Cardano Launches Significant Node Update Ahead of Chang 2 Hard Fork

Cardano is gearing up for the anticipated Chang 2 hard fork, which will advance the platform into the Voltaire era. This marks a significant evolution in Cardano’s governance structure. The ongoing preparations have already seen the prerelease of Cardano Node v10, which has undergone testing. Recently, the team released Cardano Node 10.1.1, a crucial update in advance of the upcoming Chang upgrade set to commence in November.

Governance Bootstrap Phase

The Chang 2 hard fork necessitates five governance actions that must be executed on-chain. During this initial governance phase, the Interim Constitution Committee (ICC) and stake pool operators (SPOs) play a vital role in the decision-making process. It’s important to note that decentralized representatives (DReps) will not participate in voting during this hard fork process. Their involvement in governance will only begin after the successful enactment of Chang 2.

The approval of the upgrade hinges on the votes from Cardano’s stake pool operators. For the hard fork to proceed, the SPOs must meet the required voting threshold while the ICC casts a “yes” vote. If the community ratifies the hard fork, the upgrade will take effect five days later, aligning with one epoch. This upgrade will incorporate Cardano’s final governance features as outlined in the Cardano Improvement Proposal (CIP-1694).

Enhancements in Cardano Node 10.1.1

The newly released Cardano Node 10.1.1 serves as the mainnet version capable of supporting the Chang 2 hard fork. According to the GitHub documentation, this version introduces numerous enhancements to the governance system.

Notably, it allows for SPO delegation to predetermined voting options and automates DRep voting abstentions, replacing the previous method that relied on rewards address delegation. Additionally, the update incorporates new Plutus primitives defined in CIP-0122, CIP-0123, and CIP-0127.

Beyond governance improvements, Cardano Node 10.1.1 also features enhancements across various components, including the ledger, command line interface (CLI), application programming interface (API), and networking codebases.

This robust update positions Cardano for a transformative future as it transitions into a more decentralized governance model.

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