(MENAFN- April Six) September 14th, 2021- Cardano, the third largest blockchain platform in the world, has successfully completed an upgrade to give it ‘smart contract’ functionality, which gives developers the ability to create apps that will utilise the capabilities of the world's most advanced, greenest blockchain. This upgrade marks the first stage in creating a fairer global financial system at a reduced financial, and environmental, cost. Within 24 hours, the platform has already seen over 100 smart contracts run on the network, with its first decentralized application also already deployed.
Cardano’s smart contract capabilities mean developers will be able to build and deploy their own applications on the platform. Blockchain is set to play a pivotal role in the future of applications, in fact 61% of software developers say blockchain is a ‘game changer’. By building decentralised apps, or 'DApps', on the blockchain, developers minimise the security compromises of traditional apps, which live on a central server, instead utilising the security of a global network of thousands of networked computers.
However, developing apps on the blockchain has, until now, been inaccessible for many developers, who are faced with high and unpredictable costs, as well as energy inefficiencies which see the largest blockchain platforms using the energy equivalent of entire countries. As a result, implementing blockchain for smaller enterprises has often not been a truly viable option without having to compromise on sustainability goals or business costs.
Cardano solves many of these issues. The blockchain platform uses an innovative mechanism for verifying transactions, meaning that the whole network is 4 million times more efficient than Bitcoin, using the energy equivalent of a family home, rather than an entire country, as Bitcoin does. Its ability to accurately predict transaction costs also provides price predictability and stability, which allows developers to build applications without risking lost transactions or unexpectedly high costs.
This year has been a pivotal year for IOHK, the engineering company behind Cardano, which in April announced the world’s largest blockchain deployment, to provide five million teachers and students in Ethiopia with instantly verifiable IDs, facilitating better lesson planning, monitoring of student progress, and allowing the government to be better sighted of future workforce planning needs and gaps. For students, it also allows them to share verifiable qualification details with employers.
IOHK also pioneered a novel solution which allows the creation of NFTs on Cardano without the need for smart contracts, which means that Cardano has seen 780,436 NFTs created to date. In addition, the company has created Catalyst, the world’s largest blockchain innovation fund. Catalyst is a potential disruptor to the venture capital model. It incentivises and funds innovative projects to support the Cardano blockchain and ecosystem. Catalyst has already funded 90 projects to the tune of $5million, with a treasury worth over $1.5B and an engaged community of over 35,000.
This upgrade comes after six years of intensive research and development, including the production of nearly 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, in order to create a blockchain which could finally live up to the promises of the technology and address the long-standing problems involving cost, environmental stability, security, and scalability, creating a blockchain able to meet the needs of the global population.
Charles Hoskinson, CEO of IOHK, said: “This upgrade is the culmination of six years of incredibly hard work with some of the brightest minds in blockchain and beyond. The focus is now on improving the platform further, and ensuring that cardano is adopted by corporations and governments. With this launch, commercialisation is as much in the hands of the community as it is the system architects, and they are already delivering - in less than 24 hours, over 100 smart contracts have already been run on the network.
“Building this blockchain has been the most difficult and meaningful work of my career. This time next year, there will be useful, and in some cases, life-changing, decentralized applications running on the system which will transform the lives of millions to billions of people throughout the next decade. This is also a triumph for science. We set out to build Cardano using a first principles approach, asking fundamental questions, publishing academic papers and following the peer review process. That diligent approach has delivered the world’s most robust, advanced blockchain, designed to underpin the world's systems for everyone everywhere.”
Marek Mahut, Founder of Five Binaries, ran the first smart contract on Cardano. He said: “Cardano has always stood out for its focus on the fundamentals; it considers a problem from different angles before implementing the solution. This is what makes smart contracts so exciting. Safety and scalability are major features for any developer. Cardano’s accounting technology, eUTXO, provides a novel approach, which makes writing secure smart contracts easier. I’m proud to have made the first execution of a smart contract on the Cardano mainnet, and am excited to see how the capabilities unfold as updates continue to roll out.”
IOHK will be discussing planned upgrades and improvements to smart contract functionality during the Cardano Summit on the 25th & 26th September. The summit will explore IOHK’s plans to ensure that Cardano fulfils its potential to act as an operating system for industries, supply chains and even governments, as well as discussing the scientific research underpinning the platform. It will also include groundbreaking, industry-first project and partnership announcements. Speakers will include Sheila Warren, Global Executive, World Economic Forum, Gillian Tett, Editor-at-Large, Financial Times, Misan Harriman, Chair of the Southbank Centre; discussing everything from CBDCs and interoperability, to NFTs and climate change. To sign up for the event, please see here.
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