Cardano’s Chang Upgrade Goes Live, Blockchain Transitions to a Token-based Decentralized Governance System

TL;DR

• The first stage of the Chang hard fork has gone live on the layer-1 blockchain Cardano.

• The upgrade sees Cardano transition its centralized governance structure to a token-based decentralized governance system. 

Cardano’s Chang Upgrade Goes Live

Layer-1 blockchain Cardano has officially undergone the first stage of its Chang hard fork. Thanks to this latest development, Cardano has become the first major blockchain to shit from a centralized governance structure to a token-based decentralized governance system. 

The blockchain will fully transform into a community-led governance model overseen by an interim committee over the next three months. Once the 90-day period elapses, the second stage of the Chang hard fork will activate. The activation of the second stage will hand over power to the new governance bodies, including a constitutional committee, delegate representatives, and staking pool operators. 

The Cardano team explained that,

"The goal of the first stage is to ensure security and continuity during the governance bootstrapping phase, allowing [delegate representatives] to register and campaign for delegation while developing and ratifying a final constitution by early 2025." 

While commenting on this latest development, Cardano’s founder Charles Hoskinson said,

"When I reflect back at where we started as an ecosystem it was just an idea...we've grown tremendously throughout the years. There've been ups and downs, there's been a lot of disappointments, but now we are here. Now we are here today...a day where the entire ecosystem, the community, every holder of ADA stands shoulder to shoulder as equals, and they all have a say in the future not just of this protocol, but what this protocol can do for everyone in the world."

One small step for Cardano; One giant leap for the industry https://t.co/ENXV41XdhZ

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) September 1, 2024

ADA, Cardano’s native coin, has slipped out of the top 10 list following recent strong performances by Toncoin (TON) and Tron’s TRX tokens. ADA now occupies the 11th spot in the market, with a total market cap of $11.7 billion.