Charles Hoskinson anticipates that the Ouroboros Leios upgrade will enhance Cardano's capacity by an impressive 60 times, positioning it alongside the XRP Ledger in terms of performance.
During an interview with David Gokhshtein on The Breakdown podcast, the Cardano founder elaborated on the upgrade, emphasizing its aim to boost transaction capacity while maintaining decentralization and security:
Ouroboros Leios: A Game Changer for Cardano
The Ouroboros Leios upgrade is a critical enhancement to Cardano's protocol, intended to amplify transaction volume significantly. Hoskinson expressed that the new technology is set to increase the network's internal throughput by up to 60 times, making it competitive with the fast and efficient XRP Ledger.
“Leios will provide a 60x increase in throughput within the system,” Hoskinson noted, highlighting that despite the performance boost, the core principles of Cardano remain intact.
Cardano’s Performance vs. XRP Ledger
This comparison is essential, as the XRP Ledger is known for its quick settlement times of three to five seconds and a maximum capacity of 1,500 transactions per second. Recently, in March 2026, the XRPL exhibited peak performance with over 120 transactions per second.
Hoskinson reiterated that these advancements would not require Cardano to compromise on its foundational values and principles amid the well-known blockchain trilemma, which often forces projects to choose between decentralization, security, and scalability. Instead, Cardano aims to demonstrate that such trade-offs are not necessary.
The testing phase has already commenced with the public Leios testnet, dubbed Musashi Dojo, which launched on June 23, 2026. This marks a significant step in real-world testing for the protocol, with the mainnet deployment anticipated by the end of the year.
Defending Midnight City Against Critics
In addition to his comments on the Leios upgrade, Hoskinson also addressed criticism regarding the Midnight City project. Content creator Big Pey criticized the initiative as a wasteful expense that failed to attract new users. Pey referred to this strategy as the “Cardano Way,” indicating that it leads to investments with no immediate financial returns.
Responding to Pey's remarks, Hoskinson expressed disappointment, stating that he had lost respect for him as an entrepreneur due to a lack of understanding of consumer product evolution. He even challenged Pey to revisit the conversation in a year, suggesting that Midnight City is a crucial application that will play a vital role in Cardano's future.
