Cardano Unveils Two-Phase Dijkstra Upgrade, Boosting Throughput and Settlement Speed

Cardano is gearing up for its Dijkstra era, a two-phase upgrade that will transform the network's architecture. The first phase, set to launch in Q4 2026, will introduce Linear Leios and Nested Transactions, significantly boosting the network's throughput capacity.

Linear Leios, a key component of the Dijkstra protocol, is designed to increase the amount of transaction data that can be processed on the network without compromising security. Input Output has stated its target is a fivefold to 20-fold increase in Cardano's base-layer throughput capacity through Leios.

The second phase, expected in Q2 2027, will activate Ouroboros Peras through an intra-era hard fork, further enhancing settlement speed by introducing stake-based voting on recent chain tips. This will enable transactions to achieve stronger settlement assurances faster than relying solely on Praos chain-depth rules.

Cardano's developers have been working closely with the Intersect organization to coordinate the upgrade process, ensuring that the scope and target schedule remain intact after the first Dijkstra hard fork was frozen for review by the Technical Steering Committee. The staged Dijkstra roadmap separates two of Cardano's most ambitious protocol improvements into distinct engineering problems, targeting both increased throughput and faster settlement.