The open source programmable system, which has been tested by a community of over 3,000 developers, offers a wide range of applications for financial transactions and enables the secure storage and distribution of confidential data. The blockchain can fix cost issues that developers struggle with on other blockchains. Smart contracts introduce predictable transaction costs at a fraction of the energy costs.
Use your own applications on the platform with smart contracts
With the expansion of the blockchain platform to include smart contracts, programmers can now develop applications that use the functionalities of this sustainable blockchain. The upgrade is the first step towards a fairer global financial system, with less financial and ecological burdens. Within 24 hours, over 100 smart contracts were executed on the platform and the first decentralized application was implemented.
The smart contracts from Cardano offer developers the opportunity to create and use their own applications on the platform. In the future, the blockchain will play a central role in application development, because 61 percent of software developers consider the technology to be a game changer. When programmers develop decentralized applications (DApps) on the blockchain, they minimize the security risks of traditional applications running on a central server and instead use the security of a global network of thousands of networked computers.
Blockchain not yet accessible due to high costs
Until now, app development on the blockchain has been inaccessible to many programmers as they have had to contend with high and unpredictable costs and inefficient energy consumption, with the largest blockchain platforms consuming the energy equivalent of entire countries. As a result, implementing blockchain for smaller businesses has often not been a realistic option without compromising sustainability goals or business costs.
Cardano solves many of these problems. The blockchain platform uses an innovative transaction verification mechanism, which means that the entire network is four million times more efficient than Bitcoin. It consumes the energy equivalent of a single family home as opposed to an entire country, as is the case with Bitcoin. The ability to accurately predict transaction costs also ensures price stability and enables programmers to develop applications without risking lost transactions or unexpectedly high costs.
Creation of NFTs without smart contracts
This year was a pivotal year for IOHK, the tech company behind Cardano, which in April announced the world’s largest blockchain installation to provide verifiable IDs to five million teachers and students in Ethiopia. This enables better lesson planning, monitoring of learning progress and gives the government a better overview of future needs and gaps in staff planning. It is also possible for students to share verifiable qualification data with employers.
IOHK also pioneered a novel solution that allows NFTs to be created on Cardano without smart contracts, which means 780,436 NFTs have been created on Cardano to date. The company also founded Catalyst, the world’s largest blockchain innovation fund. Catalyst is a potential enabler for the venture capital model. The organization creates the financial framework for innovative projects to support the Cardano blockchain and the ecosystem. Catalyst has funded 90 projects valued at $ 5 million, with assets of over $ 1.5 billion and a dedicated community of over 35,000 participants.
The current upgrade comes after six years of intense research and development, including the creation of nearly 100 peer-reviewed papers, to create a blockchain that will eventually meet the expectations of the technology and the long-standing struggles around cost, Can solve environmental sustainability, security and scalability to create a blockchain that meets the needs of the world’s population.
The upgrade is the result of six years of development work
Charles Hoskinson, CEO of IOHK, explains, “This upgrade is the culmination of six years of incredibly hard work with some of the most brilliant minds in the blockchain and beyond. The focus now is on further improving the platform and ensuring that Cardano is adopted by businesses and governments. With this start, the commercialization is in the hands of both the community and the system architects, and they are already delivering – in less than 24 hours, over 100 smart contracts have already been executed on the network. ”
“Building this blockchain was the most difficult and meaningful job of my career. This time next year there will be useful, and in some cases life-changing, decentralized applications running on the system that will transform the lives of millions to billions of people over the next decade. This is also a triumph for science. We built Cardano on the Core Principles by asking fundamental questions, publishing scientific papers, and following the peer review process. This careful approach has resulted in the most robust and advanced blockchain in the world, which is intended to serve as the basis for global solutions for everyone, everywhere, ”continues Charles Hoskinson.
Smart contracts provide the basis for security and scalability
Marek Mahut, founder of Five binaries, executed the first smart contract on Cardano. He explains: “Cardano has always distinguished itself through its focus on the essentials; it looks at a problem from different angles before implementing the solution. That’s what makes smart contracts so exciting. Security and scalability are important characteristics for any programmer. Cardano’s accounting technology, eUTXO, offers a novel approach that makes it easier to write secure smart contracts. I am proud to have carried out the first execution of a smart contract in the Cardano mainnet and I am excited to see how the possibilities will develop with further updates. ”
IOHK is an R&D and product development company that specializes in harnessing peer-to-peer innovation to bring 21st century services to the billions of people who have not yet had them. IOHK develops blockchain-based solutions for governments, corporations and academic institutions, and trains people around the world to solve the most pressing problems facing people in their countries. (sg)
Also read: Banking Crisis 2021: Why Blockchain is the Opportunity
