Layer-1 blockchain Cardano, founded by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, has completed its much-anticipated Chang hard fork, entering the final stages of the projects development dubbed Voltaire era (the last era of the blockchains roadmap, focusing on decentralized governance).

Completed on September 1, at 21:44 UTC at block 10764778, the upgrade will transform Cardanos governance, where ADA holders can submit or engage in voting processes regarding governance actions.

Commenting on the milestone on X, Cardano Foundation, the nonprofit powering the Cardano ecosystem, said:

Todays 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.

Decentralized Governance

As stated on Cardano Docs, Chang will trigger the blockchains improvement proposal-1694, which allows ADA holders to vote independently or delegate their voting power to trusted delegate representatives (DReps).

Chang will be gradually implemented in two stages. The first, which will occur over the next 90 days from the completion of the upgrade, will introduce initial governance features overseen by an interim committee. At this one, DReps can register, and token holders can delegate their voting power.

The goal of the first stage is to ensure security and continuity during the governance bootstrapping phase, allowing DReps to register and campaign for delegation, while developing and ratifying a final constitution by early 2025, the Cardano Foundation said.

The second stage, which will kick start immediately after the first, will give power to the Cardano community. During this phase, entities, including DReps, SPOs, and the interim constitutional committee, can vote on governance actions.

Price Reaction

Meanwhile, despite the upgrade, ADA, Cardanos native token, failed to impress. The token fell over 4% on the upgrade to exchange hands at $0.3297.

Its disappointing performance has seen it fall out of the top 10 list of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, trailing the likes of TRON and TRX.

However, therere certain factors that could suggest an upcoming impressive rally for ADA should the crypto bull run resumes. You can find more on the matter here.