Cardano's Van Rossem Hard Fork Edges Closer: Key Milestones and Dates to Know

Cardano's upcoming protocol upgrade is gaining serious momentum, with several on-chain and ecosystem developments signaling that the network's next intra-era hard fork could become a reality sooner than expected.

According to a recent update from Intersect — a member-based organization dedicated to the Cardano ecosystem — the van Rossem hard fork initiation governance action was officially submitted to the Cardano Mainnet during epoch 637 on June 16, formally kicking off the on-chain governance process.

As of the latest report, the governance action has reached 62.76% DRep approval, already surpassing the required 60% threshold. However, SPO (Stake Pool Operator) approval currently stands at 31.59%, still short of the 51% minimum required. On the Constitutional Committee side, only one vote has been cast, with six out of seven members yet to weigh in — meaning four additional CC votes are still needed to hit the 5-of-7 threshold.

On the infrastructure front, ecosystem readiness has shown meaningful progress. Block production on node version 11 held steady at 87% for epoch 639, while liquidity readiness climbed to 77.37% after multiple major exchanges confirmed their preparedness for the upgrade.

Based on current voting trajectories, ratification could occur as early as June 28 or July 3, with corresponding enactment dates projected for July 3 or July 8, respectively.

Beyond the hard fork, Cardano has been making strides on multiple fronts this week. The public testnet for Ouroboros Leios — Cardano's long-anticipated scaling solution — officially launched under the name Musashi Dojo. What began as a research paper from Input Output (IO) Research just a year ago has now evolved into a live, publicly accessible prototype, marking a significant leap forward for the network's scalability roadmap.

The Mithril protocol is also entering a new chapter, with Teragone taking over the workstream. The transition brings deep cryptographic expertise and ensures continuity through Intersect's coordination framework.

Additionally, the RealFi Phase 1 Testnet is slated to go live on July 6, representing the first public step toward building next-generation stablecoin infrastructure directly on the Cardano blockchain.

With governance thresholds partially cleared, infrastructure readiness rising, and several major development milestones hitting at once, the coming weeks could prove pivotal for Cardano and the broader ADA ecosystem. Investors and developers alike should keep a close eye on voting progress and official announcements from Intersect as the ratification window approaches.