Cardano’s Leios Upgrade Enters Active Engineering: A Major Leap Toward 10,000 TPS

Cardano’s Leios Upgrade Reaches Active Engineering Phase

Cardano is entering a decisive chapter in its technological evolution. Its Ouroboros Leios consensus upgrade — one of the most ambitious in the blockchain’s history — has now transitioned into the Active Engineering Phase, signaling the shift from research to implementation.

According to a recent announcement from Input Output Global (IOG), the project has officially moved from the Input Output Research (IOR) team to Input Output Engineering (IOE). This milestone confirms that the core framework is complete, and the focus now shifts toward performance testing and network optimization.

A Closer Look at Leios: Cardano’s Path to 10,000 TPS

The Leios upgrade aims to deliver a revolutionary performance jump, enabling Cardano to process up to 10,000 transactions per second (TPS). This level of scalability has significant implications for dApps, DeFi protocols, and AI-driven payment systems.

At its core, Leios introduces a multilayered architecture that allows transactions to be processed in parallel — essentially transforming Cardano into a faster, more efficient network.

• Input Blocks (IBs): Handle transaction input generation
• Endorser Blocks (EBs): Manage verification and linkage

This division of labor functions like a blockchain “express lane,” streamlining confirmation times while conserving network resources.

The IOG team also emphasized that Leios removes redundant verification cycles, further improving speed and scalability. The upgrade’s rollout will follow transparent governance procedures, ensuring the process aligns with community consensus.

Cardano’s Expansion into AI Payments

Beyond Leios, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson revealed another ambitious initiative — a new payment system for AI agents. This innovation will enable artificial intelligence entities to perform autonomous transactions on-chain, creating a bridge between blockchain and AI systems.

With this integration, Cardano isn’t just accelerating its transaction speed — it’s stepping into the future of AI-powered blockchain interactions, expanding the network’s potential use cases in automated finance and digital ecosystems.

The Road Ahead

The Leios upgrade marks more than a technical evolution; it represents Cardano’s transition into a high-performance era. As the network approaches faster throughput and introduces AI-native functionality, Cardano is positioning itself as a key player in the next phase of the crypto bull market.

The combination of scalability, innovation, and AI integration could redefine what’s possible in the blockchain space — making Cardano not just faster, but smarter.

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