Cardano Sets June Deadline For Musashi Dojo Leios Testnet Launch

Cardano's Leios Scaling Upgrade Enters Public Testing

Cardano is set to launch the Musashi Dojo Testnet at the end of June as part of a multi-phase testing program designed to prepare its Ouroboros Leios scaling upgrade for mainnet deployment, targeted for the end of 2026. The announcement was made by Carlos López de Lara, a product manager at Input Output, in an interview on BLOCK//45, a new editorial series created to serve as a dedicated media platform for the Cardano (@Cardano) ecosystem.

Leios is an overlay protocol that works alongside Praos, introducing larger endorser blocks during periods of high demand while maintaining the security model of the existing blockchain. The upgrade has the potential to scale Cardano from its current throughput of 4.5 KB/s up to 200 KB/s, representing 30 to 65 times current Praos levels. López de Lara confirmed the initial rollout starts at two to five times current throughput, with the full ceiling available as demand grows.

Five-Phase Testing Programme and Mainnet Timeline

The testnet carries the name Musashi Dojo, after 16th-century samurai Miyamoto Musashi. Its five phases map to the chapters of Musashi's Book of Five Rings: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void, progressing from basic design validation through adversarial testing and into mainnet readiness.

Developers and stake pool operators are being encouraged to participate early to help refine the system under live network conditions and prepare applications for higher throughput. The Leios governance proposal received more than 84% support from Cardano delegates, and Input Output is targeting a hard fork in November 2026.

Input Output has framed the upgrade around a clear long-term goal: Cardano must scale from today's approximately 800,000 transactions per month to over 27 million, a target that underpins the broader Cardano 2030 Vision. The Leios upgrade also aims to support DeFi, real-world assets, and enterprise use cases on the network.

Sources: Crypto Briefing: Cardano to launch Leios testnet under Musashi Dojo name | Input Output: Block//45 Leios Interview with Carlos Lopez De Lara