The Cardano network has been attracting significant interest over recent months and the scientific peer-reviewed blockchain could be poised for more success. Cardano fans are hoping for another moon landing with the blockchain’s founder Charles Hoskinson promising that an explosion of interest is on the horizon.
Over 500 Promising Projects Currently Building On Cardano
Ever since its launch back in September 2017, Cardano touts itself as a project that is committed to rigorous research and testing. After much delay, Cardano finally implemented the Alonzo hard fork which ushered in smart contracts (self-executing computer programs).
Since then, the Cardano network has undergone other crucial upgrades and witnessed key developments. For instance, the number of projects building on Cardano has now surpassed 517, with NFT collections enjoying the lion’s share (34.7%).
Cardano founder (and Ethereum co-founder) Charles Hoskinson suggested that this is only the beginning. ”A large wave will come after June when the Vasil hard fork happens,” Hoskinson said in a recent tweet.
The Vasil hard fork — named after Hoskinson’s late friend Vasil Dabov and scheduled for launch in June — aims for a multitude of scaling enhancements for DeFi, DEXs, and smart contracts.
 
 
UTXO on-disk storage, Pipelining, new Plutus CIPs, and Hydra are some of the scaling parts in the overall plan for Cardano. These improvements will improve Cardano’s transaction throughput and optimize the network to handle more DEXs and decentralized applications.
Tantalizing ADA Moonshot On The Way?
Speaking of total value locked in the Cardano network, the TVL has been surging and currently stands at $195.39 million, according to data provided by DefiLlama. Over 57% of the funds are locked in Cardano’s decentralized exchange protocol SundaeSwap.
ADA peaked at $3.09 on September 2 and has shed over 74% since then. The eighth-largest crypto by market cap was changing hands near $0.8 as of publication time, a 0.55 percent increase on a 24-hour basis.
While ADA’s price performance may be a cause for concern for some participants in the community who hoped for quicker gains, Hoskinson seems to believe that the upgrade in June will take the project to new heights.