IOHK to Launch a dApp Marketplace and Fractional NFTs on Cardano (ADA) Blockchain

The Cardano blockchain has been on a significant expansion spree following the launch of its smart contract feature. Now that smart contracts are live, the blockchain’s developers- Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) – are wasting no time making it more functional.

Bringing All Available dApps to One Place

On Wednesday, IOHK published a blog post announcing that they would be looking to launch a store for decentralized applications (dApps) on the Cardano blockchain. The store – called Plutus – will serve as a central repository for all dApps launched on Cardano, making it easier for community members to find them.

The blog post included a snapshot of Cardano’s “integrated approach” to the development of its ecosystem. The company is looking to make Plutus a central part of its Cardano Summit.

Shruti Appiah, Cardano’s product and smart contracts lead, pointed out that Plutus will address two issues primarily. The first problem is the lack of a formal discovery process for Cardano’s dApps, while the second is the absence of a consolidated view of the dApps. On Plutus, Cardano users will be able to run through all available apps on the chain through a single “web page.”

IOHK added that it would also add a certification program for third-party dApps on Cardano. This way, third-party developers would build their apps and launch on the blockchain, and certification will make these apps more trustworthy to users.

The spate of announcements didn’t stop there, however. The next day, dcSpark – a fast-rising blockchain startup – announced a new Cardano-based project called Fracada. The project will integrate with Cardano’s Plutus language to make it possible for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to be broken down into “fractions.”

Using fractionalization, people will be able to purchase parts of an NFT if they don’t have the funds to buy the whole thing. It is unclear whether there will be an equally large market for fractionalized NFTs. Still, NFT functionality coming to the Cardano blockchain is another impressive feat that’s coming thanks to the introduction of smart contracts.

Good Times for Cardano

It has been an exciting two weeks for the Cardano blockchain. Much anticipation was built towards the launch of smart contracts on the chain through the Alonzo hard fork, and the successful implementation of the hard fork bright a new wave of adoption.

Data shows that over 200 smart contracts have been listed on the Cardano blockchain, showing that developers are now looking to build on it. Charles Hoskinson, the founder of IOHK, has publicly bragged that the introduction of smart contracts on Cardano now means that the decentralized finance (DeFi) space is now “up for grabs.” he pointed out that the “winning” blockchains will be those to focus on multi-chain support and liquidity, and this is what they plan to do at Cardano.

Last month, dcSpark confirmed that its sidechain project would also bring Ethereum-compatible smart contracts to the Cardano blockchain. As the market continues to grow, Cardano could be putting itself in a unique position.

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.