Cardano’s Vasil Hard Fork Delayed Again
In a YouTube update released on Thursday, Cardano’s developer Input Output Global (IOG) said that the blockchain’s Vasil hard fork upgrade has been delayed once again. IOG’s technical manager Kevin Hammond explained that the delay is so that exchanges and API developers are “ready”, while IOG has also been focused on fixing a few testnet issues. “There could be a few more weeks before we go to the actual Vasil hard fork… All the users must be ready to progress through the hard fork to ensure a smooth process,” Hammond said.
According to IOG co-founder and CEO Charles Hoskinson, the Vasil hard fork project is “code complete” and “you probably could flip the switch and get away with it”. However, Hoskinson said that the Cardano development team want to ensure everything goes smoothly following the Terra collapse.
Recall that the Vasil hard fork was initially scheduled to go ahead in late-June, but was delayed, resulting in downside in ADA’s price at the time. Analysts think a successful upgrade could be a big potential bullish driver for ADA in the months ahead.
Cardano’s developers say that the upcoming upgrade is the most complex program of development and integration on Cardano since its Alonzo hardfork added smart contract functionality to the blockchain back in September 2021. The Vasil hardfork aims to improve the network’s speed and scalability by reducing transaction size and, as a result, increasing the network’s throughput whilst also lowering transaction fees on the network.
Experts responding to a recent finder.com survey were split over how the upcoming Vasil hardfork will impact Cardano. 20% said it would positively impact ADA’s price, 18% said it would have an adverse effect, while 50% said it would increase the functionality of the Cardano blockchain.
CoinMarketCap Users Bullish on ADA Price Over Next Few Weeks
Of the 14,741 users to have submitted a ADA price forecast on CoinMarketCap, the mean view is that ADA will have reached just above $0.72 by the end of August. The median view is that the cryptocurrency will rally to $0.63. Clearly, retail traders are bullish, likely amid hopes that the Vasil hard fork upgrade will have gone through by the end of next month.
CoinMarketCap users are less bullish about the outlook for the rest of 2022. By the end of September, the mean of 9,221 votes forecasts ADA’s price at $0.70. The mean of 7,092 votes sees ADA’s price then falling to $0.6250 by the end of October, while the mean of 2,400 votes sees ADA at $0.47 by the end of December.
Crypto Hardware Wallet Provider Ledged Expands Support For Cardano Native Tokens
Popular crypto hardware wallet provider Ledger has added support for a further 100 Cardano native crypto tokens, including ADAX, DANA, DRIP, FIRE and CLAP. Ledger said it selected these tokens to add support based on the number of transactions performed in a given time period, as opposed to based on their market capitalization.
Cardano’s blockchain, much like Ethereum, allows developers to create and distribute their own tokens. Including Non-fungible Tokens, over 5 million tokens have already been issued by developers on Cardano’s blockchain. Ledger’s move to add support for 100 Cardano native tokens comes one month after the hardware wallet provider added support for Cardano’s token ADA.
