The Cardano team shared their latest development report towards the end of last week. The report showed that multiple significant upgrades were made that focused on the blockchain’s fundamental technology, governance, scaling protocols, smart contracts as well as the project's native cryptocurrency wallets.
Meanwhile, Cardano’s development team successfully integrated Wrapped Bitcoin assets into the network over the past couple of days. Through this upgrade, users can seamlessly interact with 2 of the leading cryptocurrencies in the blockchain space on one network. Furthermore, this upgrade is forecasted to attract an influx of trading and transaction volume to the Cardano ecosystem.
Despite the series of positive developments over the past 2 weeks, ADA’s price performance remained below-par during this period. In fact, the altcoin’s price broke below 2 significant support levels, and has been unable to reclaim a position above these price points leading up to press time.
The Latest Development Report Was Released
The development team behind Cardano (ADA) shared a series of upgrades that were implemented to the network during the past week. These upgrades focused on the blockchain’s core technology, governance approach, scaling protocols, smart contracts and Cardano-based wallets.
According to the development report, the core development teams collaborated to pre-release an upgraded node last week. This new node version, named node v.8.2.1, is designed to validate transactions on Cardano’s newly-released development network - SanchoNet.
The update mentioned that SanchoNet was built to deploy the governance features recommended in the Cardano Improvement Protocol (CIP) 1694. This is the latest improvement protocol that was pitched to the Cardano ecosystem, and was co-authored by top community members, including the project's co-founder Charles Hoskinson.
Meanwhile, the Cardano networking team revealed that it activated “bootstrap peers” to safeguard nodes joining the network. This implementation will be monitored collectively by the Input Output Global (IOG), Emurgo and Cardano Foundation, according to the update report.
Furthermore, Cardano’s Lace v.14 wallet went live last week. This updated version of the Lace wallet not only introduced many new features, but also addressed the issues and bugs encountered in the previous version of the app. The report also showed that developers had worked on improving Plutus, which is Cardano’s smart contract platform. In particular, developers focused on adding the final sidechain features to Cardano’s Marconi indexing and querying mechanism.
The team also fixed a bug in the Mithril upgrade that was launched on Cardano’s mainnet last month. The stake-based protocol that was released to address extended node synchronization time on the network but had a bug that caused the aggregator to produce corrupted archives. However, the report revealed that the development team has fixed this bug over the past couple of weeks.
Cardano Now Supports BTC
In related news, the prominent Proof of Stake (PoS) project has made a monumental move in the blockchain space by integrating Wrapped Bitcoin assets, known as cBTC, through the innovative anetaBTC protocol. This development not only showcases Cardano's technological prowess but also signifies a significant step towards achieving blockchain interoperability and creating a more comprehensive and interconnected cryptocurrency ecosystem.
A Revolutionary Leap Forward
Cardano's recent announcement has reverberated across the cryptocurrency landscape, as the integration of Bitcoin (BTC) wrapping capabilities into its mainnet marks a groundbreaking milestone. Spearheading this integration is the anetaBTC protocol, an open-source solution that has gained attention for its ability to introduce on-chain wrapped Bitcoin to multiple blockchains.
Beyond a technical accomplishment, this integration underscores Cardano's commitment to enhancing blockchain interoperability. By embracing BTC within its network, Cardano bridges two of the most influential cryptocurrencies, laying the foundation for a seamlessly interconnected blockchain environment.
Benefits of cBTC Integration
The deployment of cBTC on Cardano's mainnet offers a plethora of advantages, both immediate and long-term. Users can now seamlessly interact with ADA and BTC tokens on a single network, eliminating the complexities associated with cross-chain transactions. This move not only enhances user experience but also opens up new possibilities for decentralized applications and financial services that leverage the combined strengths of both cryptocurrencies.
Strategic Implications
Cardano's integration of cBTC isn't merely a technological feat; it's a strategic move with far-reaching implications. By expanding its offerings to include BTC, Cardano seeks to attract a wider audience and increase Total Value Locked (TVL) on its platform. Given Bitcoin's immense market capitalization, this move could potentially draw a substantial influx of capital and users to the Cardano network.
Efficiency in Action
Demonstrating the protocol's efficiency, Cardano has already minted BTC on its mainnet in conjunction with the launch of the anetaBTC protocol. In a screenshot shared by anetaBTC, it was confirmed that 1.706 cBTC had been successfully minted. The protocol also highlighted that a total of 6.19 cBTC has been minted on Cardano's network since the protocol's inception, showcasing both its functionality and adoption.
Looking Ahead
The integration of cBTC is just the beginning of Cardano's ambitious roadmap. The anetaBTC protocol is gearing up for its next version, anetaBTC version 2, which promises additional features and enhanced efficiency. This continuous innovation speaks to Cardano's commitment to staying at the forefront of blockchain technology.
A Vibrant Ecosystem
Beyond the cBTC integration, Cardano's ecosystem has been abuzz with activity. The blockchain has witnessed an astonishing 73.2 million transactions in a single week. Moreover, the network has seen the birth of over 137 projects, with reported policy counts surpassing 78,000. This dynamic ecosystem underscores Cardano's appeal to developers, entrepreneurs, and users alike.
ADA’s Performance
Despite the positive technological developments, the price of the network’s native token, ADA, has remained somewhat stagnant over the past 24 hours. At press time, CoinMarketCap indicated that the altcoin posted a slight 0.23% gain during the past day of trading. This positive daily performance was unable to flip ADA’s weekly performance into the green zone, however, as the cryptocurrency’s price was down 0.87% for the week.
Alongside the slight price gain, ADA also experienced a 29.45% gain in its 24-hour trading volume. Subsequently, the total 24-hour volume for ADA stood at $145,315,898 at press time.
Daily chart for ADA/USDT (Source: TradingView)
Meanwhile, the last 2 weeks saw ADA’s price break below the key support level at $0.3065, following a 3.54% drop on 2 August 2023. During this daily candle, the altcoin fell from a 24-hour high of $0.3120 to a low of $0.2974, before closing the trading session off at $0.2993. In the 24 hours that followed, ADA’s price had also lost the support of the $0.2920 mark, but was able to close the respective daily candles above the crucial support level.
Last week Monday, however, saw an influx of sell pressure - forcing ADA’s price down to a low of $0.2818. Bulls tried their best to boost the altcoin to back above the $0.2920 support, and were able to do so, but this break above the significant price point was short-lived. In the past 5 days, ADA’s price was rejected by the 20-day EMA line. This resulted in ADA breaking back below $0.2920, where it continued to trade at press time.
Furthermore, momentum technical indicators showed that short-term and medium-term momentum was in favor of sellers. The 9-day EMA line was positioned below the 20-day EMA line, while both of these technical indicators were also positioned bearishly below the 50-day EMA line.
