Cardano Founder Announces Major Milestone: Chang Hard Fork Nears Completion

On Jul 8, 2024

Charles Hoskinson announced that the node 9.0 update for the crucial Chang hard fork is nearly complete and expected to roll out next week. This update marks a significant step towards Cardano’s Voltaire phase, focusing on governance enhancements.

Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano (ADA), previously co-founded Ethereum (ETH) but left after a disagreement with Vitalik Buterin. Cardano focuses on commercial blockchain adoption using Proof-of-Stake (PoS) technology.

In a latest live AMA session from Wyoming, Charles Hoskinson shared exciting updates about Cardano and the upcoming Chang hard fork. Speaking from his ranch, he talked about the ongoing work and achievements in the development of the Cardano blockchain platform.

Hoskinson shared some information about the challenges and successes over the past few years. He admitted it’s been tough at times, but despite some setbacks, the Cardano ecosystem has made progress, especially in governance. He emphasised the importance of completing all parts of CIP 1694, which took about two years but is crucial for improving Cardano’s infrastructure.

Hoskinson announced that node 9.0, needed for the Chang hard fork, is almost ready. He explained that this new version, following 8.2.2, ensures compatibility and stability. The node is set to be released next week, likely on Monday or Tuesday, unless any issues arise.

The Chang hard fork is a big milestone for Cardano, starting the transition to the Voltaire phase, which focuses on governance. Hoskinson highlighted that this has been two years in the making. Once the network node density reaches about 70%, the hard fork will happen, bringing new governance features and more community involvement in decision-making.

Looking ahead, Hoskinson talked about the challenges of the Basho era, which aims to improve scalability and network optimization. He asserted the need for community input to balance trade-offs between handling data on-chain and off-chain and making technical decisions like on-chain sharding and changes to transaction processing.