According to U.Today, Cardano (ADA) is gearing up for the much-anticipated Chang upgrade, with several new releases activated ahead of this significant milestone. Ktorz, the technical director at Cardano Foundation, has informed the Cardano community about a new release for Ogmios, a lightweight bridge interface for a Cardano node that offers a WebSockets API enabling local clients to interact with Ouroboros' mini-protocols via JSON/RPC. In a tweet, Ktorz announced that Ogmios is now ready for the Chang 1 update with the release of version 6.5.0. This latest release is compatible with the recently launched Cardano node 9.0.0 and includes a new ledger state query for treasury and reserves, as well as new protocol parameters covering the new reference script fee and maximum size. Ktorz also noted that the formula for fee calculation is changing in Conway, with script references now priced in as part of the minimum transaction fee. The release notes include an annex outlining the new equation and some plots offering a sense of its impact.

The Cardano ecosystem is on the brink of a major transformation with the upcoming Chang upgrade. This pivotal upgrade aims to enable decentralized governance on the Cardano blockchain, firmly based on the Voltaire-era ideals outlined by Cardano's roadmap and detailed in CIP-1694. The upgrade will be carried out in two major phases, Chang 1 and Chang 2, each introducing critical governance aspects that will give the community a meaningful say in the protocol's development. Chang Upgrade 1 will add governance features to Cardano and start the technical bootstrapping phase, as outlined in CIP-1694. Chang Upgrade 2 will remove CIP-1694 from the technical bootstrapping process, allowing for complete on-chain governance functionality, including DRep participation and governance actions.