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.

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.

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.

The ledger team focuses on testing for the Chang upgrade. Lace v.1.14 is upcoming. Hydra updated for node v.9.0.0 and simplified the demo setup. Mithril released distribution 2428.0, supported node v.9.0.0, fixed bugs, and optimized certification. Node users should upgrade to v.9.0.0. Fund12 results announced 258 new projects, with Town Hall 171 celebrating winners. Catalyst completed 900+ projects and allocated over 100M ADA. The education team is in Buenos Aires for the Cardano Developer course.

This week, the teams released node version 9.0.0, enabling the Conway ledger era with CIP-1694, Plutus V1 reference scripts, and CIP-69 support. The performance team released benchmarks for node v.8.12.0 and conducted DRep benchmarks. The consensus team supported the 9.0 release with security audits and NoThunks tests. The Plutus team improved contract blueprints and documentation. The Lace team focused on bug fixes. Mithril supported node v.9.0.0, worked on a new distribution, and fixed REST API bugs. Town Hall 170 and Fund12 voting concluded with 1.5bn ada used. The education team prepared for the Cardano Developer course and Voltaire training.

Last week, core technology teams released Cardano node v.8.12.2, enhancing bootstrap peer networking. The ledger team worked on testing and updates, while Lace v.1.13 improved Trezor Safe 3 compatibility. Mithril advanced transaction certification, fixed bugs, and supported node v.8.12. Conway ledger improvements included credential restrictions and a new pricing model. Town hall 169 reported over 1bn ada in voting power. The education team prepared for the Cardano Developer course in Buenos Aires and updated content for Voltaire and Mastering Cardano.