Cardano Chang Hard Fork Went Live: Here’s What You Need To Know

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As a seasoned crypto investor with years of experience under my belt, I’ve seen my fair share of blockchain milestones and hard forks. The Cardano Chang hard fork is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated events in recent times, marking a significant leap towards complete decentralization.

Cardano has made history by moving closer to full decentralization, allowing users to play a role in shaping the network’s growth. After much anticipation and one postponement, the long-awaited Cardano Alonzo hard fork was successfully activated a short while ago. This is a significant event in blockchain annals, representing the largest hard fork in the past two years.

Today’s Chang hard fork signifies a significant achievement for the Cardano blockchain, its environment, and its community – it represents the fulfillment of a commitment to create a genuinely autonomous, decentralized network.

Welcome to a new era of decentralized governance: Voltaire.

— Cardano Foundation (@Cardano_CF) September 2, 2024

As an analyst, I’ve observed that despite the buzz surrounding the Cardano upgrade, the price of ADA, the 11th largest token by market cap, hasn’t shown any immediate signs of improvement. In fact, ADA has been grappling with a decline in demand among investors for months now. Currently, it’s trading at $0.331, marking a 13% drop over the past week. However, there’s a strong possibility that a significant surge could occur due to the full implementation of decentralization in this network.

How Will Cardano Chang Hard Fork Benefit The Network?

Initially introduced in 2017, Cardano has experienced quite an adventure, ascending from humble beginnings to securing a place among the top five cryptocurrencies before encountering stiff competition that led to its demotion. To date, it has progressed through stages like Byron, Shelley, Goguen, and is now preparing for Basho with the upcoming Cardano Chag hard fork. This marks its entry into the Volatiare era – the culmination of its development into a self-sustaining system.

The blockchain is undergoing a significant shift towards greater decentralization, enabling its users to take part in making crucial decisions. Furthermore, it’s choosing to adopt the Cardano Hard Fork (Chang) to boost the network’s efficiency and security.

One key advantage of the Cardano Alonzo hard fork is that it boosts transaction rates from the current 250 Transactions Per Second (TPS) to an impressive 1000 TPS, enhancing speed significantly. Furthermore, adopting CIP-1694 empowers direct voting on the network, thereby creating a constitutional committee and governance roles for stake pool operators.

In order to achieve this, Cardano is activating Plutus scripts, which will enhance the voting system to a level comparable to DAO. However, implementing this update isn’t straightforward, as it involves two stages. The first stage is currently active, while the second and final stage is set for completion within the next 90 days.

Phase 1: Introducing the Interim Cardano Constitution

For several weeks, Phase 1 of the Cardano Hard Fork has been underway, with the working group diligently preparing the network for the impending hard fork. The primary aim during this phase is to implement the Interim Cardano Constitution, serving as a provisional governance system responsible for managing the network until users can assume control post-Cardano Chang upgrade.

The Temporary Governing Body known as the Interim Cardano Committee (ICC) has been established. This temporary group is responsible for managing governance matters and ensuring the proper functioning of the Interim Cardano constitution. Furthermore, this committee possesses a Veto power, enabling it to reject proposals during on-chain voting.

As a researcher involved with the Cardano project, my focus in the initial phase is to establish security and consistency during the governance setup process, often referred to as the “bootstrap.” During this stage, I aim to enable delegate representatives to register and promote their candidacies for delegation, while simultaneously drafting and approving a final constitution by early 2025.

Essentially, this marks the start of ADA holders participating in the management of the network. Furthermore, it establishes a framework for a truly democratic form of governance.

Phase 2: Introduction to Delegate Representatives (DReps)

The next step is to incorporate sophisticated self-governing mechanisms within our network, transforming it into a completely autonomous entity. This transition will be facilitated by the introduction of Delegate Representatives (DReps), a novel governing body whose primary role is to act in the best interest of Cardano (ADA) holders. Furthermore, they will institute decentralized decision-making processes.

This feature introduces an on-chain voting system, enabling token owners to engage in decision-making procedures. But keep in mind that this change is planned over a longer timescale, with the next stage not being rolled out until 2025.

In summary, the second phase will introduce fresh decision-making entities such as a constitutional panel, DReps, and stake pool administrators.

Final Thoughts

Cardano has made significant strides towards full decentralization, aiming to establish a self-reliant network. The Cardano Alonzo hard fork has been activated and will focus on aspects like governance, scalability, security, and speedier transactions. This process is divided into two phases, with the first phase already underway, and the second scheduled for completion by 2025, following a 90-day period from the commencement of the first. However, the effects of this Cardano Alonzo hard fork on the token price are uncertain, as experts have offered varied predictions regarding the future value of Cardano, expressing skepticism about the success of this hard fork.

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2024-09-02 12:09