Cardano Unveils Dijkstra Era Roadmap for Major Network Upgrades

Cardano is gearing up for significant network upgrades as part of its Dijkstra era. The protocol's developers have outlined major milestones, including the introduction of Nested Transactions and Linear Leios to mainnet by late 2026. This will be followed by Peras through an intra-era hard fork targeted for Q2 2027.

The roadmap involves a series of node releases, starting with Cardano-node 11.1.1 expected by September 7 for mainnet use. Node 11.2 is expected within a month and will bring the broader Dijkstra feature set into testing, while version 12.0 will become the definitive hard fork node release later.

The timing of the Dijkstra hard fork itself remains flexible, with potential enactment between December 5, 2026, and January 4, 2027, or February 24 through March 26, 2027. This is due to a rollout built around readiness rather than a fixed ceremonial date.

The coming months will combine software releases, test networks, workshops, and governance steps, making Dijkstra a coordinated ecosystem transition rather than a single technical upgrade.