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The core stack every Cardano application runs on.

Decentralization has always been at the heart of Cardano. The protocol was decentralized. Governance was decentralized. Now, the ecosystem takes its final step: decentralizing how Cardano itself is built. IO Labs leads protocol research and core engineering, working alongside a growing network of specialist partners who build and maintain the stack every Cardano application runs on: node, networking, consensus, ledger, and smart contracts. Not a handover. The next chapter of the same vision. Open source, peer reviewed and live on mainnet.

Components

The engine that runs Cardano. The node validates transactions, keeps the ledger current, and produces or relays blocks. Every wallet, exchange, and dApp on Cardano connects through it. Maintained by Ensurable Systems, in collaboration with IO Labs.

Repository: github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-node

The layer that moves data between every node on Cardano. Fast, reliable, and built to scale with the network. Maintained by Ensurable Systems, in collaboration with IO Labs.

Repository: github.com/IntersectMBO/ouroboros-network

Ouroboros is the consensus protocol that keeps Cardano honest. It coordinates block production across thousands of distributed stake pools, so the network reaches agreement without ever compromising security. The most peer-reviewed consensus protocol in the industry. Researched and engineered by IO Labs.

Repository: github.com/IntersectMBO/ouroboros-consensus

Cardano's rules live in the ledger. It defines how transactions are validated and how chain state evolves. Predictable, deterministic, and identical for every participant on the network. Maintained by Ensurable Systems, in collaboration with IO Labs.

Repository: github.com/IntersectMBO/cardano-ledger

Cardano supports smart contracts in multiple languages. Plutus, the native smart contract platform, gives developers deterministic execution and formal verification. Contracts that do exactly what they say, every time. Co-developed by IO Labs and VacuumLabs.

Repository: github.com/IntersectMBO/plutus