Cardano’s Chang Hard Fork Set to Launch Tomorrow — Here’s What to Expect

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The Chang hard fork, Cardano’s highly anticipated upgrade, is set to roll out by the end of this week following confirmation from Intersect, a membership-based organization in the Cardano ecosystem.

This upgrade is part of Cardano’s roadmap to strengthen its community and improve the network’s democratic governance structure. With the major milestone just hours away, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about the Chang hard fork, what it will do, and what investors should expect from ADA’s price movements.

Chang’s hard fork: “The era of Voltaire is almost here”

Since its launch in 2017, Cardano has gone through four distinct eras, including Byron, Shelley, Goguen, and Basho, each focusing on specific features and improvements to the blockchain platform.

After the Basho era, Cardano is heading towards the Voltaire era, which he describes as “the final pieces needed for the Cardano network to become a self-sustaining system.”

For the Voltaire era, Cardano aims to become a fully decentralized blockchain where ADA holders can directly participate in the decision-making process and contribute to the development of the network.

The Chang hard fork is the first step in the transition to the Voltaire era. Technically, it is an upgrade to the blockchain that introduces radical changes to its protocol. For the hard fork to take effect, all nodes, or computers running the blockchain, must upgrade to the new software.

What will the Chang hard fork bring to the network?

As part of its goal of achieving community-driven governance, Cardano’s Chang hard fork is expected to introduce a number of advanced governance features. Additionally, the upgrade will also aim to improve Cardano’s scalability and security.

Chang’s hard fork is divided into two parts: the first focuses on establishing the necessary governance frameworks and the second will enhance these frameworks with more advanced features.

Part 1: A transition to community governance

The initial upgrade will kick off the technical boot process, which has been in the works for several weeks. It involves a working group reviewing progress and ensuring the ecosystem is ready for the hard fork.

During this phase, the hard fork will introduce the Cardano Interim Constitution, a temporary governance structure to guide Cardano’s transition to full community control, and the Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC), a temporary governance body that will oversee initial governance actions and uphold the principles of the Interim Constitution.

The ICC will have the power to veto proposals through on-chain voting. The first phase aims to lay the foundation for the transition to decentralized governance, where ADA holders will begin to have a say in decision-making processes.

Part 2: Total decentralization

Planned approximately three months after the first phase, likely in Q4 2024, the second phase will enable advanced governance features. The goal is to enable fully decentralized governance.

During this phase, the upgrade will introduce a new governance body called Delegated Representatives (DReps), which will facilitate decentralized decision-making and represent the interests of ADA holders.

This phase will also involve the implementation of on-chain voting mechanisms, allowing ADA holders to directly propose and vote on governance actions. Cardano aims to fully transition to a community-driven decision-making model during this phase.

In addition to decentralized governance, the Chang hard fork also aims to improve Cardano’s scalability, increasing transaction throughput from around 250 transactions per second (TPS) to over 1,000 TPS. It will implement advanced security protocols to protect against common threats.

When exactly will the Chang hard fork take place?

In June, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said that Cardano would soon enter the Voltaire era after the launch of Node 9.0. A month after Hoskinson’s statement, Cardano released Node 9.0, paving the way for the Chang hard fork.

The Chang hard fork was initially postponed due to concerns over exchange liquidity, but has now been rescheduled with the majority of the ecosystem ready.

Intersect has confirmed that the Chang hard fork is scheduled for September 1, 2024, at 21:45 UTC. The decision to implement the hard fork was made unanimously by key stakeholders, including Intersect, Emurgo, the Cardano Foundation, and Input Output (IOHK).

The hard fork working group also confirmed that a sufficient level of readiness has been achieved in various sectors of the Cardano ecosystem:

• Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) demonstrated a high level of preparedness, with over 90% of trades also prepared.
• Decentralized applications (DApps) have shown strong adoption, with over 50% of the total value locked.
• No serious problems have been reported.

If all goes as planned, the Chang hard fork will be launched at the end of this week.

Binance announced on August 30 that it will support Cardano’s Chang hard fork. The exchange will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals of ADA tokens during the upgrade process.

Another major exchange, Bitget, is also updating its systems to support the upgrade.

Will the hard fork impact ADA holders?

The Chang hard fork is not expected to have any direct impact on ADA holders. If you simply hold ADA in a wallet, you do not need to take any special action before or after the hard fork. Your ADA balance and transaction history will remain intact.

For ADA holders who stake their tokens, the hard fork may have indirect effects:

• Staking Rewards: Improvements to network scalability and performance could potentially lead to higher staking rewards over time.
• Decentralization: By enabling community governance, the hard fork aims to further decentralize the network. This can improve the security of staked ADA by reducing the risks associated with staking in a single pool.

What to expect regarding ADA price developments?

According to data from TradingView, ADA rose more than 140% less than two months before the Alonzo hard fork launched in September 2021. However, the crypto asset suffered a major setback after the upgrade, likely due to the general market downturn.

The Vasil hard fork, which was launched on the mainnet in September 2022, had a moderate impact on ADA’s price due to the current bearish market conditions. The upgrade did not result in any significant price appreciation, according to the data.

With a focus on redefining Cardano’s governance, Chang’s upcoming hard fork is expected to attract more developers, users, and investors into the ecosystem, potentially increasing the value of ADA.

However, historical data suggests that the hard fork alone does not guarantee a price increase. ADA’s price will ultimately depend on various market factors and the overall adoption and usage of the Cardano network.

ADA is currently trading near $0.35, registering a slight increase over the past 24 hours.

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