Voltaire marks the final era in Cardano’s roadmap, focusing on decentralized governance. From the beginning, Cardano’s development has been divided into different eras, each targeting a specific aspect of the technology. Voltaire is all about giving the community control over governance.
It’s important to note that these development eras aren’t happening one after the other but are progressing in parallel. For example, smart contracts were introduced during the previous Goguen era, but improvements are still being made.
The first steps towards shaping Cardano’s future governance are already in progress, with a focus on community involvement, supported by EMURGO, IOG, and the Cardano Foundation. Since governance decisions will impact the direction of Cardano’s smart contracts, scalability solutions, sidechains, and more, it’s crucial that the community is actively involved.
Voltaire will address two main aspects of governance: voting and treasury systems.
1. Voting ensures that the community prioritizes the right initiatives.
2. Treasury systems manage the financial resources of the Cardano network.
Cardano’s governance will be built on three key pillars:
1. MBO (Member-Based Organization): This is a central institution that brings together companies, developers, individuals, and other participants in the ecosystem to shape Cardano’s future.
2. Constitution: This will outline the rights and principles of everyone involved in the Cardano ecosystem.
3. Democratic Consent: Every participant should and will have a voice in shaping decisions.
Why is Voltaire important?
Governance is crucial for any community-driven system. Many of today’s crises stem from failures in governance, such as political gridlocks, corporate corruption, and economic instability. The blockchain industry has also experienced the impact of poor governance. For example, the debate over Bitcoin’s block size led to a split in the Bitcoin network, creating Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Cardano aims to avoid these issues by creating a fair governance system designed to last for generations and serve a large user base. Voltaire is essential in making Cardano a sustainable project, ensuring that different stakeholders—ADA holders, developers, and stake pool operators—can all have a say in the network’s direction.
As more projects launch on Cardano, different priorities will emerge. A well-structured governance system will help allocate resources efficiently by reflecting the preferences of the participants.
Voltaire is addressing these issues and starting the conversation on how to best create a representative system for a global network with millions of users.
Cardano After Voltaire
The Voltaire era is crucial for Cardano’s future sustainability. Many projects struggle when they try to incorporate community input, leading to internal conflict. Once Voltaire is fully in place, the Cardano community will shift from being passive observers to active decision-makers, guiding the direction of the entire network. Cardano will have a first-of-its-kind blockchain constitution that transparently and fairly governs a decentralized network of community members.