Cardano is known for its elegant system design that introduces innovative upgrades every other time. The project was designed with a plan for 5 main development phases. The first and second upgrades have already been implemented, with the most recent being the Shelley upgrade. The next and third one is the Goguen upgrade.
For some time now, the Cardano community has lived in suspense, waiting for the announcement of a workable timeline for the next network upgrade. This is largely due to the previous experiences where the upgrades had their timelines postponed multiple times. Now, the Cardano team is ready for the next phase as the Goguen upgrade will happen this December.
The Hard Fork
Basically, upgrades in the Cardano network are implemented in form of a fork that introduces the new functions to create an almost entirely new and improved system. The Shelley upgrade introduced the staking functionalities that helped to further decentralize the network.
According to one of Cardano’s software engineers, Kevin Hammond, the new upgrade will introduce a function to lock tokens for given periods of time. Users will be required to lock tokens in order to support their smart contracts. The upgrade will also expand the network to accommodate other crypto assets to be created and run on the network – besides ADA.
Not The First, Not The Last
This isn’t the first of forks for the Cardano network, and neither will it be the last. Since its founding back in 2015, the Cardano network has gone through multiple hard forks as envisioned in its roadmap.
After the Goguen upgrade, there will still be 2 more development phases before Cardano can achieve its ultimate goal. The 4th phase is the Basho upgrade and the 5th is the Voltaire upgrade. Each of these will introduce more advanced functionalities in the network. The two will improve governance and scaling parameters for the network.
Hard forks are good for the Cardano network. Past experiences have clearly shown that. If anything, every hard fork results in an upgrade that further endears users to the network. In fact, Cardano has been named as one of the most ambitious projects in the industry with the potential to eclipse many rivals in the near future.
