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.

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.

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.

ER June 2026 Image

CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.

Why it matters:

CEX trading volumes rose for the first time in five months in June, with spot climbing 15.3% to $1.11T and RWA perpetual volumes surging to a record $311B.