What is the Covenants++ hardfork?

Covenants++ is a Kaspa hardfork that activates three protocol upgrades — KIP-16, KIP-17, and KIP-20 — simultaneously in a single network upgrade. A hardfork means all nodes must adopt the new rules at the same time; there is no partial rollout. KIP-16 adds ZK proof verification as a new consensus-level opcode, KIP-17 introduces covenant opcodes that let transactions inspect their own contents, and KIP-20 adds consensus-tracked covenant IDs for stateful contract tracking. For a beginner, Covenants++ matters because it lays the foundation for programmable spending conditions and ZK-based privacy or scaling on Kaspa in one coordinated step.