Cardano uses a hard fork combinator to keep the chain alive through these transitions instead of splitting it. See hard forks for the full upgrade history.
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- Soft ForkA protocol upgrade that is backward-compatible, so nodes running older software can still follow the chain; they just don't see the new feature.View term
- Hard Fork CombinatorCardano's mechanism for stitching protocol era transitions onto a single live chain without splitting it.View term
- AllegraThe hard fork on December 16, 2020 that added token locking capabilities, a prerequisite for smart contract functionality.View term
- AlonzoThe hard fork on September 12, 2021 that brought smart contract functionality to Cardano through Plutus.View term
- MaryThe hard fork on March 1, 2021 that introduced native tokens, allowing users to create and transact with custom tokens directly on Cardano.View term
- VasilThe hard fork on September 22, 2022 that improved smart contract efficiency and network performance.View term
- ChangThe hard fork on September 1, 2024 that activated the Conway era and brought CIP-1694 governance live on Cardano.View term
- PlominThe Conway-era hard fork on January 29, 2025 that turned on the remaining CIP-1694 governance actions.View term