• The final tests and optimizations for Cardano’s Shelley’s launch are still going according to plan, so the hard fork will most likely take place on 29 June.
• In October, Cardano will conduct another hard fork to implement the multi-sig native asset standard and a token-locking mechanism for Voltaire.

After IOHK, the development company behind Cardano, initiated the hard fork process for Shelley yesterday, the countdown to the launch of mainnet is currently running. Until tomorrow, July 27th at 21:41:51 UTC IOHK still has the option to cancel the launch of Shelley. However, as Tim Harrison explained a few hours ago, it does not look like this at the moment.

According to Harrison, yesterday’s Saturday was very productive, with many advances in optimization in all areas, including the wallet backend, Cardano GraphQL, Cardano db-sync, Daedalus and the node software. In addition, a new testnet (MC4) based on yesterday’s new version of the node V1.18.0 was set up and added to Shelley at 19:00 UTC. This could be the final version, Harrison said:

We have a high level of confidence that this node version will be the final candidate we endorse before the mainnet hard fork. So we’re asking our stake pool operators (SPOs) to now join this new network.

We’re asking our pioneer pools to put it through its paces over the next 24 hours or so. If all goes well, this is the version which will become the new network that we’ll ask EVERY ada holder to join, for a last bit of testing and tasting, just before the hard fork.

In parallel, as Harrison further stated, IOHK will gradually retire all other public mainnet candidates, including MC3, which is based on V1.17.0 of the node, and the “original” Shelley testnet, which ran on V.1.15 of the node. This Sunday, V1.18.0 will be integrated into Daedalus and a new version of Daedalus will be released either Sunday evening UTC or Monday morning.

IOHK CEO Charles Hoskinson was also very optimistic in a new episode of “Saturday Night Live”:

Well, we are working hard, you guys may have noticed that 1.18 has been cut, GraphQL should be ready to go tomorrow or on Monday, the DB Sync ist ready to go, the REST API is looking good. I don’t think anything gonna stop the launch, it’s all looking solid.

QA team is shipping away some things; the core node team is shipping away some things. We have been running stress tests and going through every scenario that we could imagine […] so far so good. Last chance to bail out is on Monday, but so far the rocket is on the pad, we are fuelled up and ready to go. I can’t wait to push the button. That will occur on Monday.

After the hard fork, as Hoskinson further explained, all Daedalus wallet users will receive an update. The wallet will show a red “Daedalus no longer works” screen immediately after the Shelley hard fork, and users will need to download the new version. This contains the full Shelley software and will work immediately.

In contrast, Yoroi, Ledger or Trezor users will have to “wait a bit” for the software to be updated. In case users need liquidity immediately, the Daedalus wallet offers a recovery function for the aforementioned wallets to access the ADA via Daedalus.

Further Cardano hard fork to be activated in October

As Hoskinson also informed, there will be a big update show from IOHK on July 30th. Besides the information about Shelley, IOHK will also report on the first steps towards Voltaire. Among other things, it will be about how the first votes will take place, when the first voting phase will start and how cFund is doing.

Hoskinson also announced that there will be another hard fork in October to add the multi-sig native asset standard and “token-locking” mechanism for Voltaire. By October, both the desktop and mobile versions of Daedalus will also receive a “voting center” to allow voting from the wallet. Also in October, Daedalus will receive a “native asset center”.

Below you can find the full stream of Charles Hoskinson.

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