The Chang hard fork is almost here on the Cardano network. This will start the Voltaire age. The latest version of the node validator software, 9.1.0, makes this move easier because it has important updates for the hard fork. Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, said on X,
“This is it.” Voltaire is at the end of the line, at node 9.1. Have fun improving SPOs. “Welcome to Chang.”Intersect, a major player in the ADA ecosystem, announced the release on X by saying, “Node 9.1.0 is here!” Here is the final version that will let Cardano users make decisions on the blockchain. Every hard-fork has an upgrade time, and Cardano’s is no different.
Cardano Upgrades Node
Upgrading from node version 9.0.0 to 9.1.0 is very important because the Conway genesis file has to be included at starting for the Chang hard fork to work. This file wasn’t required before.
Both the command-line interface (CLI) and the application programming interface (API) have been fixed and improved in Node 9.1.0. One of these updates is the new “query treasury” command, which gives you more information about how the network’s currency works.
The update also makes sure that it works with two Cardano Improvement Proposals: CIP69, which standardizes metadata structures, and CIP119, which adds a transaction metadata name to make it easier to find and process.
The community will decide if the Chang hard fork goes live. For it to go live, 70% of validators must adopt the new node. The hard fork aims to make Cardano much more powerful by moving from the Vasil upgrade to CIP-1694 on-chain governance tools that allow for decentralized decision-making.
With this new governance model, people who own ADA will be able to directly affect decisions through on-chain agreement. Delegate Representatives (DReps) will speak for the community and help plan the future of the network.
There are two parts to the Chang update. As described in CIP-1694, the first step, Chang Upgrade #1, sets up the first set of governance features and starts the technical bootstrapping process.
The second step, Chang Upgrade #2, moves these governance mechanisms out of the technical bootstrapping process and into full on-chain governance functionality. This includes DRep participation and full governance actions.
This upgrade is also a tribute to Phil Chang, who died in 2022 and was a key figure in Cardano’s governance plans at IOG. His work laid the groundwork for the Voltaire age, which is what the Chang upgrade is meant to do.
