In summary
- On September 1 at 21:44 UTC, the Cardano Blockchain executed the ‘Chang’ hard fork at block 10,764,778, entering the “Voltaire Era” and introducing on-chain governance via its native token ADA.
- Following the hard fork, ADA token holders now have the power to elect representatives and vote on key development proposals.
- The Voltaire Era provides the final pieces needed for the Cardano network to become a self-sustaining system, allowing participants to influence the future development of the network.
On September 1 at 21:44 UTC, the Cardano layer-1 blockchain executed the ‘Chang’ hard fork at block 10,764,778, entering the “Voltaire Era” and introducing on-chain governance via its native token ADA.
Following the Hard Fork, ADA token holders now have the power to elect representatives and vote on key development proposals.
According to Cardano’s roadmap, the Voltaire era will “provide the final pieces needed for the Cardano network to become a self-sustaining system.” It added that the introduction of a voting and treasury system will allow network participants to “use their stake and voting rights to influence the future development of the network.”
Without mincing words, Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson praised the hard fork as “one of the greatest technical achievements in human history.”
In a tweetThe Cardano Foundation wrote that the hard fork “marks an important milestone for the Cardano blockchain, ecosystem and community, delivering on the promise of a truly self-governing and decentralized network.”
What is a hard fork?
A hard fork occurs when changes are made to the rules of a blockchain, resulting in a new parallel blockchain running alongside the original. Cardano’s latest hard fork is named after Phil Chang, the executive who led the Voltaire initiative at IOHK.
Under Cardano’s new governance model, the Cardano Foundation, Input Output Global (IOHK), and Emurgo no longer have exclusive authority over decisions related to hard forks and other major upgrades.
CIP-1694 establishes that three key bodies will form the basis of Cardano’s new governance model: the constitutional committee (CC), delegated representatives (Dreps), and stake pool operators (SOPs).
The Chang hard fork is being implemented in two phases. The first phase, currently live, introduced the constitutional committee, responsible for overseeing the governance transition.
Phase 2 will introduce DReps, allowing ADA holders to delegate their voting power to streamline governance, along with an on-chain voting system, all set for full implementation by 2025.
The hard fork also triggered the activation of Plutus v3, which offers advanced smart contract efficiency, cryptographic primitives, and governance integrations.
However, the long-awaited upgrade failed to prevent Cardano’s price from falling along with the broader Cryptocurrency market, with ADA down 5.6% over the past seven days, according to data from CoinGecko.
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