Cardano ecosystem must prepare for Chang upgrade: Intersect

Intersect, the organization overseeing the development of the Cardano blockchain, has issued an urgent call for decentralized application projects on the blockchain in order to accelerate preparations for Chang Upgrade #1.

More than 80% of staking pool operators on Cardano (ADA) have already migrated to the latest validator node, 9.1.0, according to an Aug. 17 statement shared by Intersect with crypto.news. However, crypto exchanges and decentralized applications on the blockchain are also required to upgrade to the 9.1.0 node and report their progress.

The organization stated in a statement that the success of the upgrade depends on the exchanges achieving the 85 percent liquidity target on the new node.

The Chang upgrade is set to introduce on-chain governance to the Cardano ecosystem. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has previously highlighted the importance of the upgrade, describing it as a key step towards establishing a “decentralized civilization” for millions of users.

As Crypto.news previously reported, the Chang upgrade will usher in the Voltaire era, which will allow the network to move closer to a fully decentralized system.

The blockchain has gone through several upgrades, each named after influential poets (i.e. Byron, Shelley, Goguen, and Basho). The upcoming Chang upgrade will allow ADA token holders to vote on protocol changes. Additionally, the upgrade is expected to bring improvements to smart contracts, particularly the introduction of the PlutusV3 cryptographic primitive for securing data on the network.

The Cardano token has not responded well to Intersect’s incentives so far. It is currently trading at $0.3345, a 0.8% increase over the last 24 hours.

Cardano price chart, May 1-August 17 | Source: crypto.news

Over the 30-day period, the current ADA price still reflects a 21% decline, which is a 24% year-to-date recovery.

In late July, ADA saw a breakout after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shelved allegations that ADA was an unregistered security in its ongoing legal battle with Binance.