Cardano’s founding developer is stepping back. Input Output announced Friday it will transfer control of the blockchain’s core engineering stack to outside specialist firms starting in August, covering the Haskell node, Plutus smart-contract platform, Daedalus wallet, and Hydra scaling tool. The full transition runs through 2027.
Who Is Taking Over
Two firms are leading the handover. Se7en Labs, a development agency with a Solana infrastructure background, and Teragone, a cryptographic research team that already leads development of Mithril, Cardano’s stake-based signature protocol, are among the incoming stewards. At least three independent node implementations in Haskell, Rust, and Go will run simultaneously, overseen by community bodies Intersect and Pragma.
The network’s new guiding phrase: ‘Built by many, owned by all.’
Founder Charles Hoskinson described the move as the concluding phase of the Voltaire era, the governance and decentralisation period Cardano has been building toward since 2024. ‘Our partners are ready, and the ecosystem now has many diverse options,’ he said in the IOGroup announcement. Input Output will redirect its focus toward research and new ventures through IO Labs and IO Ventures.
Van Rossem Hard Fork Activates Tonight
The announcement lands just hours before a significant protocol event. The Van Rossem hard fork activates on mainnet today, July 18, at 21:44 UTC. It was ratified on July 13 with 77.63% approval from delegated community representatives and takes Cardano to Protocol Version 11. The upgrade introduces new Plutus built-in functions designed to reduce smart contract execution costs.
ADA Price and Market Data
Cardano’s native token ADA gained roughly 2% on the day, trading near $0.165 at a market capitalisation of approximately $6 billion. Open interest in ADA futures sits around $193 million, with a long-to-short ratio of 2.84, meaning derivatives positioning currently leans heavily long. ADA remains nearly 95% below its 2021 all-time high.
What the Charts Show
The technical picture is cautious. ADA has not come close to its 2024 high near $1.20 and has been grinding lower since August 2025, with the 50-week exponential moving average sitting below the 200-week, a configuration that reflects sustained downward pressure. The Relative Strength Index stands at 34, approaching but not yet at the oversold territory below 30 that some traders watch for. The Average Directional Index points to a strong bearish long-term trend.
The structural news and the chart signals point in different directions. The engineering handover and the Van Rossem upgrade are genuine developments that could matter for the network over time, particularly if the fork delivers its promised cost reductions and the planned Leios throughput upgrade arrives on schedule. But the price trend has been firmly downward for nearly a year, and a single day’s 2% move does not change that. The two will have to be weighed against each other.
