Cardano’s ADA token gained nearly 10% over 24 hours to trade around $0.189 as the network shifted focus to its next development stage, known as the Dijkstra era. The move followed confirmation from Intersect that planning has started for the post-van Rossem phase of work.
The price reaction suggests the market is looking beyond the upgrade already completed in July and toward Cardano’s longer-term scalability roadmap. Even so, the latest rise comes against a broader backdrop in which ADA remains far below its historical peak and future roadmap targets still carry execution risk.
From van Rossem to Dijkstra
The transition comes after the van Rossem hard fork, which was enacted on July 18. That upgrade moved Cardano to Protocol Version 11 and was described as improving Plutus performance, ledger consistency, and node security.
Intersect said Dijkstra is the network’s next major era, but it will not arrive as a single switch. Instead, the work is expected to roll out in phases, with technical and governance processes running in parallel as the scope of later hard forks is shaped. Discussions are also underway about possible alternative naming for the era.
Scalability upgrades now in focus
The main features associated with Dijkstra include Nested Transactions, Linear Leios, and Peras. These are part of the broader Ouroboros Leios research programme, which is aimed at raising throughput without sacrificing decentralization or security.
The stated objective is to expand transaction capacity and make it easier for the network to support more complex on-chain applications. Cardano researcher Dr. Cuadrado drew a distinction between the two stages by saying van Rossem was focused on core performance and security, while Dijkstra is intended to address much higher transaction volumes and more advanced use cases.
A target exists, but delivery is still ahead
Among the roadmap items, the clearest timeline is tied to the Haskell node team, which is targeting mainnet delivery of Nested Transactions and Linear Leios by the end of 2026. That gives the market a concrete milestone, but it also leaves a long window in which development schedules could change.
The source article notes that roadmap announcements can generate early optimism before momentum fades if implementation takes longer than expected. It also says that Nested Transactions and Linear Leios remain dependent on ongoing research, meaning investor enthusiasm alone is unlikely to sustain gains unless shipping progress becomes visible.
Broader update and market context
Intersect’s weekly update included several other governance and infrastructure items. These included a new minPoolCost and Plutus memory parameter action open for voting, audited results for the Constitutional Committee election, progress on infrastructure work, an alpha launch for the CAP Portal, and completion of the Eryx ZK Bridge.
While the market response to the Dijkstra planning news was constructive, the move needs context. ADA is still roughly 95% below its all-time high of $3.09, and a daily rise of around 10% is relatively modest by the standards of the asset’s historical volatility.
The next confirmed step is continued planning and phased development under the Dijkstra roadmap, with the end-of-2026 target for Nested Transactions and Linear Leios standing out as the most concrete delivery goal disclosed so far. Longer-term price follow-through, according to the source, is likely to depend less on announcements than on measurable progress such as shipped upgrades, application growth, and stronger on-chain activity.
Source: beincrypto.com