Cardano (ADA) has experienced a robust rally over the past week, surging nearly 15% as the broader cryptocurrency market recovers. This price spike coincides with Wednesday’s announcement of the final launch date for the highly anticipated Chang hard fork upgrade.
The Chang hard fork, described as a pivotal evolution for the Cardano network, aims to establish a minimum viable on-chain governance system as outlined in CIP-1694. This upgrade will be implemented in two stages, with the first phase introducing core governance features to the blockchain.
Intersect, a key member-based organization within the Cardano ecosystem, has announced that the Chang hard fork working group has reviewed progress and community feedback, clearing the way for a formal proposal of the upgrade’s launch timeline. The target date for the mainnet hard fork is set for Tuesday, August 27th, with a final decision scheduled for early Friday, August 23rd, allowing for the necessary governance actions and sign-off on the hard fork.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson expressed his excitement for the upcoming upgrade, stating, “Are you prepared for Chang? Rocket is on the pad. Governance is coming.”
To align with the Chang hard fork, Input Output Global (IOG), the developer company behind the Cardano blockchain, has released a mandatory update to the Daedalus wallet, version 6.0.0. This update is crucial for users to operate in the “Conway era” following the hard fork.
The first stage of the Chang upgrade, referred to as Chang Upgrade #1, will introduce core governance features to the Cardano blockchain, marking the beginning of the “technical bootstrapping phase” as per CIP-1694. The second stage, Chang Upgrade #2, will further expand these governance implementations, transitioning out of the bootstrapping phase and activating the comprehensive features outlined in CIP-1694.
At the time of writing, ADA has risen 8% in the last 24 hours to a current trading price of $0.3701, just below its 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $0.3779, a near-term resistance level preventing the price from moving higher. A break above this key indicator will be crucial for ADA to regain the $0.400 level, a zone not seen since last month before the broader market crash on August 5th.
Conversely, the token’s 50-day EMA at $0.3505 currently acts as the strongest support for the ADA price on the daily ADA/USDT chart, preventing a retest of the $0.3110 level. The daily chart shows ADA’s price trending upwards, indicating a positive momentum in its market trajectory.
 rallies 15% with the Chang hard fork announced for Aug 27. Governance upgrades and Daedalus 6.0.0 elevate the blockchain's future.){kind=link}