Explainer: The Plomin Hard Fork (Cardano)

The official draft of the Cardano constitution was signed in December 2024 and will soon be handed over to the DReps and community for an on-chain vote. Thus, Cardano’s decentralized governance era continues to progress rapidly. 

Alongside the vote, the Plomin hard fork and the changes it will bring are among the next critical pieces. 

In this blog, we’ll review the significant blockchain governance changes it will introduce and discuss its implications for the Cardano community and ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

• The Plomin hard fork is a Cardano blockchain upgrade that introduces significant governance changes for the community.
• It enables the full implementation of decentralized governance, allowing ADA holders to delegate voting power to DReps (Delegated Representatives) who vote on governance actions.
• Key governance actions include protocol parameter changes, treasury withdrawals, and hard fork initiations.
• The Plomin hard fork requires SPOs (Stake Pool Operators) to upgrade their nodes and approve the upgrade with a 51% majority vote. As of January 22, 78% of the network nodes had upgraded to the new version.
• Once implemented, the Voltaire era of Cardano will be fully realized, giving the community control over the network’s future.
• This marks a significant step towards full community-driven governance on the Cardano blockchain.
• Readiness for supported wallets, dApps, voting, and other information can be found here.
• As a member of Cardano’s Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC), EMURGO has cast a vote in support of the hard fork. 

What is the Plomin Hard Fork?

The Plomin hard fork was initially slated to be the second upgrade of the two-part Chang hard fork. It was renamed in memory of Cardano community contributor Matthew Plomin. The Plomin hard fork is the follow-up upgrade to the first part of the Chang hard fork, integrated in 2024. 

A blockchain hard fork updates the software across the distributed network of nodes that validate and secure a blockchain such as Cardano. As each node (or validator in Cardano) follows the protocol that governs the network, it must adopt the upgrade to continue operating. Hard forks enable new functionalities, bolster security, and streamline network operations, among other benefits.

This hard fork will deliver the second part of the governance tools outlined in CIP-1694, a proposal documenting Cardano’s decentralized governance structure. Once completed, the full decentralized governance model will be implemented and recorded on-chain in the Cardano blockchain network. Thus, the Plomin upgrade will be the first blockchain hard fork to utilize on-chain governance to enhance transparency and accountability by network stakeholders, including voting by the Stake Pool Operators (SPOs). 

The main feature of the Plomin hard fork is the full implementation of delegated representatives (DReps) with treasury withdrawals enabled, and completing the transition from the technical bootstrapping phase of CIP-1694.

Related reading:

• What is the Chang Hard Fork?
• What are the governance bodies in Cardano? What is a DRep? SPO?
• 5 key takeaways from the Cardano Constitutional Convention

After that point, DReps can vote on future governance actions with their own ADA and any ADA delegated to them by the community. Also, once the hard fork is completed, all Cardano governance actions will be ready for use.

Here are the governance actions:

This is very important since anyone in the Cardano community can trigger a governance action and put it to a vote. 

Finally, the Plomin hard fork means the community will vote on the Cardano constitution, ratified by the delegates during the Cardano Constitutional Convention. Now that the DReps are fully operational, the community can vote to accept the constitution through their supported DRep. The date for this network-wide vote has yet to be determined. 

Plomin Hard Fork Readiness

As we mentioned, this is the first time the SPOs have had the chance to vote for a hard fork. This means that if the SPOs vote against the upgrade, it will not proceed to be pushed to the main Cardano network. 

The minimum threshold for approving a hard fork is 51% of the network’s stake, with more than 60% of SPOs approving it as of writing. This means the vote has passed; therefore, the Plomin upgrade will happen. The governance action for the Plomin hard fork expires on January 29. Since it’s expected to pass, the network will upgrade after that date. 

To connect to the network, the SPOs need to upgrade to node 10.1.4. As of January 22, 78% of the network nodes had upgraded to the new version, signaling they were ready to accept the upgrade, while around 60% of exchange liquidity has been reported as Ready for the hard fork.

Cardano’s Interim Constitutional Committee (ICC) will also vote on whether to support the hard fork. The vote threshold to reach is 5 out of 7 constitutional votes. The current ICC is composed of EMURGO, IOG, Cardano Foundation, Intersect, Cardano Atlantic Council, Cardano Japan, and Eastern Cardano Council. As a member, EMURGO has cast a supporting vote for the hard fork. See the current voting status here. 

Read more: Explaining the Interim Constitutional Committee

Finally, while some Cardano wallets may not transition to the new Plomin node version, Yoroi Wallet users can be assured that their wallets will be ready. See the Wallets section on the Plomin Upgrade webpage for details on which wallets will support the hard fork. Users of these other wallets should consider this and take necessary actions. Other items such as voting status, supporting dApps, and other information can also be found on the page.

Once the Plomin hard fork is enacted, the Voltaire era will be fully implemented. From that point forward, it’ll be up to the Cardano community to decide what comes next and to create a new roadmap for the network. 

It’s the start of a new path for the Cardano network. The community has to take charge and begin tracking the governance actions, register or delegate to a DRep, and engage with Intersect to build the future of the Cardano blockchain. 

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Disclaimer 

You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained herein shall constitute a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by EMURGO to invest.