Charles Hoskinson: Cardano fit be 60 times faster before year end with Scaling Roadmap

Cardano’s 2026 scaling roadmap don come back enter center of discussion for the ecosystem after one video clip from recent interview with David Gokhshtein begin circulate for X and YouTube. For the clip, Hoskinson talk say: “At the end of the year, we’ll be 60 times faster, and we have a beautiful strategy for how on a dApp-by-dApp basis, there’s infinite scale with Hydra, and how we can invite in all of these other networks using partner chains.”

The way e talk am put the 60 times target inside combined scaling strategy, no be to credit am to only one upgrade. Leios dey address Cardano’s Layer 1 throughput, Hydra dey support application-specific scaling, and partner chains dey extend the network interoperability model. The update dey relevant now because Leios don move from research and proposal work enter public testnet validation.

Leios dey move Cardano throughput enter public testing

Ouroboros Leios na Cardano consensus upgrade wey dem design to increase throughput while e still keep the security properties of Ouroboros Praos. The public Leios testnet, wey dem call Musashi Dojo, dey give stake pool operators, developers and infrastructure teams one live environment to test the new model before future mainnet release candidate.

CIP-0164 describe Leios as high-throughput protocol wey dey add supplementary blocks side-by-side with the regular Praos chain. These Endorser Blocks dey reference extra transactions wey for normally wait for future standard blocks. Before the transactions go become part of the permanent ledger, the blocks go pass committee validation to confirm correctness and data availability.

Cardano.org don describe Leios as phased rollout wey dem intend to scale throughput capacity by 10x to 65x. That official range dey give technical context to Hoskinson 60 times comment, while e still dey keep the current status clear. Leios dey public testing, e never dey live as mainnet throughput upgrade.

Hydra dey add dApp-level scaling outside the main chain

Hydra get separate role from Leios. Leios dey target Layer 1 throughput, while Hydra na Layer 2 protocol wey allow applications to process selected activity for separate execution environments. Hydra Head fit operate as off-chain ledger between participants, give specific application faster transaction flow and lower latency before settlement connect back to Cardano.

Hoskinson reference to “infinite scale with Hydra” tie am to dApp-by-dApp model. That one mean say Hydra no dey position as global Layer 1 throughput increase. E dey give individual applications way to move high-frequency or repeated actions enter faster local environments when the use case support that structure.

This one matter for application categories wey every action no need to process directly for the main chain. Games, voting systems, micropayments, AI agent workflows, event tools and other high-frequency use cases fit use Hydra-style execution while dem still maintain connection to Cardano settlement layer.

Partner chains dey extend the scaling model beyond one execution layer

Hoskinson still connect the roadmap to partner chains, wey dey add third layer to the scaling strategy. Partner chains no be replacement for Leios or Hydra. Their role na to allow specialized networks and external ecosystems to connect with Cardano infrastructure, security assumptions and economic model without forcing every use case enter the same Layer 1 environment.

The roadmap therefore separate three infrastructure problems. Leios dey increase base protocol capacity. Hydra dey give applications faster execution spaces. Partner chains dey expand the number of connected networks and use cases wey fit interact with the Cardano ecosystem.

The next operational phase now center on testing and preparation. SPOs fit use Musashi Dojo to prepare for Leios-enabled node behavior. Wallet and indexer teams need evaluate how higher throughput and new block structures go affect data tracking. dApp developers fit plan around stack wey base-layer throughput, Hydra execution and partner chain connectivity each dey serve different function.

Hoskinson 60 times comment dey give Cardano scaling roadmap clear public target, but the implementation path still remain multi-layered. Leios dey tested for Layer 1 capacity, Hydra dey positioned for application-level execution, and partner chains dey designed to widen the network surface while dem still keep the ADA economy connected to additional infrastructure and use cases.