Cardano (ADA) Released “Node 9.0” Software, Chang Hard Fork Imminent

The Cardano development team released “Node 9.0,” the newest version of the Cardano validator node software, on July 8.

Cardano validator node software version “Node 9.0” was released by the development team on July 8. According to a YouTube video posted by Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson on July 7, this new software is the last development step required for the upcoming Chang hard fork.

The software was released at approximately 7 pm UTC. According to its notes, it “is the first node that can support crossing the 9.0 hard fork (Chang) boundary on mainnet and long-running testnets, such as PreProd.”

The previous day, Hoskinson announced in a YouTube video that the software’s release was imminent, stating that it would be available “next week.” He also claimed that “probably Monday or Tuesday, the signal for mass upgrades will come.” For a hard fork to occur, 70% of nodes will need to vote to upgrade to the new software, Hoskinson stated.

The Chang hard fork is intended to be the first step in giving Cardano fully decentralized governance. It begins the “Age of Voltaire” on Cardano's roadmap, a period characterized by massive changes to the network's political system.

These changes are outlined by the developers in Cardano Improvement Proposal 1694 (CIP 1694). According to this proposal, Chang will eventually enable the introduction of Delegate Representatives (DReps), who will be elected by Cardano ADA tokenholders.

These representatives will draft a Cardano Constitution, which will become the supreme governing law of the network. After a Constitution is drafted and approved, DReps will continue to propose changes to the network in accordance with this constitution.

The Node 9.0 notes state that it will not yet “enable DRep voting and all governance actions,” as the full voting protocol will only be provided in version 10.0. Even so, it “supports entering the bootstrap phase of CIP-1694 in production environments.”

At the time of publication, block explorer Cardanoscan shows that exchanges and stake pools have not yet prepared for the hard fork.

In the YouTube video, Hoskinson stated that he expects the hard fork to begin on “Monday or Tuesday,” indicating that the process will start on July 8-9.

Hoskinson had previously stated that he expected the fork to occur in June, but that deadline passed approximately one week ago. Cardano implemented another node upgrade on June 26 after an attacker attempted to crash the network through a distributed denial-of-service attack.