The plan to add smart contracts next month could defy skeptics who have bet that the functionality wouldn't come anytime soon.
Cardano jumped past $2 for the first time in nearly three months as the blockchain’s chief developer announced a September release date for the planned “Alonzo” upgrade – a move that would usher in smart-contract functionality and thus address what critics have described as one of the network’s most glaring deficiencies.
Smart-contract functionality would allow Cardano to incorporate more applications including so-called decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms that allow for automated cryptocurrency lending and trading. The improvement could put the network in a better position to challenge Ethereum, currently the leader among blockchains with smart-contract functionality.
The ADA price reached $2.08 at 9:05 UTC Friday, the highest since mid-May, when ADA was trading at $2.31 at its all-time high. Over the past 24 hours, it’s up 16%. The recent price rally has pushed cardano’s market capitalization to about $65 billion, vying with binance coin (BNB) and tether (USDT) for the No. 3 rank among all cryptocurrencies by market value after No. 1 bitcoin (BTC) and No. 2 ether (ETH).
Nigel Hemsley, head of delivery for Cardano, said in a video released by developer Input Output Friday that the platform would launch the Alonzo upgrade on “Monday, Sept. 12,” though a quick glance at the calendar shows that the date falls on a Sunday this year. The developer later tweeted again saying that the platform targeted simply “Sept. 12” for the upgrade.
Started by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, Cardano is a blockchain that aims to compete with Ethereum and other decentralized application platforms but as an avowedly more scalable, secure and efficient alternative.
Coindesk
