The consensus team optimized db-truncater for speed, supported debugging for bootstrap nodes, and released benchmarks for node v.8.12.0. They also merged a performance fix for node v.8.11, worked on governance action workload, and updated automations for Conway features and the Plutus cost model. The Plutus team overviewed the cost model, designed faster pattern matching, and improved documentation. The Mithril team released a threat modeling explainer, worked on Cardano transaction certification, and improved WASM client documentation. Catalyst released a shortlist of tier-one companies for voting, and the education team updated the Mastering Cardano series and prepared for next month’s developer course.

The Cardano Foundation has integrated the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC) to enhance connectivity and join the interchain ecosystem, addressing challenges in scalability, data privacy, and interoperability. This integration allows reliable transactions and data exchanges across distinct blockchain networks, linking Cardano to over 115 interconnected blockchains and enabling Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-based sidechains. The IBC sidechain improves enterprise blockchain deployment by offering flexibility, scalability, cross-platform innovation, operational efficiency, and security. This move aims to broaden blockchain scalability, reach, and connectivity, benefiting enterprises and developers alike.

The Mithril project in June saw the release of distribution 2423.0, including critical updates like removing the deprecated snapshot command and improving transaction certification performance. Work on Cardano integration progressed, focusing on decentralizing signature diffusion. The Hydra project made significant strides with incremental decommits, updating the protocol's specification, and fixing a critical bug in the decommit feature. They also made breaking changes to the hydra-node API and enhanced the system's security and efficiency, with a planned release in the near future.

This week, the ledger team implemented CIP-0069, enhancing PlutusV3 functionality by making spending datums optional and enforcing single arguments for scripts. They also fixed script execution and delegation bugs. The Lace team prepares for v.1.13 release. The Plutus team released version 1.30.0.0, featuring CIP-0122 and ledger API refactoring. The Mithril team improved transaction certification and throughput. Voltaire & SanchoNet updates include member-experience improvements and upcoming votes. Catalyst town hall 167 marked the end of community moderation for Fund12, with voting starting June 27. The education team prepares for next month’s Cardano Developer course.

The roundtable discussion features Pi Lanningham and Arnaud Bailly exploring the intricacies of Ouroboros Leios, a blockchain-based technology aimed at enhancing decentralized systems. They delve into Leios's architecture, its potential applications in the tech industry, and the innovative solutions it offers for scalability and security. The conversation also covers the implications of Ouroboros Leios for developers and businesses, highlighting its unique approach to consensus and transaction processing. This insightful dialogue provides a comprehensive understanding of how Leios could revolutionize blockchain technology and its real-world applications.

The ledger team enhanced the CDDL specification and improved safety by restricting certain protocol parameter types, introduced tools for controlling test case distribution, worked on UTXO predicate failure tests, enabled retrying of flaky tests in nightly CI, and made further improvements. The Lace team released v1.12, adding a fiat on-ramp with Banxa and enabling multi-delegation for supported hardware wallets. The Plutus team released version 1.29.0.0 of the Plutus libraries, which includes CIP-69 and CIP-117 implementations. The Mithril team improved the throughput of the prover route, transitioned to a chain point-based beacon for faster transaction signing, and prepared a threat modeling explainer for the documentation website. The ledger team continued testing the Conway era and fixed several bugs related to DRep expiry and committee voting thresholds. Intersect updates included interim constitutional committee elections and joining Hyperledger and the Linux Foundation. In Catalyst, town hall 165 shared updates, including the end of the community review period for LV0s and LV1s, and the start of LV2 moderation on June 13. The alternative voting mechanism achieved milestone 1 and was presented during town hall 165. The education team continued working on Mastering Cardano, supporting the DRep Pioneer Program, and preparing for the next Cardano Developer course.

The ledger team enhanced the CDDL specification and improved safety by restricting certain protocol parameter types, introduced tools for controlling test case distribution, worked on UTXO predicate failure tests, enabled retrying of flaky tests in nightly CI, and made further improvements. The Lace team released v1.12, adding a fiat on-ramp with Banxa and enabling multi-delegation for supported hardware wallets. The Plutus team released version 1.29.0.0 of the Plutus libraries, which includes CIP-69 and CIP-117 implementations. The Mithril team improved the throughput of the prover route, transitioned to a chain point-based beacon for faster transaction signing, and prepared a threat modeling explainer for the documentation website. The ledger team continued testing the Conway era and fixed several bugs related to DRep expiry and committee voting thresholds. Intersect updates included interim constitutional committee elections and joining Hyperledger and the Linux Foundation. In Catalyst, town hall 165 shared updates, including the end of the community review period for LV0s and LV1s, and the start of LV2 moderation on June 13. The alternative voting mechanism achieved milestone 1 and was presented during town hall 165. The education team continued working on Mastering Cardano, supporting the DRep Pioneer Program, and preparing for the next Cardano Developer course.

The consensus team advanced the UTXO-HD project using simple diffs, improving mempool benchmarks. They released quickcheck-state-machine library v0.10.0 and rebased UTXO-HD on node v8.11. Technical working groups under Intersect were established, with Plutus and consensus meetings set for early June. Updates on UTXO-HD and Ouroboros Peras were provided. The Hydra team released node v0.17.0, featuring new commit transaction mechanisms and networking upgrades. The Mithril team released a protocol insights dashboard, updated the explorer page, and improved transaction certification. SanchoNet invites community testing for on-chain governance as per CIP-1694, with updated documentation. Project Catalyst hosted town hall 164, with the community review stage ongoing and Fund12 voting registration open. The education team is preparing lectures for the Cardano Developer Course, supporting the DRep Pioneer program, and writing content for Mastering Cardano.

In May, the Mithril project released distribution 2418.1, which included critical updates like changes to the certificate chain structure and memory optimizations. Significant progress was made in Cardano transaction certification, achieving a 100x improvement in throughput and reducing storage requirements. The Hydra project released version 0.17.0 with breaking changes to the /commit endpoint, new HTTP endpoints, and focused on incremental decommits. Testing and optimization efforts continued, and several Hydra-related Catalyst proposals were discussed, exploring diverse use cases and alternative scaling approaches.

This week, the ledger team focused on conformance testing, completing tests for CERT and RATIFY rules and improving the constraint-generators framework. They also fixed the stake pool operator stake distribution calculation for voting. The Plutus team developed guardrail scripts for Conway governance actions, fine-tuned the PlutusV3 cost model, and collaborated with MLabs on new bitwise primitives. The Mithril team worked on Cardano transaction certification, scaling proof generation, low-latency certification, and a new explorer page for SPOs. They upgraded the testing network and removed deprecated commands. Work continued on SanchoNet documentation and the DRep Pioneer program with Intersect. Fund12 reached the proposal finalization stage, and development on Hermes and Catalyst voices progressed well. The education team is planning the next Cardano Developer course, advancing the Mastering Cardano series, and preparing an educational video about the constitutional committee.