As Cardano gears up for its Chang hard fork scheduled for August 27, the crypto community is filled with excitement and anticipation. The update pushes Cardano into the “Voltaire era,” marking a major step toward fully decentralized community governance.

Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Cardano, has emphasized the upgrade’s transformative potential. It introduces voting mechanisms, allowing the community to influence the network’s future direction directly.

Cardano Competes With Tron to Become the 10th Largest Crypto

Named after Phil Chang, a notable figure in Cardano’s early governance, the Chang hard fork will enable advanced participation mechanisms. These include delegating votes and withdrawals from the community treasury, which will invigorate the ecosystem and promote innovation.

“Are you prepared for Chang? Rocket is on the pad. Governance is coming,” Hoskinson announced.

Currently, Cardano (ADA) is neck and neck with Tron (TRX) to reclaim its position among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Read more: Cardano (ADA) Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030

This competition intensified after Cardano briefly fell out of the top ten on August 20, 2024. The decline occurred as Tron’s valuation surged, driven by its new meme coin launch platform, SunPump.

However, the hype around Tron has begun to fade, demonstrated by a 6% price drop. In contrast, Cardano has witnessed a 4% rise, bringing its market cap to $13.16 billion, closely trailing Tron’s $13.40 billion.

Top 11 Crypto by Market Capitalization. Source: CoinMarketCap

Observers noted that ADA momentarily eclipsed TRX in market cap earlier today. However, it could not sustain its lead. The gap between the two, approximately $250 million, suggests that Cardano could soon close it, especially with the momentum building toward the hard fork.

Preparations for the Chang hard fork are advancing, with over 14 crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, ready for the update. Others, like Binance, are nearing readiness. Nevertheless, 23 exchanges have yet to start their preparations.

The network’s transition depends on 70% of the participation pool operators updating their nodes to version 9.0, a crucial step for the fork to proceed.

However, Cardano continues to receive criticism for the slow price momentum of ADA. The token has fallen nearly 38% year-to-date, and it’s substantially down from its all-time highs. Yet Cardano’s supporters remain optimistic.

“Last time, everyone said Cardano was dead, ADA did a 100x. Don’t fade the third largest community in crypto, with great tech, and momentum that’s been building for years,” Cardano-focused content creator – ‘big pey,’ said.

Read more: Who Is Charles Hoskinson, the Founder of Cardano?

Cardano (ADA) Price Performance. Source: TradingView

With the final decision for the mainnet hard fork set for tomorrow, August 23, the Cardano community is poised to enter a new chapter. This chapter promises technological advancement and a strengthened democratic ethos in the Cardano ecosystem.