Cardano (ADA) has become a hotly discussed topic recently as expectations are getting high for the future of the blockchain. The network growth and adoption Cardano has seen recently has put it in the spotlight.
Cardano’s network has been building a solid foundation for the roll-out of new capabilities that will see the network deliver to a lot of expectations. It has been developed with a culture of scientific philosophy and peer-reviewed academic research which has resulted in a verifiably secure blockchain protocol, as well as a community of developers and academics that adhere to extremely high standards of quality and code security assurance.
Performance-wise, Cardano also has an edge over Bitcoin and Ethereum, it being a third-generation blockchain. The blockchain introduces features that will enable it to offer much greater capabilities and computational capacity at a computational cost that is a fraction of these other networks, while still preserving similar security guarantees.
These are some of the reasons why Cardano’s incoming smart contracts will be a huge hit for the market. Cardano, in one of its most significant moves, recently launched the third and final phase of its Alonzo smart contracts testnet, Purple. Already, the developer team is proceeding with the onboarding of crypto exchanges so when the network hard forks into the smart contracts mainnet, it will be a seamless transition for users.
The hard fork combinator event is scheduled to happen in the coming weeks. IOHK plans to hard fork the network and open the Alonzo Purple testnet to any developer who wishes to join.
Some industry players have already noted that this will be a watershed moment for the blockchain. Cryptocurrency investor, Lark Davis, in a tweet encapsulates the sentiments of many on the impact of smart contracts on Cardano.
“Cardano smart contracts are just around the corner, which is a long-awaited and very bullish catalyst for the asset.”
The arrival of smart contracts means Cardano will release native DeFi apps and other apps that can integrate with Cardano to capture liquidity. With 72% of ADA in circulation staked by over 650,000 addresses, a lot of users are already set to offer liquidity on the network. Important to note also is the fact that smart contracts will also mean NFTs will truly take off on the platform, and developers can truly start working with Cardano.
What this means for the market is that Cardano which is already the 4th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization may very well improve its position. With the current standing of things in the market, a mere 6x surge from its current cap will give it the same capitalization as Ethereum.
Overall, proof-of-stake, rigorous research, and development process, its proven team, high market capitalization, strong governance policies roadmap, scalability roadmap, strong contract and protocol security, and decentralized mean that the network is here to stay.
