Cardano delays Chang hardfork for Binance, other CEX upgrades

Cardano will delay the highly anticipated Chang hardfork to September 1, 2024, according to the latest update.

Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson confirmed the delay in a post on X. He mentioned that while the Chang upgrade is ready, the new date will allow Binance and other platforms more time to prepare for the hardfork.

“The magic of deadlines is that people who aren’t taking upgrades seriously suddenly say damn we got to get moving. When they get moving, we converge quickly. It looks like Binance and a few others need more time to get their houses in order, so the rocket is going to wait on the pad, another epoch for the weather to get better. Next Chang HF window, September 1^st,”

Charles Hoskinson.

What is the Chang hardfork?

Chang is an update that will bring Cardano’s Voltaire era into operation, introducing decentralized governance mechanisms and on-chain voting.

What is next?

A recent update on the state of preparedness for the ecosystem for Cardano’s Chang hard fork highlighted a potential mainnet launch on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. However, the team also set Aug. 23 as the date for the “final go/no go decision.”

This is because although Stake Pool Operators had reached the threshold of 80% upgrade to the 9.1.0 version, exchanges and decentralized applications had not. SPO-readiness aside, the issue of exchange liquidity is key. Among the major players in this space is Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume.

Cardano now has to wait for these exchanges to move to the 9.1.0 version of the blockchain network’s software. Despite this delay, Hoskinson assures that “nothing” will stop the Chang hardfork.

Nothing is going to stop the upgrade to Voltaire. We have an elected government that has to take power. The rocket isn't leaving the pad. We just have to wait for the weather to clear.

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) August 23, 2024

Per data on the Chang upgrade readiness page, 83% of SPOs are on 9.1.0 while exchange liquidity is currently at 46%. The desired threshold is 85%.

Cardano estimates reaching the above mark would have the next hard fork date at September 1, 2024.