Cardano, one of the leading proof-of-stake blockchain projects, is inching closer to the Chang hard fork, which would mark one of its most crucial updates to date.

At press time, 39% of stake pool operators (SPOs) have updated to Cardano’s Node 9.1.0. 

The latest version of Cardano’s validator node was introduced in July, setting the stage for the crucial update. 

For the much-hyped upgrade to be activated, at least 70% of SPOs have to adopt the newly released version of the validator node. At this stage, more than half of them have already made such a step. card

As reported by U.Today, the Chang hard fork has been touted as the biggest update in Cardano’s history by founder Charles Hoskinson. The former stated that the blockchain would have the most advanced governance system. 

During the first phase of the implementation of the Chang hard fork, Cardano is set to transform into an entirely community-governed blockchain. The second upgrade will build upon this progress by introducing a government system, allowing SPOs to vote on governance actions and allowing the community to control treasury withdrawals. 

The Cardano hard fork was initially expected to go live in June. However, developers moved to introduce another node upgrade following a failed spam attack.

Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the new fork, the ADA price is in the red, dipping by roughly 3% over the past 24 hours. 

Prior to the latest upgrade, Cardano implemented the Vasil hard fork in 2022, which improved the blockchain’s security and usability. 

In 2021, Cardano finally introduced smart contract functionality with the Alonzo hard fork.