ADA Surges 35% Ahead of Anticipated Smart Contract Update

Cardano (ADA) has surged more than 20 percent this week after CEO and founder Charles Hoskinson said he would pinpoint a date on August 13 for the launch of Alonzo, the hard fork that will add smart contract capability to the network.

We’ll be able to announce when the Alonzo hard fork is going to happen, and at that point you’ll be able to run smart contracts on Cardano.

Charles Hoskinson, CEO/founder, Cardano

ADA Up 600 Percent This Year

After the announcement, ADA surged to US$1.88. It has skyrocketed 36.5 percent in the past seven days, and a whopping 600 percent from the beginning of the year.

IOHK, the company behind Cardano, says it has begun the new user onboarding process. Once the team is set up, the hard fork is imminent.

What is the Update About?

The Cardano community has been anticipating the Alonzo hard fork for some time, part of a multi-stage upgrade that will allow developers to deploy smart contracts on the Cardano network.

With Friday’s revelation that the mainnet launch is on track, crypto investors and enthusiasts in general, were hyped on the optimism that a supposedly superior blockchain infrastructure with the possibility to support the next generation of smart contracts is on the horizon.

Konstantin Anissimov, executive director, CEX.IO

Hoskinson, who is also the co-founder of Ethereum, has said Cardano could overtake Ethereum in the long run. Ethereum, however, isn’t falling behind in this race as ETH’s London hard fork was successfully activated on August 4, skyrocketing its price to levels above US$3,000.