# Cardano hardforks and upgrades

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This page is written on behalf of the Hard Fork working group, the information contained is subject to change and amendment by the working group at any time.
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To view details on Cardano Upgrades facilitated by Intersect Hard Fork working group visit the details space below

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[Cardano - Upgrades](https://cardanoupgrades.docs.intersectmbo.org/)
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The term *hard fork* describes a radical change in the blockchain: a change from one protocol to another, for example. In most blockchains, a hard fork indicates block changes or a change to their interpretation. Cardano initiates hard forks in a unique way, instead of implementing radical changes, through a hard fork combinator event, there is a smooth transition to a new protocol while saving the history of the previous blocks. Intersects role is to coordinate this activity on behalf of the community. This requires collaboration between Intersect members, users of Cardano, and suppliers and builders across the ecosystem.

Once a capable, updated node is available there are a series of required activities to test and promote into use and mainstream adoption, via a hard fork. These activities will be coordinated by the Hard Fork working group, which in turn reports into the Technical Steering Committee at Intersect.

To learn more about hard forks please read the Cardano Docs article, [here](https://docs.cardano.org/learn/about-hard-forks/). Further information, and an overview of the last major hard fork, Vasil, can also be found on [here](https://docs.cardano.org/cardano-testnet/about/testnet-introduction/) Cardano Docs and previous[ state-of-play updates](https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2022/06/20/vasil-upgrade-the-state-of-play/).

## Cardano Upgrades

Further details and attestations of community readiness for major upgrades such as hard forks can be found in our dedicated [Cardano Upgrades](https://cardanoupgrades.docs.intersectmbo.org/) space.


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