Cardano Is Leveling Up—Here’s What’s New in June 2025

What’s been happening behind the scenes in the Cardano ecosystem? Quite a lot. The weekly development report for June 13, 2025, gives us a peek under the hood, showing steady technical progress, ecosystem growth, and some exciting updates across smart contracts, scaling solutions, and education.

With over 2,000 projects now building on Cardano and nearly 11 million native tokens in circulation, the network is proving it’s more than just a blockchain—it’s a growing Web3 world. Whether you're a developer, holder, or curious newcomer, this report helps you see where Cardano is heading—and why it matters.

Ecosystem at a Glance

Cardano’s ecosystem is growing steadily, and that’s a good sign for both developers and users. As of June 13, 2025, over 2,000 active projects are being built on the network. Of these, 820 focus on general use cases while 1,184 explore NFTs and digital collectibles.

The number of delegated wallets crossed 1.33 million, showing consistent user interest. Native tokens hit 10.83 million, and transactions on the blockchain reached over 110 million—a strong signal that people are using the network.

More than 138,000 Plutus scripts have been created, proving developers are busy building smart contracts. The number of DReps (delegated representatives) has grown, too, showing increased participation in Cardano’s decentralised governance.

Even GitHub activity saw a 32% boost in commits, meaning developers are actively improving the platform.

Core Tech Progress: Behind-the-Scenes Upgrades Powering Cardano

Every blockchain relies on core software to stay reliable, fast, and secure, and Cardano’s engineering teams have been quietly rolling out major upgrades this month to keep the network strong.

First, they improved the Cardano node—this is the core engine that helps run the blockchain. One big change was preparing to add a new tracing system, which will make it easier for developers to monitor how things are working behind the scenes. This helps catch issues early and improves performance over time.

The consensus team—those responsible for keeping the network in sync—worked on some key fixes. They repaired how some data is recorded and handled, timing issues that could affect how transactions are confirmed. These improvements ensure the system stays fair, accurate, and stable even as activity grows.

They also updated several key parts of the network using Nix, a powerful tool that helps manage software versions. This keeps all machines across the network running the same trusted code, which is crucial for security and coordination.

Why does all this matter to you? Even if you're not a developer, these updates mean smoother transactions, fewer bugs, and stronger security for the apps and wallets you use. It’s all part of making sure Cardano can handle more users, more apps, and bigger innovations—without slowing down or breaking under pressure.

Smarter Smart Contracts: Making Cardano Easier to Build On

Smart contracts are like digital instructions that automatically run when certain things happen. They power apps, games, and even financial tools on the blockchain. In the past few weeks, Cardano’s developers made big progress to make these contracts easier to write, test, and trust.

First, they improved Plutus, Cardano’s smart contract language. Developers can now do case analysis for booleans and integers, which basically means contracts can make smarter decisions with data. It may sound small, but it makes coding logic more flexible and powerful.

Next, they added support for the CEK (Control, Environment, Kontinuation) machine—a kind of smart engine that lets developers test their contract code more precisely. This means fewer bugs and more reliable apps right from the start.

The Plutus blueprint also moved forward, which helps developers customize how contracts work under the hood. Plus, they started rolling out Plutus-metatheory, a tool to help verify and explain what smart contracts are really doing—kind of like showing your math steps in school to prove your answer is correct.

All of this adds up to a better experience for developers and safer, more trustworthy smart contracts for users like you.

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Scaling Made Simple: Hydra and Mithril in Action

To grow, a blockchain must get faster and easier to use, without losing reliability. That’s where Hydra and Mithril come in, two tools helping Cardano scale smartly.

These past weeks, the Hydra team added important updates to make using it smoother and safer. They improved how errors are shown, made logs easier to read, and strengthened security checks around deposits. These changes make Hydra more user-friendly and reliable for fast, off-chain transactions.

Mithril, on the other hand, helps keep Cardano’s data synced efficiently across many devices. The team released a powerful new version that lets developers convert snapshots of blockchain data more easily. They also added bug fixes and better tools for developers.

Why does this matter? Together, Hydra and Mithril make Cardano faster behind the scenes, supporting more apps, users, and activity without slowing down.

Testing the Limits: How Leios Simulations Prepare Cardano for the Future

To make sure Cardano runs smoothly at scale, the team behind Leios ran a huge network simulation—imagine 10,000 virtual nodes (computers) working together like a giant practice run for the real blockchain.

These tests revealed where slowdowns could happen, especially when handling hundreds of transactions per second. They also showed how the system deals with conflicts (like two people trying to use the same funds at once) and found smart ways to avoid unnecessary duplication.

Why does this matter? It’s like stress-testing a bridge before opening it to traffic. These simulations help Cardano identify weaknesses early, so the network can grow stronger, faster, and more.