Cardano, launched in 2017 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, successfully activated its much-awaited Chang hard fork on Sunday, becoming the first leading blockchain to shift its centralized governance model to a token-based decentralized governance system.
Will the upgrade spark a bullish Cardano rally to as high as $3, a level ADA reached after the addition of smart contracts functionality in September 2021?
Cardano Shifts To Decentralized On-Chain Governance
On Sept. 1, at 21:44 UTC at block 10764778, Cardano kicked off the first stage of the Chang upgrade, which heralded what the project’s team dubs the “Conway ledger era.”
The activation of Chang bestows Cardano token holders with the ability to shape ADA’s future by electing governance reps and voting on development proposals.
The Cardano Foundation noted in an X post:
“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.”
Cardano will fully transform into a community-led governance structure managed by an Interim Constitutional Committee over the next 90 days as part of the layer-1 proof-of-stake blockchain’s “Voltaire” phase. 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.”
The second stage of Chang will go live after these 90 days, completely turning the reins over to its new user-led governance bodies, which include a constitutional committee, delegate representatives, and staking pool operators.
This means that Cardano’s three founding entities, the Cardano Foundation, Input Output Global (IOHK), and Emurgo, no longer have the Genesis keys to activate major network upgrades. Instead, that obligation will be entrusted to the new governance groups.
Will Chang Upgrade Take ADA Price To New Highs?
In his recent livestream posted to X, Cardano creator Charles Hoskinson observed that the ecosystem has matured significantly over the years, adding:
“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
Once a top-five cryptocurrency by market cap, Cardano’s ADA has since dropped out of the top ten crypto leaderboard after being ousted by other blockchains like Tron’s TRX and Telegram-affiliated Toncoin (TON).
According to CoinGecko, the price of ADA is down 3.6% over the past 24 hours despite the blockchain’s transformative milestone. As of publication time, it was changing hands at $0.33.
Chang living up to the expectations of being a game changer could bolster Cardano’s standing in the competitive blockchain space and potentially buoy ADA’s price performance. However, whether ADA climbs back above the $3 mark after the latest technological leap remains anyone’s guess.
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