The first snapshot of Cardano will be carried out in a few hours, more specifically of the testnet, in order to start the first phase for the implementation of Shelley.

All documentation will be released this Thursday, to quote CEO Charles Hoskinson.

Balance check snapshot confirmed for tomorrow Epoch 155, Slot 19845. Installers, website and educational materials will be available by Thursday the 14th. Happy balance checking! — Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) November 11, 2019

Currently, the Cardano blockchain is in the Byron era and the next one will be the famous Shelley, which will introduce PoS (Proof of Stake).

The snapshot of today will collect all the ADA balances in the Daedalus and Yoroi wallets. The other tokens located outside those wallets, like those on exchanges, will not be taken into account; the same is true for the tokens stored inside hardware wallets.

Once this snapshot is made, users can use them within the Incentivized Testnet, which is nothing more than a testnet where they can earn rewards in the form of ADA tokens.

The rewards that will be accumulated in this phase will pass and will be usable on the mainnet, considering that a second snapshot will be made at a later time, in order to transfer the balance available on the testnet to the mainnet.

Cardano has chosen to provide the testers with incentives precisely to obtain real feedback and real tests on the operation of the next update so that they can see for themselves the results that will be achieved. In addition, by encouraging the user, there will be greater participation, given that they could earn several ADA tokens, basically by staking them until the next snapshot occurs and then collecting the earned tokens.

The procedure, as the countdown recalls, will start with the snapshot in just a few hours.