Cardano has reached a significant milestone with the release of a major node update. This milestone comes as the Cardano network gears up for the highly anticipated Chang upgrade.
Cardano Node 9.1.0 has been released, representing a significant step toward the Chang hard fork.
New Release: cardano-node 9.1.0Check it out here: https://t.co/5wg3pgXSCSReleased by github-actions[bot] - input-output-hk#Cardano $ADA #Koios
— Cardano Updates (@cardano_updates) July 25, 2024
As stated in a Github release, Cardano Node 9.1.0 is the mainnet candidate for Chang Upgrade #1, which will deliver governance features to Cardano and begin the technical bootstrapping phase, as outlined in CIP-1694 Bootstrapping Phase. Node 9.1.0 brings a configuration file update to an earlier released Node 9.0.0.
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Earlier in July, Node v 9.0.0 was released as the first node that can support crossing the Chang hard fork boundary on mainnet and long-running testnets, such as PreProd.
What's new?
Cardano node 9.1.0 includes all the features required to cross the upcoming Chang hard fork. The main change from node 9.0.0 is that node 9.1.0 requires a Conway genesis file at start-up, whereas the genesis file was optional in node 9.0.0. This file is needed to cross the Chang hard fork.
The Cardano node 9.1.0 release also incorporates some bug fixes and enhancements to the CLI and API, including a "query treasury" command, and changes to ensure compatibility with CIP69 and CIP119.
In the wake of the upgrade, Cardano SPOs and other critical node users (exchanges, explorers, wallets) have been urged to upgrade to this version of the node. An update proposal to trigger the Chang hard fork will be submitted when sufficient SPOs and exchanges have upgraded to this version.
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Chang hard fork
The Chang upgrade will stagger the release of governance functionality, making it easier to adopt and onboard for those with new or additional roles in governance. Chang Upgrade #2 will deploy governance features to Cardano and begin the technical bootstrapping phase, as described in the CIP-1694 Bootstrapping Phase.
Chang Upgrade #2 takes CIP-1694 out of the technical bootstrapping phase and unlocks the final features of on-chain governance, including DRep participation and all governance actions.
