Cardano's 'Age of Voltaire' nears with major blockchain upgrade

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson revealed that the blockchain is on course for its “most significant milestone in history,” with the impending Chang fork setting the stage for the “Age of Voltaire.”

In a June 9 social media post, Hoskinson said:

“It looks like June will be the month that Cardano Node will reach 9.0. This means that Cardano is Chang fork ready and waiting for 70 percent of the SPOs to install the new node. Then, a hard fork can occur pushing Cardano into the Age of Voltaire.”

Age of Voltaire

The Chang upgrade will mark a pivotal moment for Cardano as it introduces crucial tools and infrastructure to support the “Age of Voltaire.”

The Voltaire era is set to provide the final elements needed for the network to achieve self-sustainability. It empowers network participants to propose Cardano improvements, subject to stakeholder voting that leverages the existing staking and delegation process.

Voltaire also establishes a treasury system to finance future network development. A portion of all transaction fees will be pooled to fund development efforts decided upon through the voting process.

Once these voting and treasury systems are operational, Cardano will be fully decentralized and no longer be under IOHK’s management. The community will take the reins and be equipped to nurture and advance Cardano from its secure, decentralized foundation.

Hoskinson, commenting on the update, said:

“It’s the most significant milestone in the history of Cardano and for the industry as a whole. Cardano will be a decentralized civilization spanning the entire world with millions of residents. We’ll have the most advanced blockchain governance system, annual budgets, a treasury, and the wisdom of our entire community to guide us.”

How will ADA react?

While Hoskinson is focused on the technological strides made by the upgrade, most Cardano holders are more concerned about how it impacts ADA’s price.

This year, ADA has emerged as one of the struggling large-cap digital assets, briefly falling out of the top 10 digital assets by market capitalization at different points during the past month.

While many traders perceive its current price of $0.4376 as undervalued, the price performance of its rivals, such as Solana and Ethereum, has increased anxiety surrounding the project.

However, Hoskinson believes that Cardano’s fundamentals remain robust, which would translate into a positive growth trajectory for the digital asset.

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