Cardano Upgrades Testnet With Smart Contracts Capabilities, ADA Price Surges

Input-Output (IOHK), the development team behind Cardano, has announced the successful deployment of smart contracts on its testnet.

Smart Contracts To Launch On Mainnet On September 12

The current hard fork, dubbed Alonzo, would include the Plutus smart contract capabilities. Plutus is the framework that would enable smart contracts on Cardano-also referred to as the in-house programming architecture of the Cardano blockchain.

In a tweet, the IOHK also disclosed that plans are already underway to roll out the Alonzo mainnet upgrade on September 12. The firm stated,

“Yesterday, we upgraded the #Cardano testnet, successfully deploying #Plutus #smartcontracts capability. The focus now is on final component testing & exchange integrations, ahead of the #Alonzo mainnet upgrade, still on track for deployment on 12 September.”

The Alonzo mainnet upgrade is expected to usher in decentralized applications (dapps) on the main network of Cardano. Currently, developers can only use smart contracts on the protocol’s testnet.

Cardano plans to integrate Alonzo with crypto exchanges when the mainnet becomes fully operational. So far, crypto exchanges like Bitpoint, Coinbase, Bittrex, Coinbase Pro, Kubecoin, and HitBTC have already signaled interest and are preparing to integrate with Cardano.

Cardano’s native token ADA has been rallying for weeks as investors anticipate the deployment of the smart contracts. ADA surged over 137% and broke through the $3 mark for the first time, hitting a new record-high of $3.10. The token is now the third-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $95.5 billion.

Cardano’s Continuous Upgrades

The Cardano network is one of the few leading blockchains that is still undergoing major changes and development. According to the network’s roadmap, the ongoing smart contract upgrade is under the Goguen phase.

This represents the third phase of the roadmap after Byron and Shelley. The Byron and Shelley upgrades were focused on the establishment of Cardano and its decentralization. The current Goguen phase is split into three stages; Allegra, Mary, and Alonzo.

The Allegra update launched on December 16 last year, while the Mary update was deployed on the mainnet in March this year. This leaves the Alonzo upgrade split into three phases: Alonzo Blue, White, and Purple.

The last two stages of the project’s roadmap are called Basho and Voltaire. Basho is aimed at improving the scalability and interoperability of the Cardano network.

On the other hand, Voltaire would focus on making the network “truly decentralized” by transferring the entire governance mechanism to network participants. That is, the IOHK team would no longer manage it.

So far, Cardano is leading the famous ‘Ethereum killer’ niche comprising Polkadot and Solana by market cap. The proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain will have a lot to prove as the months roll by, given the hotly-contested DeFi sub-sector it operates.

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.