Cardano is preparing for the Chang hard fork, a highly anticipated upgrade expected to occur by the end of July 2024. This event has generated significant excitement within the crypto community, especially considering the notable price surge that followed Cardano’s previous hard fork in 2021.

The Chang hard fork represents a crucial transition into the Voltaire era for Cardano, marking the final phase of its roadmap to establish a fully decentralized blockchain ecosystem. After this upgrade, Cardano will no longer be managed by the development firm Input Output Global (IOG); instead, it will be entirely governed by its community members.

Recently, the Cardano Foundation, in partnership with Cardanoscan, launched a tracking page to monitor the readiness for this major upgrade. The Chang hard fork is pivotal as it initiates the Cardano governance model, paving the way for minimum-viable community-run governance.

Will this upgrade be crucial for the Cardano ecosystem?

Before having a brief overview of Chang hard fork, let’s understand what’s a hard fork.

What is a Hard Fork?

Compared to a soft fork, a hard fork involves a significant change to the blockchain protocol, often resulting in a permanent divergence from the previous version.

During a hard fork, the new protocol is not backward-compatible, which means that nodes running the old version of the software will not be able to validate transactions or blocks that adhere to the new rules. This can lead to two different blockchains, each with its own version of the transaction history.

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About Chang Hard Fork

Scheduled for Q2 2024, the Chang hard fork will introduce minimum-viable community-run governance to the Cardano blockchain, enabling on-chain community consensus governed by a constitution.

This pivotal event will initiate the establishment of Cardano governance throughout 2024, unfolding in three main stages:

• Introduction of Delegate Representatives (DReps): A critical component of Cardano’s future community governance. DReps will function like elected representatives, with users delegating their ADA instead of casting votes in a traditional ballot. Registration for DReps is expected to begin in Q2 2024.

• Cardano Constitution Convention: This gathering will bring together governance representatives selected from various workshops worldwide throughout 2024 in Buenos Aires. Here, they will draft the initial version of the Cardano Constitution, laying the foundation for community-led governance.

• The Vote: To conclude 2024, the Cardano community will vote on ratifying the first draft of the Cardano Constitution. If approved, this constitution will underpin the decentralized community governance processes, shaping the future direction of the Cardano blockchain.

Charles Hoskinson’s Views on this Upgrade

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, announced that the network’s upgraded node 9.0 is ready to roll out and is crucial for the upcoming Chang hard fork.

Named after Phil Chang, an early Cardano supporter, this hard fork requires at least 70% of Cardano validators to upgrade their nodes. The Chang hard fork will significantly alter Cardano’s ownership structure, transitioning control from the Cardano Foundation, EMURGO, and Input-Output Global (IOG) to the community, thus transforming ADA into a governance token.

This shift marks a pivotal moment in Cardano’s journey, moving from a static and federated system to a dynamic, decentralized one with advanced staking and smart contract capabilities.

Following the Basho and Goguen eras, the hard fork will usher in the Voltaire era, which introduced scalability and smart contract features. Hoskinson views this change as a testament to Cardano’s maturity and its best-in-class approach to governance and decentralization. It will empower ADA holders to vote on changes and manage the project’s treasury, similar to the Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) used in DeFi protocols.

Cardano’s Historical Price Movement During Alonzo Hard Fork: Will the History Repeat Itself?

Market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock recently highlighted a significant historical trend in a post on X (formerly Twitter), pointing out that Cardano is set to undergo the Chang hard fork upgrade this month.

The report noted that ADA experienced a remarkable 130% price surge before its previous hard fork in 2021, the Alonzo upgrade, which saw the cryptocurrency jump from $1.35 to $3.10. The Alonzo hard fork, implemented on September 12, 2021, introduced smart contract capabilities to the Cardano network via Plutus, enabling decentralized applications (dApps) deployment. ADA reached its all-time high of $3.10 on September 2, 2021, just ten days before the Alonzo upgrade.

The anticipation surrounding the introduction of smart contract functionality significantly boosted ADA’s value, more than doubling in less than four weeks. As Cardano now prepares for the Chang hard fork, the network is poised to enter the final phase of its development roadmap, known as the Voltaire era. This era aims to provide the necessary components for the Cardano network to achieve self-sustainability.

Bottomline

The upcoming development of Cardano in 2024 will definitely revolutionize the blockchain technology landscape. The project is positioned for substantial growth and innovation with the anticipated Cardano upgrade and its ambitious roadmap, including the Chang hard fork.

As Cardano progresses with its upgrade roadmap and broadens its ecosystem, it solidifies its status as a leading blockchain platform. The year 2024 is poised to be a pivotal period for Cardano, representing a significant leap toward enhanced scalability, governance, and decentralized innovation.

Related Read: How To Buy Cardano (ADA) In India? [2024]

Stay tuned for more updates on the Cardano ecosystem!

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