Cardano blockchain developer Input Output Hong Kong, also known as IOHK has submitted an update proposal to hard fork the Cardano testnet.
The Vasil upgrade is scheduled to bring major performance and capability upgrades to the blockchain, with IOHK describing the fork as the best upgrade to date providing a higher throughput, improved script performance for developers and lower costs.
One of the most significant updates pointed out by the team is the implementation of diffusion pipelining aimed at improving the blockchains’ scalability for DApps. The update will enable faster block creation as they can be transmitted without full validation.
The upgrade to the testnet will take place on the 3rd of July with the mainnet upgrade scheduled for roughly around the end of July. The Cardano community requested four weeks to allow time to test and upgrade applications on the testnet.
IOHK’s main concern is guaranteeing the upgrade is managed in a safe and secure manner. It reports the Vasil node is creating over 75% of the testnet network’s blocks. The last significant upgrade to the blockchain was in September 2021 with the Alonzo hard fork which brought in long-awaited smart contract functionality for the first time using Plutus scripts, a smart contract development language purpose built for Cardano.
