Cardano Vasil upgrade completes its first phase

The Cardano blockchain’s long-awaited upgrade, the Vasil hard fork, successfully completed its first phase early Friday morning, according to Cardano operator Input Output Global Hong Kong’s official Twitter page.

See related article: Cardano’s Vasil hard fork upgrade confirmed for Sept. 22

Fast facts

• Vasil will bring improvements to the Cardano network, making it more scalable and increasing its efficiency and cost-effectiveness, Input Output Global said in a Twitter thread. 

• Hard forks are permanent updates to a blockchain protocol that require all nodes or users to upgrade to the latest version of protocol software. The Vasil hard fork will deploy new Vasil features to the network without losing existing data on the old blockchain, Input Output said. 

• Cardano had delayed the upgrade several times earlier in the year, citing bugs and an “abundance of caution.”

• The final phase of the Vasil upgrade, a new version of Cardano’s smart contract platform Plutus, is expected to enter a “pre-production environment” on Saturday and then become fully active on the chain on Sept. 27. 

• New Plutus V2 features and enhancements will help dApp developers to create more powerful and efficient blockchain-based applications within the network, according to Input Output.

• Cardano’s ADA token price rose 5.2% in the past 24 hours in Friday morning trading in Asia, eliminating all losses it had suffered over the past seven days. 

See related article: Cardano’s Vasil hard fork upgrade confirmed for Sept. 22