Cardano,
the
layer-1
blockchain
launched
in
2017
by
Ethereum
co-founder
Charles
Hoskinson,
activated
its
highly
anticipated
“Chang”
upgrade
on
Sunday,
marking
the
ecosystem’s
long-planned
shift
towards
decentralized
governance.
With
the
Chang
upgrade
now
live,
ADA
token
holders
will
be
able
to
shape
Cardano’s
future
by
electing
governance
representatives
and
voting
on
development
proposals.
CIP-1694,
an
official
“Cardano
Improvement
Proposal,”
describes
the
new
community
governance
structure
and
establishes
three
user-led
governance
bodies:
the
Constitutional
Committee,
Delegate
Representatives
(dReps),
and
Stake
Pool
Operators
(SPOs).
Moving
forward,
Cardano’s
three
founding
entities—the
Cardano
Foundation,
Input
Output
Global
(IOHK)
and
Emurgo—will
no
longer
have
the
keys
to
trigger
chain
upgrades
or
“hard
forks.”
Instead,
that
responsibility
will
be
delegated
to
the
new
governance
groups.
Cardano
is
the
latest
in
a
string
of
crypto
projects
to
transition
towards
a
more
decentralized
structure.
The
changes
bring
Cardano
further
in
line
with
the
blockchain
industry’s
decentralized
ethos,
but
they
may
also
be
viewed
as
a
way
to
ward
off
securities
regulators
by
bestowing
ADA
with
extra
utility.
Despite
being
ranked
as
the
28th
largest
blockchain
by
DeFiLlama,
Cardano
has
consistently
drawn
attention
from
the
crypto
world,
not
least
because
of
Hoskinson’s
colorful
personality
and
routine
outspokenness.
He
originally
created
the
Ethereum
blockchain
in
2014
alongside
co-founders
like
Vitalik
Buterin,
but
he
quickly
moved
on
from
the
project
to
build
rival
Cardano.
Hard
forks—significant
updates
that
render
older
versions
of
a
blockchain
obsolete—are
a
critical
part
of
any
blockchain’s
evolution.
The
Chang
hard
fork
is
no
exception,
with
its
implementation
spread
across
two
phases.
The
first
phase,
already
live,
introduces
an
Interim
Constitutional
Committee
to
temporarily
oversee
Cardano’s
governance.
This
phase
is
designed
to
be
cautious,
limiting
the
committee’s
power
to
make
changes
to
the
blockchain’s
code
while
the
rest
of
the
ecosystem’s
governance
model
takes
shape.
The
second
phase,
expected
to
happen
in
90
days,
will
fully
empower
the
new
governance
bodies.
“Once
everyone
is
onboard
and
well-informed,
they
will
be
ready
to
actively
participate
in
governance,”
said
Giorgio
Zinetti,
CTO
of
the
Cardano
Foundation,
in
an
interview
with
CoinDesk.
This
upgrade
is
a
pivotal
milestone
in
Cardano’s
roadmap,
marking
the
beginning
of
the
Voltaire
era—a
phase
focused
on
achieving
full
decentralization
that
has
been
in
the
works
since
Cardano’s
inception.
“I
would
say
it
is
the
biggest
event
in
Cardano
history,
and
it
really
makes
us
different
from
many
other
chains,”
Zinetti
told
CoinDesk.
“I
think
we
are
the
largest
layer
1
with
on-chain
governance.
There
are
some
smaller
players,
like
Tezos
and
Polkadot,
who
already
have
on-chain
governance.
But
if
there
was
a
leaderboard,
real
decentralized
layer-1s,
we
would
be
number
one.”
