Everything you need to know about Cardano Chang Upgrade — Voltaire
What is Cardano’s Chang Hard Fork Upgrade?
Cardano has entered the Voltaire era, the final phase of its roadmap. This stage focuses on community governance, enabling every ADA holder (that’s you!) to influence the network’s future development.
Chang is the first hard fork in the Voltaire era, significantly changing Cardano. Let’s take a look at what a hard fork is and why Cardano is doing it in a special way.
What is a Hard Fork?
A hard fork is a major change in a blockchain protocol that impacts block and transaction validity. It requires most nodes and validators to upgrade to new software. Two separate blockchains can emerge without this upgrade, as seen with Ethereum’s DAO fork (2016) and Bitcoin Cash (2017).
Cardano’s Unique Hard Fork Combinator
Unlike traditional hard forks, Cardano uses a hard fork combinator. This approach allows a seamless transition between protocol versions, with the old and new ledgers running simultaneously until the transition is complete. This method maintains a single, continuous ledger history and avoids immediate mandatory updates for validator nodes. Learn more on Cardano’s hard fork page.
What is Cardano Chang Hard Fork Upgrade?
Scheduled for Q1 to Q2 2024, the Chang hard fork will introduce minimum-viable community-run governance to Cardano. This will enable on-chain community consensus governed by a new constitution, allowing all ADA holders to participate in network decisions.
Key Stages of the Chang Hard Fork
Delegate Representatives (DReps): In Q2 2024, ADA holders can begin registering as DReps, who act as elected representatives by delegating ADA instead of voting traditionally.
- Cardano Constitution Convention: Governance representatives from global workshops will convene in Buenos Aires to draft the Cardano Constitution, the foundation of community-led governance.
- The Vote: At the end of 2024, the community will vote on the first draft of the Cardano Constitution. If ratified, it will guide the decentralized governance and future direction of Cardano.
The Chang upgrade marks the culmination of years of dedicated effort, involving extensive community participation through workshops and testing on SanchoNet. This milestone signifies a major leap towards implementing minimum viable on-chain governance as outlined in CIP-1694. As stake pools update their nodes to support the new protocol, Cardano will officially enter the Voltaire Era, establishing an autonomous blockchain and setting a new standard for the industry.
Key Phases of the Chang Upgrade
Chang Upgrade #1: Governance Features and Technical Bootstrapping
The first upgrade will introduce a suite of governance features to Cardano, initiating the technical bootstrapping phase as detailed in CIP-1694.
Chang Upgrade #2: Full On-Chain Governance
The second upgrade will conclude the technical bootstrapping phase, enabling full on-chain governance as defined in CIP-1694. This includes complete Delegate Representative (DRep) participation and all governance actions.
Ensuring a Smooth Transition
The Chang upgrade will follow a similar approach to the Vasil upgrade. The final decision to implement the hard fork will be made in collaboration with members of the Stake Pool Operators (SPO), DApp developers, and the wider community based on three key criteria:
- No Critical Issues: Ensuring no outstanding critical issues with the node, including the ledger, CLI, and consensus.
- Performance and Cost Analysis: Confirming that benchmarking and performance-cost analysis are acceptable.
- Community Preparedness: Ensure the community, including exchanges and DApp projects, is properly informed and has ample time to prepare for the hard fork combinator event.
Stay tuned as we embark on this transformative journey towards decentralized governance and a self-sustaining Cardano network!
