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What Cardano Users Should Expect After the Completion of Alonzo Hardfork

Cardano is one of the most popular, trusted blockchain networks promising to provide decentralized finance services. The network launched in 2015 and has provided a very successful coin that has attracted millions of users globally. 

The Cardano coin (ADA) has a current unit price of $1.5 and a market cap of about $50 billion. So there’s no doubt that the coin has high value and could be an excellent investment prospect. 

However, since its launch, the Cardano network has been planning to provide a network for supporting smart contracts. However, five years later, the network had not officially deployed the smart contract capabilities. 

Recently, in 2021, the network has been very active in upgrading its system, and their endgame is releasing the official smart contract support by September 2021. Alonzo fork is the name of the Cardano upgrade, and it’s coming in stages. 

The Alonzo hard-fork name comes from Alonzo Church, the founder of the Lambda calculus programming language. When programming the Cardano network and the Alonzo upgrade, the network used the Haskell language. The Haskell language is quite similar to lambda. 

So, what should Cardano users expect after the full launch of the Alonzo hard fork? How will it affect the Cardano coin? Keep reading for more. 

Smart Contract Benefits

The primary reason for Cardano introducing the Alonzo fork is providing the long-promised smart contract services. Currently, Ethereum is the largest smart contract service provider network. The Ethereum network has been very successful in the past five years, climbing ranks in crypto to settle as the second-largest crypto. 

Cardano aims to take the benefits of providing smart contract-related services. Once the Alonzo fork goes to the main net, it will allow developers to launch Dapps. Cardano enthusiasts, especially developers, will be capable of launching decentralized applications on the network. So, what comes with smart contracts?

Decentralized Finance Growth

Cardano users should expect to see their favorite network and coin being the driver of decentralized finance. Ethereum’s Defi is one of the greatest forces in crypto, with some of those platforms like Uniswap, AAVE, and several others controlling a massive crypto market share.

The complete launch of the Alonzo hard fork will vastly impact the Cardano network, making it among the largest Defi networks. Furthermore, Cardano’s Defi world has more chances of succeeding in the crypto world because of the wide Cardano customer base. 

Cardano lovers should expect the introduction of a vast number of;

  • Decentralized exchange platform which could grow to as large as Uniswap and Polkadot
  • Lending and borrowing apps like AAVE
  • Staking networks
  • DAO services providers
  • Increased Defi use cases

Non Fungible Tokens

The introduction of NFT is another one of the benefits that Cardano users should expect after the complete launch of the network. The NFT world has been on rampant growth in 2021, with artists exchanging single assets for millions of dollars. Especially from January to March, the NFT growth has been impeccable, and many new NFT platforms have come up.

Cardano will be one of the beneficiaries of NFT growth since most Cardano lovers will prefer using the network to develop their projects. This will provide an alternative to NFT service providers and upcoming developers to select a more efficient blockchain network for NFT.

The Introduction of Cardano Based Launchpads

For more Defi projects to launch on Cardano, there will be a need for launchpad platforms. Therefore, after Cardano Alonzo goes live, the number of Launchpad projects will surge. The launchpad introduction will pave the way for the launch of other Defi and NFT projects. Cardano users should be very ready for the Launchpad growth. 

Increased Cross-chain Activities in The Network

Cardano users should expect a rise in the number of activities on the platforms. How? Currently, there are projects which like providing services in multiple blockchains. Since Cardano is one of the top chains, many Defi projects may want to interact with Cardano. 

Primarily, they intend to take advantage of the large ADA user base. The activities in the Cardano network will vastly increase as such. Cardano users will notice projects interacting with oracle networks like Chainlink to boost cross-chain data efficiency. Dexes and the Defi network will all benefit from these interactions and increased cross-chain activities. 

Possible Network Issues

Now, there is one possible negative impact of the launch of Cardano, but this should not hinder investors from using the network. Cardano will be under real test, especially on the issues of speed and scalability. In addition, one might argue that the smart contract option comes from an independent sidechain. Thus this fork won’t affect the mainchain. 

Remember, Cardano will have the experience of Defi and NFT for the first time. As a result, the activities around the network could vastly increase very fast. Therefore, both the Cardano settlement layer and sidechain will have to work with superhigh activities. 

Currently, Cardano boasts of being capable of completing over 1 million transactions every second. Now, due to the introduction of Defi, the number of transactions could increase, and investors will officially find out if the network supports the 1 million TPS.

Cardano investors should expect possible downtimes once the Defi numbers increase. However, since the Cardano team is always ready to develop, they will sort the issues.

More Use Cases, More ADA Value

After exploring all those benefits that would accrue from the Cardano network post the Alonzo fork completion, it’s vital to look at the impact on price. Now, Cardano has been on a volatile run since its launch. There are times that the coin surged in value very fast, creating incomes for the average user. 

Experts predict that the Alonzo hard fork could have a vast impact on the prices of ADA. Remember, recently, Ethereum held its London hard fork that vastly drove the prices to very high. Could the same recur on Cardano?

Since this new fork comes with a new class of services, ADA will have more use cases, especially in Defi and NFT. Due to the increase in Use cases, the coin could increase in value and benefit investors. 

Although it’s not certain the prices would increase, there is a good chance of that occurring. Therefore, Cardano network users should be ready for such an occurrence. 

Could Cardano Kill Ethereum?

Already, most crypto enthusiasts know that Ethereum and Cardano are providing similar sets of services in the crypto world. So the question that most investors, especially in Cardano, could ask is if Cardano can replace Ethereum. Short answer, Not likely. Why? 

Cardano is banking on the Ethereum network’s deficiencies, including super high gases, lacking scale, and slow transactions. Ethereum is, however, already making changes to sort those problems. For example, the introduction of the London hard fork aims to make the ETH coin deflationary. Also, Ethereum 2.0 is on its way and will solve the issue of scalability, speed, and gases, probably better than Cardano. 

Ethereum is already a stable network, has a massive customer base, and has garnered more user trust. Therefore, many Defi projects could prefer using the Ethereum network over Cardano. 

Now realize, this does not mean that Cardano will not survive. There is room for more than one large-scale smart contract platform. Cardano’s existence will be good for Defi since there will be pressure on Ethereum to improve its services. Generally, Both platforms will operate in crypto, but Ethereum will most likely remain the largest Defi stakeholder. 

Final Word

Cardano is introducing its Alonzo hard fork, and Cardano investors wonder what to expect after the complete launch. Generally, there will be growth in the number of activities in the network, including new Defi, NFT, Launchpad platforms, and more cross-chain interactions.  

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Cardano investors should also expect the ADA coin’s value to increase as the use cases increase. However, even though Cardano’s value will increase, it will not replace Ethereum. The only chance Cardano has of killing Ethereum is if Ethereum 2.0 fails. However, if it succeeds, Cardano will remain second to Ethereum.

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