The developers of Input Output Hong Kong and the Cardano Foundation today announced a hard release date for the Vasil hard fork. The major upgrade for Cardano is due on September 22, exactly one week after the Ethereum Merge of September 15.
The great Vasil hard fork
The Vasil hard fork is the biggest upgrade for Cardano since the platform’s release. “Vasil is the most significant upgrade for Cardano to date, increasing network capacity and lowering transaction costs,” said a developer of Input Output Hong Kong. We speak of a hard fork when part of the network decides to change the rules in such a way that a split occurs.
Anyone who wants to participate in the hard fork must update their software to the new version. In theory it is possible that people are left behind because they do not support the changes, but in this case the chance seems small to non-existent. In the case of Ethereum, there are some miners who want to keep Proof-of-Work, but the vast majority of the network is getting ready for Proof-of-Stake.
More powerful applications possible
The Vasil upgrade should also make it easier for developers to get started on Cardano. “The upgrade also brings improvements to Plutus to enable developers to develop more powerful and efficient applications,” thus Input Output Hong Kong. Plutus is Cardano’s smart contract platform.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, who is also a co-founder of Ethereum, shared his thoughts on the hard fork in a live stream from Friday. “What’s great about the date is that it happens to fall on the same day as Bulgaria’s Independence Day,” Hoskinson said. Hoskinson says so, because the Vasil hard fork is named after a Bulgarian community member who recently passed away.