Cardano Releases Node 9.0 In Preparation for Chang Hard Fork

Cardano has officially released Node 9.0, an update that prepares the network for the upcoming Chang hard fork. This update introduces large optimizations like on-chain governance and more options for scripting, which is a major step toward more decentralized governance.

Node 9.0 integrates several key features such as Plutus v1 reference scripts and script signature support, crucial for the Conway ledger era.

The release is designed to facilitate the transition across the 9.0 hard fork boundary on Cardano’s mainnet and enduring testnets like PreProd.

However, it limits its support to initiating the bootstrap phase of on-chain governance, with full governance functionality expected for the Protocol Version 10.0. Notably, the Cardano CLI has issues in the Conway era, where the transaction build command, mismanages current treasury values, affecting script transactions and period regular transactions.

Users are advised to use the transaction build-raw command as a temporary workaround until these issues are addressed in an upcoming patch. The node requires general specifications such as a modern Intel or AMD x86 processor, at least 24 GB of RAM, and 200+ GB of free space. It supports GHC 8.10.7 and Cabal 3.8.1.0, ensuring compatibility across different platforms.

The Chang hard fork is expected to begin shortly, marking the start of Cardano’s “Age of Voltaire.” This phase aims to introduce a structured political system into the network, beginning with the election of Delegate Representatives (DReps).

Although the current release doesn’t support all planned governance actions, it sets the stage for these significant network evolutions.