The core technology teams released Cardano node v.9.1.1 to fix an issue causing nodes to replay from the genesis block during restarts in the Conway era. The consensus team introduced a snapshot-converter tool to convert non-UTXO-HD snapshots to UTXO-HD, resolving deserialization issues and a memory leak. The Lace team improved governance for hardware wallet users and prepared for v.1.16. The Plutus team completed built-in functions for the next hard fork. The Hydra team focused on network resilience and incremental commits. The Mithril team continued decentralizing signature orchestration and improving network operations. Voltaire marked Cardano's transition to community governance. Catalyst progressed in Fund12 onboarding and wallet integration. The education team prepared for Cardano Days events and supported updates in Plutus Core.

The ledger team focused on conformance tests, improving the ledger test suite, and preparing for the upcoming hard fork by documenting changes affecting DApp developers. The SRE team upgraded the pre-production network to the Conway era and made various infrastructure improvements. The Lace team is set to release version 1.15 with enhanced governance capabilities. The Mithril team is decentralizing signature orchestration and optimizing memory use. The Voltaire team prepared for the Chang #1 hard fork on September 1. Catalyst advanced Fund12 onboarding and achieved progress in the Hermes project, while the education team preps for Cardano Days.

The performance and tracing team released node v.9.1 benchmarks, improved resource trace emission, and integrated non-systemd Linux support in cardano-tracer. The consensus team enhanced ChainSync client testing and reviewed the final Genesis statement of work. The Lace team is reviewing feedback from Rare Evo 2024 for future updates. Plutus team updated Plinth documentation, while Hydra launched the Hydra Doom project. Mithril completed stake distribution certification and drafted a CIP for signature diffusion. The Chang hard fork is set for late August, marking Cardano's entry into the Conway ledger era. Fund13 preparation continues, and the education team is gathering feedback and updating content.

Doom (1993) remains a cultural icon, now demonstrated on Cardano's blockchain using Hydra heads. By leveraging Hydra's ability to handle complex operations off-chain, the game runs in real-time through smart contracts validating deterministic game states. While running Doom on a blockchain is impractical, this tech demo highlights Hydra's potential, offering open-source components and innovative approaches that could inspire new blockchain applications.

The ledger team added minor features like ledger state queries for voting on proposals and transaction size computations, while focusing on Conway testing and conformance tests. The Lace team released version 1.14 with CIP-95 support and bug fixes. Hydra released version 0.18.0, addressing a Conway fork issue and adding incremental decommits. GovTool is active on preview and SanchoNet, with 67% of stake upgraded to node v.9.1.0 for the Chang upgrade. Catalyst released the Catalyst Horizons report and is preparing for engagements at Rare Evo. The education team is reviewing the Cardano Developer course and updating "Mastering Cardano".

The consensus team began work on Q3 2024 goals, focusing on db-truncater behavior, EmptySlot error details, new trace messages, and UTXO-HD feature branch updates. Lace is prepared for the Chang upgrade and DRep registration on the mainnet. Plutus completed testing bitwise primitives, now improving Plinth documentation. Hydra made progress on bug fixes and Agda transition, while Mithril worked on stake distribution certification and nearly completed a CIP draft. Catalyst Fund12 onboarding is progressing, and the education team wrapped up a successful course in Argentina, preparing for the upcoming Cardano Days event in Wyoming.

The ledger team focused on Conway features and fixed a bug affecting functionality post-bootstrap. Hydra worked on network reliability, upgraded the Hydra head for node compatibility, and introduced a technical writing guide. Mithril released distribution 2430.0, supporting Cardano node 9.1.0, activated transaction certification in test networks, and continued CIP drafting. Catalyst's onboarding is progressing, with Town Hall 173 marking Fund12's end. The education team completed a Cardano Developer course in Buenos Aires and organized a graduation event for smart contract developers.

Input Output Global has launched the alpha v1 release of partner chains, enabling new blockchain networks to bootstrap security by leveraging Cardano's stake pool operators (SPOs). This release introduces innovations like shared security, mixed validator committees, and consensus model flexibility, allowing partner chains to benefit from Cardano's extensive network. While this release is not for live production, it marks a significant milestone in realizing Charles' vision. Midnight will be the first partner chain to use this technology, with further developments and feedback expected in the coming months.

Cardano node v.9.1.0 has been released, featuring critical updates for the upcoming Chang upgrade, including a Conway genesis file, CLI enhancements, and CIP compatibility. Performance benchmarks for node v.9.0.0 showed significant improvements. The networking team advanced tx-submission design and reviewed Genesis pull requests. The Lace team is preparing for version 1.14, and Plutus TX has been rebranded as Plinth. The Hydra and Mithril teams made progress on network reliability and transaction certification. The education team is in Argentina teaching a Cardano Developer course.

This monthly report on Cardano's Hydra and Mithril scaling projects provides an insightful overview of the latest advancements and plans. Notably, the Mithril team released a new distribution (2428.0) with critical updates, prepared for upcoming distributions supporting Cardano node 9.1.0, and showcased a transaction verification demo in the Nami wallet. Meanwhile, Hydra's roadmap saw significant progress with the completion of incremental decommits, integration of an SDK for wallet developers, and ongoing efforts towards defining Hydra Head V1. The July 2024 stakeholder meeting featured engaging presentations, including Blockfrost's Mithril certificate demo and discussions on enhancing Hydra's functionality, reflecting the community's growing interest and collaboration in Cardano's scaling solutions.