Cardano cuts signature verification costs as Van Rossem upgrade goes live

Cardano smart contracts can now verify thousands of signatures on-chain at a fraction of previous costs, a milestone for the network's DeFi and multi-signature applications.

Cardano smart contracts can verify thousands of signatures on-chain at low cost after the Van Rossem upgrade, the foundation said July 16. The capability stems from pairing-based cryptographic primitives introduced in Protocol Version 11, which enable native zero-knowledge proof verification on the network for the first time.

"Pairing-based cryptographic primitives enable native zero-knowledge proof verification on Cardano for the first time, cutting execution costs for complex multi-signature and DeFi scripts," Intersect, the Cardano development organization, said in a statement following the upgrade's ratification.

The Van Rossem hard fork was ratified at the epoch boundary on July 13 at 21:45 UTC, with 77.63% of DReps and 52.7% of SPOs voting in favor, surpassing the required thresholds of 60% and 51%, respectively. Protocol Version 11 delivers improvements to Plutus smart contract performance, lower execution costs for DeFi and stablecoin scripts, and enhanced node security through VRF key uniqueness and stake pool hardening.

The upgrade positions Cardano to compete more directly with Ethereum and Solana for institutional-grade applications requiring high-assurance multi-signature verification, such as custody solutions and complex DeFi protocols. It also lays groundwork for later scaling and governance-era changes, according to Intersect's Hard Fork Working Group. The technical milestone comes as Cardano's new decentralized governance infrastructure faces its first major test, with DReps rejecting a 14 million ADA proposal for the Cardano Summit 2026 and a 32.9 million ADA research fund facing 86.72% opposition.

Van Rossem's Broader Impact

The signature verification upgrade is the most immediately applicable feature of Protocol Version 11 for DeFi developers. Lower Plutus execution costs reduce transaction fees for stablecoin swaps, lending protocols, and multi-signature wallets on Cardano, potentially narrowing the cost gap with Ethereum layer-2 networks where similar operations currently run cheaper.

Cardano's total value locked stood at roughly $320 million across its DeFi ecosystem as of mid-July, according to DefiLlama, a fraction of Ethereum's $55 billion and Solana's $8.5 billion. The cost reduction from Van Rossem could help attract developers building high-frequency DeFi applications where every fraction of an ada in execution cost matters.

Governance Growing Pains

The upgrade's successful ratification through Cardano's on-chain governance system — requiring concurrent approval from DReps, SPOs, and the Constitutional Committee — demonstrated that CIP-1694 governance can function at scale. But the same system rejected funding for the Cardano Summit 2026 and a research proposal, raising questions about whether the community can efficiently allocate treasury resources.

Charles Hoskinson, Cardano's founder, has suggested using the treasury to fund a dedicated business development organization after EMURGO missed a high-profile partnership with SBI Holdings, which went to Solana instead. IOG secured approval for six of nine treasury proposals totaling 131.5 million ADA, but the largest requests faced friction.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.