- Cardano rushed an urgent node upgrade after performance trouble, yet block production kept going steadily.
- Leaders and groups coordinated fixes quickly, and community reactions showed strong unity during the disruption.
Cardano faced a wave of performance trouble just weeks before the scheduled launch of its Midnight’s NIGHT token. The mainnet began experiencing slower block production starting Friday, stirring concern among users and investors.
Although rumors spread about a full network halt, the chain continued functioning, and only transaction speed slowed.
The issue stemmed from congested node versions that struggled under load. Intersect, the organization overseeing development, confirmed the degradation but clarified that the network never fully stopped.
Instead, block creation slowed and required a coordinated technical response to bring operations back to normal.
Node operators running version 10.3.1 or higher were asked to urgently upgrade to version 10.5.2. Those on versions older than 10.3.1 were flagged as unaffected. The decentralized nature of Cardano helped avoid a complete shutdown.
Following an issue identified in the Preview environment yesterday, Cardano is currently experiencing a technical issue now on Mainnet.
Currently block production has slowed, and we’re working closely with @Cardano_CF and @InputOutputHK as we coordinate a technical response.…
— Intersect (@IntersectMBO) November 21, 2025
Developers and Leadership Push Through Fixes
Charles Hoskinson, CEO of IOG, posted an update on November 21 stating that work was underway with Cardano Foundation, Intersect, a member-based organization for the Cardano ecosystem, and Emurgo, a co-founding entity of Cardano that focuses on driving the commercial adoption of blockchain technology, to roll out node 10.5.2. He wrote,
I’d like to thank all of their teams for coordinating, professionalism, and working quickly with the SPOs. The network is not down, blocks are still being made, and- in the end- the longest chain always wins. Cardano will be ok.
He confirmed a full write-up would follow detailing what happened and how it was resolved. The post received over 102,000 views within hours, reflecting high engagement from the community.
Phillip Pon, CEO of EMURGO, commended Hoskinson’s leadership, saying that Hoskinson stepped up once more and brought the Cardano community together. He expressed gratitude to the main organizations involved and highlighted the value of community support. Pon added:
I believe this shows what we’ve been saying all along. The state of the Cardano union is strong.
When it mattered most; once again @IOHK_Charles led from the front and united the Cardano community.
Thank you @IOHK_Charles and to the teams @Cardano_CF @IntersectMBO @InputOutputHK @emurgo_io for your tireless work.
Also huge appreciation to the community for their support… https://t.co/YkEkuAWqPP
— Phillip Pon (@phillip_pon) November 22, 2025
Foundation Reaffirms Coordination and Upgrade Urgency
The Cardano Foundation also issued a detailed update and repeated Hoskinson’s request for Stake Pool Operators using version 10.3.1 or higher to upgrade to 10.5.2. No action was required for nodes below version 10.3.1. The post commended Hoskinson’s overview and the team’s coordination to restore stability.
In their message, the foundation acknowledged the ongoing cooperation among groups and stated that they are continuing to work together to reach their goal. They committed to delivering additional updates and thanked users for their support and patience during the disruption.
While this incident has unsettled parts of the Cardano community, it has also triggered a rare level of visible unity across its ecosystem. The response reflected a shift in how technical challenges are addressed, with public coordination between developers, leaders, and support teams.
Cardano’s ADA traded at $0.39 at the time of writing, down 1.98% over the past day. Trading volume fell to $891.03 million, a drop of roughly 50% from the previous session, signaling weaker participation in the market.