Cardano's next major upgrade, the van Rossem hard fork, has entered the final stage ahead of ratification.

U.Today reported on July 13 that the only remaining key condition is a single Constitutional Committee (CC) vote.

The hard fork is an upgrade that switches to protocol version 11. Cardano plans to use it to improve Plutus performance and strengthen ledger consistency and node security. It also includes strengthened primitives, VRF key uniqueness and a reference input rules update.

On-chain voting has cleared most major benchmarks. Approval among DReps (community representatives) was 76.81 percent, above the 60 percent threshold, and approval among stake pool operators (SPOs) was 52.76 percent, above the 51 percent threshold. Constitutional Committee approvals recorded reached four out of the five required.

The remaining variable is the Constitutional Committee. Four of the seven committee members have voted, while three have not yet voted. To meet the ratification requirement, the Constitutional Committee needs one additional approval vote or one abstention.

The ratification timing is also set. The hard fork is configured to be ratified on July 8, July 13 and July 18, and the expiry date is July 18. July 13 overlaps with the final 12-hour window of epoch 642. If all conditions are not met on that day, the only remaining ratification opportunity is July 18. The possible implementation dates were presented as July 18 and July 23.

Preparations for the network transition have also progressed substantially. As of the current epoch, 93 percent of block production is already taking place on protocol version 11. Exchange readiness, measured by tracked liquidity, rose to 84.15 percent, exceeding the required benchmark. The hard fork working group also completed a vote to formally recommend ratification of the upgrade.

In this situation, the market is focusing on the priority relative to other governance agenda items. Under ledger rules, hard fork ratification takes precedence over all other governance actions. As a result, other items that could be ratified at the same time may be pushed back.

As adoption and readiness across the Cardano ecosystem continue to rise, this upgrade is becoming a test not only of technical improvements but also of whether governance procedures lead to actual network changes. The remaining schedule depends on the Constitutional Committee's final decision and whether the result links to ratification on July 18 and a subsequent implementation schedule.

van Rossem hard fork update ⚙️ As we approach the final 12 hours of epoch 642, a look at the current hard fork status - 93% block production on node version 11 - 84.15% exchange readiness by liquidity - Hard fork working group has voted to formally recommend ratification… pic.twitter.com/rEXeuGxCHF