On Sunday, the Cardano blockchain achieved a significant milestone with the implementation of the Chang hard fork. This upgrade marks a crucial step for Cardano, positioning it as one of the first major blockchain networks to embrace a token-based governance system.
Cardano’s CEO, Charles Hoskinson, celebrated the success of the upgrade, asserting that it advances Cardano’s decentralization beyond that of Bitcoin (BTC).
Cardano: A ‘Governance Virus’
In a recent social media post, Hoskinson emphasized the significance of the upgrade, calling it “one of the greatest technological achievements in human history.” He highlighted the massive scale of Cardano’s decentralized network, which operates across more than 100 countries without centralized coordination. Millions of users who have never met are seamlessly benefiting from this upgrade. Hoskinson remarked:
“This dwarfs Bitcoin. It’s unique, and books will be written about what has happened. Cardano is now a governance virus that is living, self-replicating, and self-sustaining. It has intelligence and a will to survive and grow. Nothing can shut it down. Nothing can stop its growth.”
The Chang Hard Fork Upgrade
As reported by Bitcoinist, the Chang hard fork was executed on block number 10764778, introducing the “Conway ledger era.” This upgrade is part of Cardano’s larger Voltaire phase, aimed at enhancing the network’s governance.
A key feature of the upgrade is the transformation of Cardano’s governance model, empowering ADA holders to submit proposals and actively participate in decision-making processes. The Cardano Foundation called this a major milestone, stating:
“Today’s Chang hard fork marks a major milestone for the Cardano blockchain, ecosystem, and community—fulfilling the promise of a truly self-governing, decentralized network.”
From a technical perspective, the upgrade activated Plutus v3, introducing advanced cryptographic capabilities such as efficient zero-knowledge proofs and versatile on-chain computations. Other enhancements include transaction signature validation using the Blake2b-224 hash function and Ethereum (ETH) signature verification through Keccak-256, boosting cross-chain interoperability. Additionally, the upgrade improved smart contract performance, reducing script sizes and enabling up to 30% faster execution times.
Technical Challenges and Hotfix
Despite the successful rollout, a technical issue with ledger state snapshots emerged, as reported by Intersect, a Cardano ecosystem member. This glitch caused prolonged synchronization times when nodes restarted. Nodes that restarted within 14 hours of the hard fork were unaffected, while others required a replay from the genesis block. A hotfix, node version 9.1.1, is being prepared for release to resolve the issue.
At the time of writing, ADA was trading at $0.329, down 12% over the past seven days. The broader market downturn overshadowed the positive impact of the Chang upgrade, failing to spark a bullish investor response.
