As blockchain infrastructure matures, stable upgrades and long-term evolution capabilities have become crucial metrics for evaluating the value of a public blockchain. On February 1, 2026, Ardor v2.6.0 will undergo a landmark mainnet hard fork. This upgrade is not only a mandatory upgrade but also marks the final completion of the migration of Nxt to the Ardor subchain , and a further evolution of Ardor's multi-chain architecture.
I. Ardor v2.6.0: A mandatory mainnet upgrade
According to official information, the Ardor mainnet will trigger a hard fork at block height 4,333,333 , expected to occur on February 1, 2026. All nodes that have not upgraded to v2.6.0 will be automatically forked off the mainnet after this block height and will no longer be able to participate in block generation and network consensus.
Therefore, the official statement clearly emphasizes that Ardor v2.6.0 is a version that all mainnet nodes must upgrade to.
II. Nxt Migration Officially Completed: A Historic Milestone for a 12-Year-Old Public Chain
The most significant aspect of Ardor v2.6.0 is that it will officially activate the Nxt Child Chain mainnet , completing this migration plan that has been ongoing for several months and driven by community governance.
Review of key migration milestones
November 2025 :
The Nxt community successfully completed the hard fork and approved the migration plan through a forger vote.
January 17, 2026 : Final snapshot taken at Nxt mainnet block height 6,000,000.
February 1, 2026 : The Ardor v2.6.0 hard fork takes effect, and the Nxt subchain based on this snapshot is activated on the Ardor mainnet.
With this, the Nxt main chain, which has been running for 12 years, has officially stopped producing blocks, and all its core values will continue in the Ardor multi-chain ecosystem in the form of sub-chains.
This migration includes the following content
Nxt account balance (1:1 mapped to Nxt subchain tokens)
Aliases ownership
Name ownership in the Monetary System
These data collectively constitute the core and most sustainable part of the Nxt ecosystem, ensuring the complete inheritance of the rights and interests of existing users and developers.
III. Atomic Transaction Chains: A Major Upgrade to Ardor's Multi-Chain Architecture
In addition to the official launch of the Nxt subchain, Ardor v2.6.0 will also enable an important new feature – Atomic Transaction Chains . This feature was previously running on the testnet, and this upgrade brings it to the mainnet.
What are Atomic Transaction Chains?
In short, this is a mechanism that allows cross-subchain transactions to be completed within the same atomic operation , ensuring that:
Multiple cross-chain operations must all succeed.
Either roll back all instances upon failure.
This signifies a crucial step forward for Ardor in multi-chain interaction, providing foundational capabilities for the following scenarios:
Cross-chain asset exchange
Complex DeFi combined operations
Consistency State Management in Multi-Chain Applications
For a public blockchain designed around a "main chain + multiple sub-chains" architecture, this feature greatly enhances its practical value as a "blockchain operating system".
IV. Why is Ardor's upgrade so significant?
Ardor v2.6.0 is not an isolated version update, but rather the concentrated implementation of multiple long-term strategic goals:
Nxt, as the first pure PoS public chain, has completed the modernization migration of its historical assets , proving that established blockchains can achieve technological upgrades without sacrificing their heritage.
Validating the sustainability of the multi-chain architecture, Ardor's main chain is responsible for security and consensus, while the sub-chains focus on functionality and applications. This migration is the most convincing real-world example of this model.
The activation of Atomic Transaction Chains enhances Ardor's ecosystem scalability , enabling it to truly possess the underlying capabilities to support complex multi-chain applications.
Strengthening on-chain governance practices, from Nxt's on-chain voting to migration execution, is driven by nodes and consensus throughout the entire process, demonstrating the maturity of decentralized governance.
V. Upgrade Reminders and Action Recommendations
The official team once again reminds all node operators and ecosystem participants:
Nodes that fail to upgrade will be permanently forked off the mainnet.
After the upgrade, you can participate normally in the mainnet consensus and the new subchain ecosystem.
The upgraded version can be obtained through Ardor's official channels.
Conclusion: Ardor v2.6.0 marks the completion of one phase and the beginning of a new one.
When Nxt's early blockchain history was successfully integrated into Ardor, and when multi-chain atomic transaction capabilities were officially implemented, the Ardor public chain was no longer just a platform with "advanced technical design," but a blockchain infrastructure that has withstood the test of time and can continue to evolve.
Ardor v2.6.0 is both a hard fork and a soft landing. The old era has ended, and a new ecosystem is beginning.
