The Cardano Chang hard fork launched on the 1st of September and is expected to be the next big development of the Cardano blockchain. This upgrade marks a great shift towards decentralization, empowering Cardano’s community to play a more active role in shaping the network’s future. That being said, what exactly is Chang hard fork, and how is it doing this thing?

What is the Chang Hard Fork?

The introduction of Chang hard fork marks the first step toward the Voltaire age. Voltaire age is one where Cardano aims to become a completely decentralized blockchain in which ADA holders may directly participate in decision-making and contribute to network growth.

Technically, Cardano Chang hard fork is an update that makes significant modifications to the protocol. Its primary objective is to transition Cardano from a centralized model where a small group of developers and stakeholders control the network’s direction to a more community-driven approach. For the hard fork to take effect, all nodes, or blockchain-running computers, must switch to the new software.

Key Features and Changes

• Reference scripts for Plutus v1: This upgrade allows older scripts to use reference scripts, lowering DApp expenses and boosting onchain capacity. This update is especially significant for improving the cost and scalability of Cardano’s decentralized apps.
• Adjustments to SPO deposits: The Chang hard fork allows for individual tracking of SPO deposits, differentiating between stake address registration deposits and stake pool registration deposits. This difference, which applies retrospectively to the Shelley era, helps the network’s transparency and handling of deposits.
• The protocol parameter “minFeeRefScriptsCoinsPerByte” This new protocol option improves the Plutus cost model by allowing for independent cost tweaking for reference scripts, resulting in more exact charge computations. This modification also guarantees that costs stay fair and predictable even as the network grows.
• General ledger rule changes: The Chang update includes a number of modifications to the general ledger rules, ensuring that the ledger runs more effectively and securely.

Impact of Chang Hard Fork on Cardano

The latest Chang hard fork was predicted to completely change ADA as the network enters the Voltaire era. The purpose of this upgrade is to provide ADA holders more influence over decision-making, which will strengthen the blockchain ecosystem. But the market’s initial response hasn’t been encouraging.

Although the hard fork update, mostly spearheaded by cryptocurrency whales, it as now caused a large sell-off instead of increasing the value of ADA. The market responded to the increased supply under this “sell-the-news” pattern, which caused ADA’s value to fall 10%. Investor confidence has declined as a result of this.

Despite the present economic slowdown, ADA’s technological basis is solid since ongoing advancements like the Vasil hard fork increase the scalability and efficiency of transactions. The market’s present sentiment indicates that investors are apprehensive, despite the fact that these developments position ADA well for future growth. Owing to its robust network and ongoing expansion initiatives, analysts are upbeat about ADA’s long-term prospects and think the organization may reach all-time highs by 2025.

ADA’s obstacles have compelled investors to carefully weigh the benefits and risks of their investments and seek alternatives. The emerging star in decentralized gaming, Rollblock, has drawn the attention of investors as a result.

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