Cardano Will Deploy Smart Contract Support on Testnet Alonzo
Cardano developer IOHK has started rolling out the infrastructure to introduce smart contracts on the blockchain platform, bringing it closer to the functionality enjoyed by its rival Ethereum.
Announced today, "Alonzo" - named after the mathematician and computer theoretician Alonzo Church - is the first part of a series of updates that are expected to bring the full functionality of smart contracts to the blockchain by the end of August.
"The most critical engineering path, integration path, coordination path, and community path are for the next 90 days," said Cardano founder and IOHK CEO Charles Hoskinson in an update he issued to earlier this week.
Smart contracts are a key feature of Cardano's evolution. They will allow the platform to host Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications for the first time, and compete with other DeFi ecosystems such as Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain.
Ethereum is the current leader in this space by far, but the rise of the network has been hampered by high fees and slow transactions. Ethereum is also currently in the process of a major upgrade, but the current situation gives Cardano, and other rival projects such as Binance Smart Chain, Solana, and Polkadot, an opportunity to move forward.
Cardano Advances, Slowly But Sure
Since its inception in 2015, Cardano has been characterized by rigorous research and academic testing. Named after the famous international poets Byron, Shelley, Goguen, Basho and Voltaire, the many "epochs" of the transformation of the platform are divided by several sub-phases and multiple test networks.
Earlier this year, Cardano completed its "Shelley" phase, which transformed Cardano from a federated blockchain to a decentralized one, as the community became a validator of the blockchain.
Alonzo is the last phase of the "Goguen" era of the network, which adds smart contracts. Its rollout has three phases: blue, white and purple, leading to a hard fork expected in August.
With each phase, the developers plan to introduce more users and add new features.
Cardano's strategy may be considered piecemeal by some, but it doesn't appear to have hurt ADA, the platform's native cryptocurrency. The token is currently in fifth place, based on the size of its market capitalization, and has been one of the fastest rising this year.
Taken from :
