Cardano will increase the size of blocks to optimize the network

Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the research and development company behind the Cardano blockchain, announced Tuesday that the network is preparing to increase its block size.

According to the sequence of tweets published by IOHK, the proposed proposal will cause the total block size to grow from the current 72 kilobytes (KB) to 80 KB. That is, a growth of just over 11%.

NETWORK UPDATE: Today, we have proposed the next parameter update as we continue to increase #Cardano network capacity in line with the plan. The proposal will increase block size by a further 8KB taking it from 72KB to 80KB.
🧵⤵️

1/9

— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) February 1, 2022

As the organization highlighted, this development should allow Cardano blocks to carry more transactions.

Cardano network optimization

In the aftermath, IOHK also reported that an upgrade proposal has also been triggered to increase the amount of data that can be included in a single transaction on Cardano’s smart contract platform Plutus.

The idea is to move the Plutus script memory unit from the current 12.5 million to 14 million. So it will be an increase of 1.5 million.

IOHK further said that the increases in block size and memory units will take effect on February 4th.

These initiatives are in line with the developer’s plan to scale and optimize the Cardano network throughput.

“Together these enhancements will provide additional capabilities for Plutus scripts to improve the DApp user experience. And at the same time, they will increase the overall capacity of the network.”

Also according to the organization, Cardano will continue to be constantly optimized in several stages planned for this year. The idea is to prepare the network “for future growth as demand increases”.

“The network is designed to safely manage high peak loads. And throughput will constantly improve as we continue to optimize. This latest change will continue to improve the user experience.”