Cardano In The ‘Very Final Stages’ Of Its First Major Code Drop For 2022 Amid Expectations “To Grow Even More”

Key Takeaways

• IOHK announces code drop that introduces multiple upgrades.
• The first of two more major upgrades in 2022, IOHK is optimistic about effectively scaling Cardano.
• The Cardano blockchain has been expanding rapidly.

Cardano, one of the world’s largest proof-of-stake networks has set out to optimize and scale all through 2022. Input-Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the development arm of the blockchain, has come out with more announcements about Cardano’s scaling roadmap for the year.

Cardano Expecting Major Updates

The latest update is contained in a placement authored by IOHK’s head of Marketing and Communication, Tim Harrison. IOHK revealed that it was in the “very final stages” of its first major code drop for 2022.

The “February release”, as it calls the code drop, is to be succeeded by two more drops in June and October. The rationale for the timed release strategy is to allow for blockchain predictability. This is necessary as the blockchain has grown and is expected to keep growing, and now has a lot of users. Predictable upgrades will enable users to work accordingly.

“Cardano has grown significantly, and it’s expected to grow even more as 2022 goes on. By creating specific release windows, companies that rely on Cardano’s infrastructure know exactly when major releases are coming,” Harrison noted.

Meanwhile, the “February release” is packed with “powerful improvement and enhancements” to Cardano nodes. The upgrade introduces the ability to create transactions that conform to the Concise Data Definition Language (CDDL) while using Cardano’s native command-line interface (CLI).

The code drop also introduces tweaks to multi-signature transactions to allow for incremental stages. The upgrade also presents multiple CLI tools for stake pool operators (SPOs), developers, and node users.

While these upgrades will introduce a lot of flexibility to the blockchain, Harrison notes that it is only the start of the journey for Cardano. The June and October hard fork combinator (HFC) events will also be feature-packed.

Upgrades that are in the offing include key elements of the scaling plan like pipelining, new Plutus CIPs, UTXO on-disk storage, and Hydra. These combined with further parameter adjustments will increase throughput and optimize the blockchain.

Cardano blockchain growing in leaps and bounds

These upgrades are all intended to meet the growing demand for Cardano’s blockchain infrastructure. Having had a slow start after the Alonzo hardfork upgrade that introduced smart contract capabilities to Cardano, many decentralized applications have been racing to launch.

So far, around six decentralized exchanges have already been launched. These have been putting the Cardano blockchain under some strain, causing the network to become congested. However, the network has been holding up considerably as it has carried out some parameter upgrades to meet the increased demand for resources.

ADAUSD Chart by TradingView

Many more projects are expected in the weeks and months ahead. Albeit, the price of ADA has not shown a significant reaction to the increased activity on the network. ADA is currently trading at $0.83, down -72.9% from its all-time high price of around $3.10.