The highly anticipated Node 9.0.0 of the Cardano network launched on July 8 to great acclaim.
According to its GitHub document:
“Node 9.0.0 is a major release of the Cardano node that includes all the changes necessary for the Conway ledger era, including on-chain governance via CIP-1694, support for Plutus v1 reference scripts, and support for Plutus script signatures via CIP-69.”
Why Node 9.0.0 is important for Cardano
On July 8 video on social media platform X, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson highlighted the importance of Node 9.0.0. He explained that this lays the foundation for the Chang hard fork, which significantly changes the structure of the blockchain network.
Hoskinson said:
“Node 9.0.0 essentially means that Cardano has the best, the most decentralized, and I hope the most effective decentralized government in the entire cryptocurrency industry.”
However, Hoskinson noted that Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) will need to independently test and upgrade the new node before the network can execute the Chang hard fork. So if at least 70% or more SPOs have been upgraded, a hard fork date will be set when the network will transition to Chang.
Facts from Cardanoscan shows that exchanges and stake pools are not yet ready for the hard fork at the time of writing.
Chang hard fork
The Chang hard fork marks the culmination of a multi-year effort to transfer project ownership from Cardano Foundation, EMURGO and Input-Output Global to the community. This step will transform the blockchain into a self-sustaining entity with features such as on-chain voting and participant rights.
In this era, Chang will introduce Delegate Representatives (DReps), chosen by Cardano token holders. These representatives will draft a Cardano Constitution, which will become the supreme governing law of the network. Once approved, DReps will propose changes in accordance with the Constitution.
Hoskinson reflected on the importance of this move, saying it would help Cardano become the most scalable ecosystem within the next 24 months because “governance is the key differentiator.”