The Cardano network successfully conducted a Chang hard fork, activating a new decentralized governance system that allows ADA holders to participate in voting and decision-making processes as part of the ecosystem’s development.
On September 1, the Cardano blockchain successfully implemented the Chang update, which turned ADA into a governance token and shifted the ecosystem towards decentralized governance.
The Chang update adopts the Cardano Improvement Proposal (CIP-1694), which outlines a new community governance structure. The Cardano Foundation, Input Output Global (IOHK), and Emurgo, the founding companies and main devs of the blockchain network, will no longer oversee its updates or influence decisions in the ecosystem’s development. This responsibility will be transferred to three new governance bodies, namely:
- The Constitutional Committee (ICC).
- Delegated Representatives (dReps).
- Stake Pool Operators (SPOs).
The Chang update consists of two phases. During the first phase, which was activated on the block number 10764778, the interim Constitutional Committee, including representatives from the Cardano Atlantic Council, Cardano Japan, and Eastern Cardano Council, will provide limited oversight of the blockchain’s governance. The second phase, expected to take effect in 90 days, will place full authority in the hands of the three new governance bodies, which will be finalized by then.
The Chang update also strengthened support for Plutus scripts, previously implemented as part of the Vasil hard fork. These scripts will enable the adoption of advanced voting mechanisms similar to those used in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO). In addition, the hard fork made improvements to the performance of the network’s smart contracts.
According to Charles Hoskinson, Co-Founder of Cardano, the ecosystem grew significantly in recent years precisely due to the community’s activism and participation in the blockchain’s development. Giorgio Zinetti, CTO of the Cardano Foundation, noted that the hard fork brings Cardano closer to its goal of becoming the largest L1 network with full on-chain management.
Despite the hard fork’s success, ADA didn’t respond with growth. According to CoinGecko data, its price fell by 2.2% over the past 24 hours. As of 16:00 (GMT+3) on September 2, ADA is $0.333.
AI algorithms revealed that users’ emotional connection to the Cardano blockchain is higher than that with other crypto projects.
