Cardano News: Dijkstra Phase 1 Targets Leios Mainnet Rollout

Cardano developers are preparing Dijkstra Phase 1 for a mainnet rollout before the end of 2026. The release will bring Linear Leios and Nested Transactions into the network’s next ledger era.

Intersect says the agreed scope and target dates have not changed. The Haskell node team aims to deliver Phase 1 this year.

Testing, ecosystem readiness, and governance votes could still change the final activation date. The Cardano news roadmap treats Q4 as a code-completion window, while developers keep year-end mainnet delivery as their working objective.

That distinction leaves room for community testing without changing the current development target. Cardano completed van Rossem in July, moving mainnet to Protocol Version 11.

Cardano Dijkstra Phase 1 Centers on Leios

Linear Leios forms the main scaling component of Cardano Dijkstra Phase 1. The Cardano news design adds Endorser Blocks that can reference extra transactions. Stake-based committees then certify those blocks while Cardano keeps its Praos security model.

Phase 1 also adds Nested Transactions and prepares new ledger structures for the Dijkstra era. The roadmap includes serialization changes, Plutus updates, and protocol parameters needed for later upgrades.

The same release will prepare Cardano for Ouroboros Peras without switching Peras on. Intersect plans a separate intra-era hard fork for Peras during Q2 2027. That phase will add a voting layer for faster chain settlement.

Intersect says Leios will enter a bootstrapping period after the Dijkstra hard fork. Stake pool operators will register BLS keys during that stage before taking part in Leios operations.

Amaru Targets Block Production During 2026

Cardano is also expanding node-client diversity while developers work on Dijkstra. Intersect says Amaru can already validate the chain and synchronize to its tip. The Rust-based node also works as a relay.

The Amaru team targets mainnet block production in November 2026. Its public milestones place a general block-producer release on September 30. The team then targets a Dijkstra-compatible release on October 29.

Amaru’s Leios-compatible block producer carries a November 26 milestone. These dates track development goals rather than guaranteed Cardano activation dates. Intersect also wants alternative node teams to join weekly hard fork planning.

That work gives Cardano another node environment for testing Dijkstra changes and future releases. Intersect has started a readiness tracker for testnet performance, ecosystem preparation, and deployment checks.

Governance Work Moves Toward September Deadline

Input Output plans one constitutional amendment covering the new Dijkstra protocol parameters. Cardano’s Constitution requires governance guardrails before the community can change new parameters after activation.

The Cardano news will add those parameters and permitted ranges without changing governance roles, voting thresholds, or constitutional rights. Input Output targets submission no later than Epoch 655, which begins September 11, 2026.

Intersect has also opened its Constitutional Amendment Portal for community discussion. The portal had received four initial proposals by August 14. Developers will still need Preview and Pre-production testing before a mainnet governance action.

Charles Hoskinson Adds Anthropies Tool to AI Debate

Meanwhile, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson also released a separate open-source project called Anthropies. He described the project on X as a tool for removing Anthropic watermark signals from Claude output.

Hoskinson wrote, “I’m creating a new skill that can be used with most LLMs to strip out the Anthropic watermark.” The GitHub project uses an Apache 2.0 license and targets text wording, C2PA file metadata, and Claude Code attribution trailers.

Anthropic announced text watermarking for future Claude models on August 14. The Cardano news changes word-selection patterns without adding hidden characters. Anthropic plans global use at launch and says older models will receive watermarking over the coming months.