- Cardano successfully implemented the Mary hard fork last night.
- What benefits will the upgrade add to the Cardano blockchain?
- How has the hard fork affected ADA price?
The wait is finally over: Cardano has successfully implemented the Mary hard fork. Here are a few key Goguen Mary features to help you understand why this upgrade is a big deal.
The Cardano (ADA) team, led by the IOHK, has created a robust roadmap towards building Cardano into a super blockchain. Part of that road map is the Goguen era. The ADA Goguen era succeeds the Shelley era and predates the Basho and Voltaire eras.
The Dawn of Goguen
Shelley focused on protocol and decentralizing the ADA core system. On the other hand, the Goguen era will focus on adding DApps and smart contracts to ADA.
DApps are a very useful blockchain feature as they add built-in security and flexibility. Blockchains can store data using DApps as they are hard to alter. DApps also easily accept and verify data which aids in the mining process by making it less strenuous.
In addition, DApps act based on the task its users created them to fulfill. In fact, DApps’ ability to be utilized to develop interfaces and apps is still being explored. For this reason, the Goguen era is critical to the ADA evolution
Enter Mary Hard Fork
Of note, the Mary upgrade was the first step into the Goguen era and this is why the upgrade is such a big deal. The Mary upgrade also included some exciting additions to the ADA network. Firstly, ADA is now officially a multi-asset blockchain that also allows users to mint native tokens.
“This MA capability will become a fresh development fulcrum for developers worldwide, further widening Cardano’s reach and potential,” according to an IOHK report.
Being multi-asset compatible means that users can now use their custom tokens along with ADA. Since multi-asset blockchains are rare this feature could easily put ADA on par with Ethereum. ADA is already the third-largest crypto by market share ($39,464,496,155.86).
A critical goal for the Goguen era is making ADA accessible to a wider user base. As such, IOHK aims to add features like Plutus and Marlowe that will make it equally easy for novices and experts to create and use smart contracts. In line with this, Mary introduced a range of tools for uses to create tokens. These tools range from easy to advance from Daedalus, GUI to CLI.
Daedalus in Flight Mode
Daedalus was launched along with the hard fork, but is currently in ‘flight mode’ and still undergoing testing. Users can also use the Daedalus wallet to store their multiple currencies, as well as the Yoroi wallet.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!: We can confirm that the #Cardano ‘Mary’ protocol update was successfully applied to the #Cardano mainnet tonight at 21:44:51 UTC via a managed hard fork combinator event.Welcome to the beginning of an exciting new multi-asset era on #Cardano $ADA 1/4 pic.twitter.com/vk3qDrIIds
— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) March 1, 2021
Goguen Mary also added a multi-currency accounting ledger that enables ADA multi-asset processing without using smart contracts. The Mary ledger can track ownership and transfers efficiently and at a lower cost than smart contracts.
Notably, native tokens do not require a fee to transact and as such the Cardano community has already started minting custom contracts. The Cardano GUI token builder graphical interface allows users to build token within minutes.
To create a token users need to add their token name, token symbol, token icon (which is auto-generated), the token amount and Cardano wallet address. ADA has made the minting process easy to follow without requiring any technical skill.
Hard Fork Combinator Implemented
In addition, Cardano made the upgrade last night using the Hard Fork Combinator (HFC) protocol and according to an official tweet, the process was a success.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!: We can confirm that the #Cardano ‘Mary’ protocol update was successfully applied to the #Cardano mainnet tonight at 21:44:51 UTC via a managed hard fork combinator event.Welcome to the beginning of an exciting new multi-asset era on #Cardano $ADA 1/4 pic.twitter.com/vk3qDrIIds
— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) March 1, 2021
One of the key factors about the HFC is its ability to enable a fork without any system interruptions or restart. This means that Cardano was able to seamlessly upgrade to its new protocol.
Forks generally have a huge impact on crypto prices. The effects of a fork can be felt before and after the event itself. As forks are often come with a sense of uncertainty they can lead to a fall in crypto price. However, as a show of the confidence the ADA community holds in the IOHK team, the price of ADA surged prior to the Mary fork.
In fact, sooner after IOHK announced the Mary fork testnet success, Grayscale filed to create a Cardano Trust. Also, prior to the hard fork, Binance added ADA to its Venus protocol platform. These key moves and positive price predictions helped ADA surge reflecting confidence in the fork. User confidence also allowed ADA to safely weather the transition.
ADA also received a lot of support from various exchanges prior to the fork. This support helped boost user confidence, thus, keeping ADA price stable.
Currently, ADA has dipped slightly, which looks like a technical adjustment after setting a new ATH on Feb 27. ADA is down 3% with a trading volume of $8,040,648,998 in 24 hours.
This article first published on coinquora.com