The ADA share price rose by 12% within 24 hours. Earlier, founder Charles Hoskinson announced the arrival date for smart contracts.
Even a $600 million protocol hack, the push of a bearish crypto bill in Congress, and a $100 million regulatory settlement from BitMEX could not dampen the current enthusiasm of cryptocurrency buyers.
Case in point: Cardano
The Ethereum competitor, which is flirting with the introduction of smart contracts, has just seen its native coin, ADA, rise by more than 12% in 24 hours. ADA is now trading at $1.78. The coin has not seen such highs since the first week of June.
Exact date not yet known
In an "announcement of the announcement", Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson just declared: he will soon reveal the date on which smart contracts will be released on the Cardano mainnet.
Hoskinson to viewers on Periscope:
"WE WILL BE ABLE TO ANNOUNCE WHEN THE ALONZO HARDFORK WILL HAPPEN, AND AT THAT TIME YOU WILL BE ABLE TO RUN SMART CONTRACTS ON CARDANO."
According to Hoskinson, the hard fork will take place before the "Cardano Summit", currently scheduled for next month.
Cardano has gradually added features since its launch in 2017. Like Ethereum, for example, Cardano allows for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) - blockchain-based tokens that are a form of ownership certificate for a digital asset.
The Alonzo hardfork will be one of the most consequential updates to the proof-of-stake network. This is because it will facilitate the introduction of decentralised financial protocols (DeFi). These are designed to allow people to borrow, lend and trade without intermediaries. Instead of loan officers and underwriters, DeFi relies on so-called smart contracts. These are programmes that are executed when certain conditions are met.
While ADA had the biggest move of any asset in the top 10 over the past 24 hours, most coins had a decent, if unspectacular, day. Ethereum was up slightly by almost 4%, Binance Coin was up 11%, and Uniswap was up 2.5%. Bitcoin, on the other hand, the number 1 cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, saw only a slight upward movement and is up 2%.
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