Cardano-parent IOHK says the Ouroboros BFT is ready to be deployed

IOHK, the company behind Cardano, announced that it will be updating its Ouroboros, its proof-of-stake protocol, from the Byron mainnet to the Ouroboros BFT. The update has been successfully tested and will be deployed on Feb. 20.

Ouroboros ready to be deployed on the Byron mainnet.

In a culmination of more than a year of work, IOHK has announced that its advanced proof-of-stake protocol Ouroboros is ready to be deployed.

The protocol, which will act as a bridge between Cardano's Byron and Shelley eras, is set to be updated to Ouroboros BFT. According to a video update from Tim Harrison, the director of communications at IOHK, the company has successfully tested Ouroboros on the Byron testnet.

Users currently participating in the Shelley Incentivized Testnet, as well as users holding their funds on the Yoroi and Daedalus wallets also won't be affected by the update.

The Ouroboros Byzantine Fault Tolerance protocol update is an important step both for IOHK and the Cardano network.

The update will help the company transition the Cardano blockchain from the Ouroboros Classic consensus protocol, which is currently being used on the Byron mainnet, to the Ouroboros Genesis-a protocol that will power the Shelley mainnet once it's launched.

Harrison called Ouroboros BFT a "Stepping stone in compatibility" that will enable the evolution of Cardano.

While the company refers to the update as a "Hard fork," it's actually a protocol update that has been planned and managed all the way back in Cardano's whitepaper.

Harrison's video update is also worth mentioning in itself, as it shows that IOHK has kept its promise when it comes to improving communication with its community.