Intersect Targets Cardano's Dijkstra Upgrade for Q4 2026 in Two-Phase Plan

Cardano News

Intersect, the membership organization coordinating Cardano — one of the largest altcoin ecosystems by market value — disclosed in its Aug. 15 weekly report that the network's next major upgrade, Dijkstra, remains scheduled to deploy in two phases. The agreed scope and target dates had not changed as of the report. Phase one is targeting code completion in the fourth quarter of 2026 and will introduce Linear Leios, a scaling design intended to increase throughput while retaining the security assumptions of Ouroboros Praos. Linear Leios adds supplementary endorsement blocks (EBs) that reference transactions and receive certification from a committee representing 75% of active stake before those transactions are written to the ledger. The phase also packages nested transactions defined in CIP-118, a PlutusV4 script context, changes to the block structure, and early structural support for Ouroboros Peras. Peras, which adds a voting layer so stake pool operator committees can finalize recent chain tips faster than Praos depth rules normally allow, is scheduled for activation in the second phase, with code completion targeted for the second quarter of 2027. Intersect stressed that these dates are code-completion targets, not confirmed mainnet launches, and that each phase must pass through the Preview and Pre-production test networks and an on-chain governance vote before going live. In parallel, the Rust-based node implementation Amaru has reached relay functionality and is aiming to produce mainnet blocks in November 2026, reducing the network's reliance on the Haskell node. On the governance side, the Constitutional Committee election vote is due to close Sept. 1; as of Aug. 14, delegated representatives had cast 30.03% of the required votes and stake pool operators 1.69%, against thresholds of 67% and 51%, according to Intersect's tally. If those thresholds are not met, the committee would shrink from seven to three members and governance would effectively stall.

Cardano's ADA changed hands near $0.174 on Aug. 17, down about 1% on the day, after the price broke below the ascending channel that had guided its recovery from roughly $0.153 in late July. The four-hour chart also showed a sequence of lower highs and lower lows, bringing ADA back toward the area where the late-July rally began. An initial climb along that channel carried the token to $0.20 before the breakout failed and sellers regained control. The token retreated from an Aug. 7 peak above $0.21 and stood about 17% below that level. Four-hour momentum remained weak, with the relative strength index at 35.06 and its signal line at 33.32, both close to the oversold zone. The daily chart's Awesome Oscillator was only marginally positive at 0.0020, and its shrinking red bars suggested the momentum from early August was fading. On the daily chart, the nearest support is the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement at $0.1706, drawn from the June low of $0.1385 to the May high of $0.2886. ADA was slightly above its 20-day moving average near $0.1738 but remained below the 50-day average at $0.1843, the 100-day average at $0.1892 and the 200-day average at $0.2260, a structure consistent with bear market conditions even as the token sits far below its all-time high. CoinGlass' one-week liquidation heatmap showed the heaviest clusters of leveraged positions between $0.183 and $0.187, with another band near $0.188 to $0.193 overlapping the 50-day and 100-day moving averages, making the $0.184-$0.196 zone a likely source of volatility if buyers push ADA back above $0.18. Below the market, liquidity appeared more scattered around $0.170 and near $0.166, suggesting that a daily close under $0.1706 could accelerate losses and put the June swing low at $0.1385 back in focus. Analysts also pointed to heavy capital rotation across the broader altcoin market, where rallies have been short-lived as traders move funds between tokens.

Together, the roadmap and the tape frame a near-term tension: development is advancing while ADA remains below resistance and a governance deadline could slow decision-making. Intersect's official hard-fork planning document defines phase one as a move to protocol version 12 in the Dijkstra Era and lists Linear Leios' endorsement blocks, nested transactions, PlutusV4 and Peras structural support in that deployment. It also says Q4 2026 and Q2 2027 are estimated code completion dates, not confirmed mainnet activation, and that go-live requires Preview and Pre-production testing plus an on-chain vote by delegated representatives, stake pool operators and the Constitutional Committee. For node operators, the plan points to a multi-client environment, with Amaru's November block-generation target reducing reliance on the Haskell node.