Cardano (ADA) launched the long-awaited Alonzo update last Monday. This has ensured that the smart contracts application is finally here. There are currently more than 200 smart contracts connected to the Cardano blockchain, but there is something behind this.
At the moment, the 200 smart contracts mentioned are in timelock. This means that they cannot be used by developers until they are released. The smart contracts are therefore already secured on the Cardano blockchain and belong to developers. However, they will only really come into use when the right protocols have been developed.
A third party, Vercel App, also reports that there are already more than 2,300 smart contracts ready for use. So after the protocols are ready.
Since Cardano was founded in 2017, the smart contracts application that would come in due course has been eagerly anticipated. Since the recent launch of Cardano’s Alonzo hard fork it’s finally that time.
Cardano and IOHK founder Charles Hoskinson said Friday that the decentralized financial (DeFi) space can be leveraged now that Cardano supports smart contracts.
Second wave for DeFi and Cardano
Hoskinson speaks of a second wave for DeFi. Liquidity, interoperability and the ability to be multi-chain deployable are qualities that the winners of the second wave should have, according to Charles. He also says Cardano was built and engineered to be perfect for DeFi’s second wave.
There are a number of notable projects on the Cardano blockchain that have timelocked smart contracts or are planning to launch soon. GREED, a reward token that returns Cardano’s ADA to its owners, is an example of this. Liqwid, an open-source and non-custodial liquidity protocol for yield curves is another one. In addition, you also have SingularityNET, a platform that allows anyone to create, share and monetize artificial intelligence services at scale. Cardax, the first decentralized exchange on Cardano is also an interesting project coming up.
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