Cardano, the Layer 1 blockchain established by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, has officially embarked on a historic transition with the implementation of the Chang hard fork. This marks the first major blockchain to shift from a centralized governance structure to a decentralized, token-based system.
The initial stage of the Chang hard fork, which went live recently, sets Cardano on a 90-day path toward a fully community-led governance model. During this period, an interim committee will oversee the transition, ensuring the security and continuity of the network as the new governance bodies are established. These new bodies include a constitutional committee, delegate representatives, and staking pool operators, all of whom will take full control at the end of the 90 days when the second stage of the hard fork activates.
“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,” Cardano stated in an official announcement.
Despite once ranking among the top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Cardano’s ADA token has faced challenges in recent months, slipping out of the top 10 as competing tokens like TRON’s TRX and Telegram’s Toncoin have gained ground.
In a video posted to X (formerly Twitter), Charles Hoskinson reflected on Cardano’s journey: “When I reflect back at where we started as an ecosystem, it was just an idea… We’ve grown tremendously throughout the years. There’ve been ups and downs, there’s been a lot of disappointments, but now we are here… 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.”
The Chang hard fork represents a significant milestone for Cardano, as it pioneers a new era of decentralized governance in the blockchain space, setting a precedent for other projects to follow.
