work on the Hard Fork: Cardano Upgrade Expected by End of July
Touted as the project’s most significant upgrade to date, Cardano’s Vasil hard fork will launch in July
Key Insights:
- 95% of the preparatory tests needed to implement the upgrade have been finalised.
- Input Output has released Vasil node 1.35.0.
- Seven technical bugs caused a delay in the Vasil hard fork.
It was hardly welcome news that the proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain Cardano is facing a delay for its Vasil hard fork, with only 95% of the preparatory tests needed to implement the upgrade finalised.
However, Cardano (ADA) enthusiasts the world over can rest assured that the ecosystem’s developer, Input Output (IOHK) is putting the finishing touches to the blockchain’s testnest. In fact, Input Output released Vasil node 1.35.0 last week after the project achieved “good chain density to proceed safely”, marking an important milestone for the team of developers.
Upgrade Countdown Begins
The firm had previously stated that it is taking an “abundance of caution” to ensure the upgrade – originally slated for a June launch – is implemented correctly. While none were categorized as “severe”, seven technical bugs caused this delay.
Notably, over 75% of the testnet blocks have been created by the newly deployed Vasil node.
For context, once the testnet has been hard forked, staking pool operators (SPO), developers and exchanges will have roughly four weeks to carry out any required integration and testing work before the Vasil hard fork is implemented on the mainnet.
The final decision to hard fork the Cardano testnet was made in consultation with members of the Stake Pool Operation (SPO) and decentralized application (dApp) development community.
Increased Scalability
The Vasil upgrade is considered to be the most complex programme of development and integration on Cardano since the Alonzo hard fork added smart contract functionality back in September 2021. Smart contracts refer to a computer code that automatically executes all or parts of an agreement and is stored on a blockchain-based platform.
The Vasil hard fork aims to improve the network’s speed and scalability with the introduction of four enhancements dubbed CIP31, CIP32, CIP33 and CIP40.
These improvements are designed to reduce the size of transactions, therefore increasing the network’s throughput and lowering transaction fees on the network. Higher throughput is achieved through diffusion pipelining and in the case of Cardano, it can better developer experience via much-improved script performance and efficiency.
Hard forks refer to a network upgrade in which blockchains validate and produce new blocks with predetermined new rules, while the latest upgrade is named in honour of Cardano’s long-standing community member, Vasil St Dabov.
In addition, the hard fork is expected to make Cardano more developer-friendly, which could attract projects from rival Layer 1 blockchains and lead to heightened demand for ADA.