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Latest Cardano Node Upgrade Goes Live on Mainnet

The upgrade 8.1.1 also contains software patches for minor issues from a previous node version.

Jun 20, 2023, 8:29 a.m.
A crowd looks past the Cardano booth at Consensus 2022 (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)
A crowd looks past the Cardano booth at Consensus 2022 (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

An upgrade to reduce epoch transitions to make the Cardano blockchain smoother for network users was released on Monday by developers.

Epochs refer to the time periods on the Cardano blockchain. Each epoch lasts 432,000 slots, and each slot lasts 1 second – meaning a single epoch lasts roughly five days. ADA tokens are staked during these epochs during which new blocks on the Cardano network are produced.

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Upgrade 8.1.1 changes how epoch calculations are made in a way that speeds up network processes during the change in epochs.

The upgrade also contains fixes for issues related to peer-to-peer network communications and the Cardano-based domain name system.

ADA prices remain little-changed in the past 24 hours, trading at 25 cents as of European morning hours on Tuesday, according to CoinGecko.

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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.

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  • This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
  • Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
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The Deus X CEO discussed his journey into digital assets, the company's infrastructure-led growth strategy, and why his Consensus Hong Kong panel promises "real talk only."

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  • Deus X combines investing and operating to build regulated digital finance infrastructure across payments, prime services, and institutional DeFi.
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