Cardano’s Scaling Solution Hydra Could Release a Testnet Soon

Cardano’s scaling solution Hydra could be launched in the near future, at least as a testnet. In a recent tweet by Matthias Benkort, Haskell developer, he said that there has been steady progress on the Hydra proof-of-concept. Moreover, he stated that the next steps will be to focus on on-chain validations and closing the gap towards the testnet. 

Cardano Continues to Move Forward

It has been a very positive year for Cardano (ADA). The network continues to expand thanks to developers that are working on different initiatives, including the Hydra proof of concept that could be ready to be released in the near future (on testnet). 

The goal is to launch Hydra by the end of 2022. However, it might be possible to see a sooner release if things go as expected. Moreover, the comments shared by Matthias Benkort seem to point to an early release of Hydra. Nonetheless, this is yet to be seen as Cardano experienced delays in the past when it came to network upgrades. 

One of the issues that have been affecting blockchain networks all around the world is related to the lack of scalability. Scaling issues make it difficult for crypto projects to expand and reach higher throughputs. Why? Simply because every transaction involves a fee and a network confirmation. Depending on the blockchain network, confirmations can take longer (depending on the decentralization degree). But they can also be more expensive. 

Hydra works in a different way and would help Cardano expand in the coming years. The goal was to create a 2-layer scaling solution that would address the concerns of scalability and maximize throughput. Moreover, Hydra could also work to minimize latency, reduce costs and storage requirements. 

Despite the positive around Cardano, the price of this virtual currency has fallen by 1% in the last 24 hours. However, this is related to the fact that most virtual currencies are currently experiencing a difficult period. In the last 7 days, Cardano has registered a price increase of 2%, very similar to the average among the top 10 digital currencies. 

Let’s also not forget that Cardano is now the 7th largest digital asset and it surpassed other digital currencies such as XRP, Dogecoin (DOGE) or Litecoin (LTC), among others. With Hydra’s launch, it might be possible for ADA demand to grow even higher. But this is something that we would have to wait for. It would be very important to see the effect that this second layer scaling solution would have on Cardano and the whole crypto market.