Cardano Unveils Plan 529 as Major Hard Fork Upgrade Approaches
2024-12-04

In a recent update shared by Intersect, Cardano has announced the introduction of Plan 529, a significant step toward its upcoming Plomin hard fork upgrade.
In late November, the hard fork working group decided to name the upcoming intra-era hard fork after Matthew Plomin, a dedicated Cardano community member and the cofounder of Cardano USDM stablecoin, who passed away in November. The hard fork was originally known as Chang 2 hard fork.
According to Cardano member-based organization Intersect, Plan 529 encapsulates preparations necessary for the mainnet hard fork governance action, set to be raised during epoch 529.
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Intersect noted that in recent weeks, the hard fork working group discussed the requirements for safely raising the mainnet hard fork governance action, which has now been met. It anticipates that availability and time constraints may likely met by mainnet epoch 529, which starts on Dec. 20 at 9:44 p.m. UTC. Intersect notes this date as the likely planned date for the mainnet hard fork governance action to be raised.
Intersect added that signaling this intent allows the community to plan its final preparations well with the minimum possible time between submitting a governance action and its enactment, just over two epochs, although this is extremely unlikely.
Likely key dates ahead
By raising the action in epoch 529, the earliest possible enactment date for the Plomin mainnet hard fork is Jan. 4, 2025, avoiding festive and holiday times for some and giving many in the ecosystem more time to complete final preparations.
Following bootstrap governance rules, the epoch's Plan 529 would provide the best opportunity for SPOs and the ICC to vote on ratifying the hard fork in January 2025. Ratification and enactment could occur at any point between Jan. 4 and Jan. 29, 2025.
Intersect also informed the Cardano community of a minor node release, 10.1.3, which addresses Issue #4772.