Alonzo Hard Fork to Bring Smart Contract Compatibility to Cardano (ADA) In April

In a recent virtual conference of the Cardano360 event, IOHK Chief and Cardano CEO Charles Hoskinson said that Cardano’s roadmap is on course.

Alonzo HardFork Coming Next Month

According to Hoskinson, the Alonzo hard fork combinator will be launching in April. According to the academic, this feature will let users deploy smart contracts on the Cardano network.

“For the first time ever, publicly, people will be able to write smart contracts and deploy them on Cardano.”

The project has been heavily criticized, with some saying that Cardano will not displace Ethereum. Hoskinson has always said that is not the end goal of Cardano and that the blockchain network was cut out for something greater. And with this update, Hoskinson has validated his supporters.

Hoskinson said the Alonzo update would be deployed in the form of a hard fork just like the “Shelley” era. The former Ethereum executive noted that the upgrade would be available on the testnet in June, with the full mainnet launch slated for August this year.

Hoskinson also said the mainnet launch could see the launch of its Plutus programming platform for token swaps.

Cardano Would Host Countries

Cardano progressively upgrading its blockchain offering has made it to be called the “Ethereum killer.”

Ethereum has seen its gas fees shoot up. The second most valuable crypto project has also been plagued by slow transaction speed. Even with these challenges, Ethereum is a hub for everything decentralized applications (dApps). Decentralized offerings like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized lending, token swaps have continued to thrive.

But skyrocketing gas fees have seen users begin to explore alternative projects to build a fast-growing dApp niche. Cardano’s multi-asset and smart contract platform would be a great relief as its transaction is reputed to be much lower.

And according to the Cardano team, who is ably represented by Hoskinson, a fully formed Cardano blockchain would process thousands of transactions in a few seconds.

Besides aiming to move into the DeFi space, Hoskinson has said Cardano would fulfil a much-larger mission when it goes live. In a recent blockchain conference for Africa, Hoskinson said the Cardano is not just about facilitating the development of dApps. To him, the peer-reviewed blockchain would be able to host data of countries. He also said Cardano is currently working with some African nations to create digital identities linked to the Cardano blockchain.

This deal would see millions of users come into the Cardano ecosystem and create a whole new $5 trillion of wealth.

Even though the project is still under development, Hoskinson said many developers and DeFi projects have already subscribed, further propelling the Cardano ADA up the crypto chart.

Jimmy has been following the development of blockchain for several years, and he is optimistic about its potential to democratize the financial system. When not immersed in the daily events in the crypto scene, he can be found watching legal reruns or trying to beat his Scrabble high score.