After completing the Cardano Chang hard fork, Cardano became the first blockchain network to step towards complete decentralization. This will put ADA users first in the network’s development by providing them with decision-making rights. Earlier, August was the live date for the Cardano Chang hard fork. However, Charles Hoskinson postponed the launch due to many crypto exchanges requiring more time for transition upgrades. As a result, got delayed to Sept 1. And now after much waiting and delay, the Cardano Chang upgrade finally went live at 21:45 UTC. It is a major milestone in blockchain history, marking it the biggest hard fork in the last two years.

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.

Welcome to a new era of decentralized governance: Voltaire. ⚖️ https://t.co/sE0iyRKLg9 pic.twitter.com/dA0JkgYOio

— Cardano Foundation (@Cardano_CF) September 2, 2024

However, despite the hype of the Cardano chang upgrade, the ADA price has shown no immediate improvement. ADA, the 11th largest token per market cap, has been struggling for months, losing its demand among investors. As a result, it is currently trading at $0.331 after a 13% loss over the week. However, a significant boost might happen due to this implementation of complete decentralization.

How Will Cardano Chang Hard Fork Benefit The Network?

Cardano was launched in 2017 and has covered quite a journey, rising from low to becoming one of the top five cryptos before losing its spot due to rising competition. Up to now, Cardano has covered Byron, Shelley, Goguen, and Basho and will achieve the fifth with this Cardano Chag hard fork. With this, it is finally entering the Volatiare era, the final point for the network to evolve into a self-sustaining system.

The blockchain is implementing a major update of decentralization, allowing its users to participate in the decision-making process. Additionally, it is opting for the Cardano Chang hard fork to help with the scalability and security of the network.

Another major benefit of the Cardano Chang hard fork is that it will increase the transaction rates from the current 250 TPS to 1000 TPS (transaction per rate), implementing better speed. Additionally, using the CIP-1694 will allow direct voting on the network, establishing a constitutional committee and governance role for the stake pool operators.

And to do so, Cardano is enabling the Plutus scripts, which will support the voting mechanism to the same level as DAO. However, this upgrade is not simple, as it runs into two phases. The first one is already live, and the second one is to come in full transition in the next 90 days.

Phase 1: Introducing the Interim Cardano Constitution

Phase 1 of this Cardano Chang hard fork has already been in process for weeks now, where the working group was preparing the network for the hard fork. In this, the main objective is to introduce the Interim Cardano constitution, which is a temporary government structure to manage the network before letting the users take over after the Cardano chang upgrade.

Interim Cardano Committee (ICC), a temporary governance body, was introduced to oversee the governance and ensure the function of the Interim Cardano constitution. Additionally, this ICC is equipped with the Veto to object to the proposals in the on-chain voting.

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, Says Cardano’s team.

Overall, this is the beginning of the ADA holders taking part in the decision-making for the network. Moreover, it is laying the foundation for decentralized governance.

Phase 2: Introduction to Delegate Representatives (DReps)

Phase 2 is to implement the advanced governance features on the network, making it a fully decentralized entity. This is to happen with the introduction of the Delegate Representatives (DReps), a new governance body to make decisions in the interests of ADA holders. Moreover, they will implement decentralized decision-making practices.

With this, the network will implement an on-chain voting mechanism, allowing the token holders to participate in the governance process. However, it is a long-term process, as the second phase will be implemented by 2025.

Collectively, this second stage will bring new governance bodies, including a constitutional committee, DReps, and staking pool operators.

Final Thoughts

Cardano has taken big steps towards complete decentralization to become a self-sustaining ecosystem. The Cardano Chang hard fork has officially gone live and will work towards governance, scalability, security, and faster transactions. However, this will take a long time as it will run into two phases. The first phase is already live, and the second will be set by 2025, after 90 days of the first. However, the impact of this Cardano Chang hard fork is unpredictable on the token price. Many analysts have presented mixed Cardano price forecasts, questioning the failed push of this hard fork.