Cardano, a blockchain network known for its commitment to decentralization, is on the brink of a major upgrade known as the Chang hard fork. This upgrade, originally slated for August 27, has been rescheduled to September 1 in order to allow crypto exchanges like Binance to prepare for the transition. The Chang hard fork marks a significant milestone in Cardano’s development, signaling the network’s shift towards community-led governance.
The development of the Cardano network is divided into five distinct eras: Byron, Shelley, Goguen, Basho, and Voltaire. Each era represents a phase in Cardano’s evolution, with Voltaire being the latest era that Cardano entered on May 30, 2024. In the Voltaire era, network participants and stakeholders will have the opportunity to propose and vote on Cardano Improvement Proposals (CIP) using the staking and delegation process.
The Chang hard fork is designed to implement an on-chain distributed governance framework, paving the way for a community-driven governance structure outlined in CIP-1694. This fork will hand over the network’s maintenance to the Cardano community, marking a significant shift in how decisions are made within the ecosystem. The Chang hard fork consists of two parts, with the first part set to be deployed on September 1 and the second part planned for implementation in Q4 2024.
Once the Chang hard fork is complete, Cardano will enter a technical bootstrapping phase, during which the Interim Cardano Constitution and the Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC) will be established. The ICC will serve as a temporary governance body, overseeing the network’s transition and exercising voting and veto power on initial governance actions. As the community drafts the main constitution during the Cardano Constitutional Convention, plans for a permanent Constitutional Committee will be put in place.
The second part of the Chang hard fork will introduce governing bodies such as Delegate Representatives (DReps) and stake pool operators (SPOs), along with community-run treasury withdrawals. These bodies, alongside holders of Cardano’s native token and the Constitutional Committee, will play a crucial role in voting on governance proposals, requesting ADA delegations, generating certificates, and executing treasury withdrawals.
The Chang hard fork represents a significant step forward for Cardano as it transitions towards a community-driven governance model. With its focus on decentralization and empowering network participants, Cardano is poised to set a new standard for blockchain governance in the future.
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