Cardano is advancing toward a significant milestone with the upcoming Leios upgrade, which aims to greatly increase blockchain throughput and address scalability concerns. In a recent discussion on X, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson responded to community questions about the project’s completion status.
Hoskinson outlines final steps for Cardano
When asked whether Cardano is finished, Hoskinson explained that only one major development remains before he considers the network feature-complete: the Leios upgrade. “After Leios, yes. It has everything I wanted to do,” he stated, listing core attributes including decentralized consensus, governance and development, EUTXO, Plutus, infinite scalability, security backed by formal methods, multiple node independence, automatic improvement capacity, and widespread ADA adoption.
Leios represents Cardano’s next generation consensus and scaling framework. The update is designed to boost transaction throughput and speed significantly, while safeguarding the network’s decentralization and security—priorities long cited by Input Output Global, the company behind Cardano’s core infrastructure.
Leios enables phased throughput expansion on mainnet, targeting an increase from two times to thirty times Cardano’s existing capacity, with initial full-capacity demonstrations on the testnet. In September 2026, Input Output Global engineers validated approximately 1,000 transactions per second during Ouroboros Leios protocol tests.
Musashi Dojo testnet advances to Fire phase
Public testing of the Leios protocol is underway via the MusashiNet (also called Musashi Dojo) testnet, which began on June 23, 2026. This testnet is progressing through five stages named Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void, tracking distinct technical milestones and adoption targets. According to Input Output Global’s latest reports, the project has now moved into its Fire phase, representing increased activity and robustness in the test environment.
Cardano’s current consensus algorithm, Ouroboros Praos, has earned recognition for its strong security and decentralized design. However, it was not built to support the high transaction volumes expected of a global layer 1 platform. The Leios protocol introduces endorser blocks and a committee-based validation framework, key mechanisms intended to raise the network’s transaction capacity while maintaining trustless verification.
Throughput goals and broader implications
Cardano’s developers set an initial throughput target of 100 transactions per second (TPS) for Leios, with a longer-term goal of surpassing 1,000 TPS depending on network parameters and ongoing validation.
Higher throughput would open new possibilities for Cardano’s use in microtransaction platforms, supply chain tracking, scalable decentralized finance applications requiring rapid settlements, broad-based decentralized identity systems, and sophisticated real-time voting for large user groups.
In parallel, the meme token segment continues to demonstrate explosive growth fueled by emerging internet trends. In this context, the Leios upgrade’s focus on rapid transaction capacity could be especially relevant. With sudden surges in interest, as seen in a trade involving the “Niu Lai” meme token—where a $99 investment reportedly yielded approximately $370,000—timing and token selection become critical. Monitoring not only price shifts but also real-time investor activity is now key. Platforms such as Fomo App integrate token discovery, trading, and social signals, providing ranking features and live trade notifications to help users track movements in the meme token space.
Areas expecting the most immediate benefit from higher Cardano throughput include global-scale micropayments, rapid DeFi operations, real-time identity protocols, and secure, scalable governance for mass participation systems.
