Charles Hoskinson outlines the Cardano roadmap for 2022 including DeFi loan service for Africa

Courtesy of Charles Hoskinson's Twitter

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has shared the network’s 2021 achievements and its roadmap for 2022.
Greater DApp development, more projects in Africa, and increased institutional adoption are among next year’s targets.

As we edge closer to the end of 2021, Cardano (ADA) Founder Charles Hoskinson has shared a 2022 roadmap for the network.

Speaking in a live Christmas broadcast on YouTube, Hoskinson first reflected on the milestones Cardano and the crypto industry at large have achieved this year. Among his mentions were non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry. The latter, he said, has suffered under hackers who have drained it of over $10.5 billion this year alone.

As for Cardano, Hoskinson notes the network has, in this year, issued over two million assets, the majority being NFTs.

Cardano ecosystem and roadmap for 2022

Next year, the network plans to take in more decentralized applications (DApps) projects, thanks to its smart contract functionality which was enabled this year. Currently, there are more than 127 projects writing code for building atop the Cardano blockchain. Out of these, 20-30 have their launches scheduled in the next three months of 2022.

Additionally, Cardano will next year pull more institutional interest, alongside launching its open-source project structure. He explained;

Next year, what’s going to happen is that a formal open-source project structure is going to be formed, kind of like Hyperledger to Linux. We’re going to see many institutions wired in, and all the people that are currently working on it will be novated over, including me,

One of the blockchains that have exuded keen interest in Africa is Cardano – something it plans to carry on next year. This year, the network saw through enabling education in the continent, in partnership with the University of Luxembourg. It also set up an investment and incubation program – EMURGO Africa – to support high-impact blockchain and tech startups in the continent. IOHK, the foundation behind Cardano, was praised for its Ethiopian project which was named among the most influential in 2021. Another project in Tanzania gives citizens access to social, digital identity, and financial empowerment.

Side notes

As a solution to the financial inclusion challenge in Africa, the Cardano Foundation plans to “build a financial operating system.” With development starting in Q2, 2022, the system will aim at giving Africans access to DeFi services.

My goal for the second half of 2022 is to figure out how to put all the pieces together to get an end-to-end microfinance transaction on Cardano.

So that a real person in Kenya or somewhere with a blockchain-based identity and credit score, stablecoin on the other side, Cardano is the settlement rail. Peer-to-peer, person-to-person, click a button, the loan goes to them. They pay it back, (and it) goes to the other side,” he said.

Towards the end, Hoskinson reiterated Cardano’s long-term goal, adding that the network now has all the requisite tools and equipment that will see it achieve that goal.

The sixth-largest cryptocurrency, ADA, had at press time gained close to 10 percent in the day, to trade at $1.58.