Cardano Developer Unveils Major Milestone in ADA Protocol Evolution
2024-10-15

Input Output Global (IOG), the technology firm behind Cardano, has unveiled the next step in the Cardano protocol's journey. In a recent tweet, Input Output Global introduced Ouroboros Peras, an extension of the Ouroboros Praos protocol that tackles the issue of the horizon of transactions' settlement.
Ouroboros Peras is an extension of the Ouroboros Praos protocol that solves the issue of transactions' settlement horizon, or the point in time when the probability of a transaction being reverted becomes negligible.
Ouroboros Peras is an extension of the Ouroboros Praos protocol that addresses the problem of transactions’ settlement horizon, that is, the point in time when the probability of a transaction being reverted becomes negligible. 🧵/1 pic.twitter.com/cAkeExpLsF— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) October 14, 2024
The key principle underlying Peras is to employ stake-based voting to boost the weight of blocks on which a majority of stake pool operators (SPOs) agree. The chain selection rule is then adjusted to choose the heaviest chain rather than the longest one.
The Cardano blockchain is powered by the Ouroboros protocol. The current version of Ouroboros, Praos, adds new blocks probabilistically. The basic idea behind Peras is to enhance Praos by introducing a mechanism in which SPOs implicitly communicate their support for blocks somewhat behind the tip of their preferred chain.
Peras is part of a new development process pioneered by Input Output that aims to reduce the time between fundamental research and ultimate deployment by using fast prototyping methodologies.
Scaling Cardano
The anticipated expansion of the Cardano ecosystem needs the implementation of a number of scaling solutions. In this sense, the scaling solutions Hydra and Mithril have seen substantial development.
Additionally, new versions of the Ouroboros protocol are being developed to improve layer-1 performance.
While Hydra enables quick and high-throughput transaction processing on layer 2, neither Hydra nor Mithril address Cardano mainnet's throughput and latency.
This has resulted in the development of two new versions of the Ouroboros protocol: Ouroboros Peras and Leios. Peras tries to reduce settlement times, whereas Leios focuses on making the best use of available network bandwidth. These technologies are expected to improve the user experience by allowing more transactions to be recorded and settled faster on the blockchain.