Cardano has had quite an eventful end of the year.Earlier in the year, Cardano gained because of the momentum across the broader market.However, this changed during the end of Q2 as Cardano made a major development that changed the future of the blockchain for good.
For years now, Cardano has been one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.It is also one of the largest blockchains.However, Cardano has been unable to make any major gains or receive significant adoption over the years because it lacked a strong use case.
However, in August 2021, Cardano’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, announced a major development on the Cardano blockchain.The blockchain would finally support smart contracts, which would allow developers to build decentralized finance ( DeFi ) protocols on it.
A few weeks after this announcement, in September, Cardano launched the Alonzo Hard Fork upgrade that brought smart contract capability into the Cardano ecosystem.
After the Alonzo hard fork went live and the Cardano blockchain became smart contract enabled, the ADA token made a major price swing, and it pushed towards an all-time high of above $3.While it has since slumped from these levels, some factors support a similar rally in 2022 and why 2022 could be a big year for the Cardano ecosystem.
Why 2022 will be a big year for Cardano
Cardano smart contracts
As aforementioned, Cardano launched the ability to support smart contracts in September.While the network received much criticism at the time, with some crypto community members stating that the network lacked scalability, it was still a major step forward for Cardano.
Smart contracts enable the development of DeFi projects on a blockchain.
Currently, Ethereum is the most utilized blockchain because it launched smart contract capability years ago.Given the Ether token’s gains because of its utilization on the blockchain, ADA could also be headed towards a similar rally.
Moreover, Cardano’s smart contracts only went live recently, and the network is looking towards launching the first DeFi lending platform, namely SundaeSwap.This protocol runs on Cardano in a testing phase to identify and rectify any potential bugs.
With every blockchain, several stages are followed to achieve ultimate success.For Cardano, launching smart contracts was an important stage, but 2022 could also be marked with other critical stages such as upgrades on the blockchain.
This could drive major adoption for Cardano.
Cardano could finally be an “Ethereum killer”
The other reason why Cardano could make major gains in 2022 is that the blockchain has the potential to be the Ethereum killer .For several times this year, Cardano has been the third-largest crypto by market cap, just below Ethereum.While it has not come close to surpassing Ether’s market cap, it has the potential to do so.
The Cardano blockchain has been under criticism because of the slow upgrades on the network.
However, many fail to consider the timeframe that Ethereum has taken to achieve an upgrade.
The Ethereum network is plagued by the issue of high gas fees.Moreover, transactions on the network are very slow because of congestion, which has many developers looking for scalable alternatives.While alternatives such as Solana and Avalanche already exist, Cardano has the potential to be the actual Ethereum killer.
Cardano has been in the market for a long time, and within this time, it has created a solid presence and accrued a large number of users.
The smart contract launch on the network is expected to pick up in 2022 after SundaeSwap finally goes live after the testing phase.
If all goes well with Cardano’s smart contracts in 2022, the market cap of this token could make a massive rally.In September, Hoskinson had stated that ADA could reach $150 once these smart contracts go live, which is a figure that could be achieved in 2022.
If Ethereum fails to record a significant jump with ADA at $150, Cardano could finally overtake Ethereum and be the second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.
Charles Hoskinson is Cardano’s main support system
The founder of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson, is one of the most vocal people in the cryptocurrency sector, and he is one of Cardano’s greatest advocates.
Hoskinson has supported every decision that this blockchain has made, and unlike some token developers that remain in the background as their projects pick up, Hoskinson has been at the forefront to ensure that Cardano wins in the highly competitive crypto space .
When Cardano launched smart contracts, some critics stated that the network had taken too long to launch the capability.However, Hoskinson stated that the blockchain takes an academic approach in terms of development.
Hoskinson is a major blockchain developer, as he is also the co-founder of Ethereum.He possesses a strong skill set that gives Cardano the potential of taking over the crypto market in the future.
If Hoskinson’s vision for the Cardano blockchain is realized and he continues playing a major role in upgrading the network, Cardano could emerge as the winner in the crypto space by the time 2022 ends.
Cardano’s partnerships
The Cardano blockchain is growing, and with this growth will come firms that seek to partner with the blockchain and benefit from the wide array of benefits that come from investing in one of the oldest blockchains in the market with much growth potential.
Smart contracts on Cardano are still new, which is why the network has not made any notable milestones in regards to the total value locked (TVL) on the blockchain.However, smart contracts are becoming a real and tested concept on Cardano, which could lure more developers into building on the blockchain.
When Solana started making a major bullish rally in August, it was because of the growing utilization of its blockchain by DeFi developers that wanted to be part of the fastest blockchain network.Following the growing utilization and a rising TVL, the SOL token surged to where it is today.
This is the same case that could work for the Cardano blockchain.
If the blockchain records high utilization, it could be one of the most sought after by developers, and if its TVL makes notable gains, so will the value of the ADA token.
The partnerships made by Cardano also go beyond the crypto sector.In September, Cardano announced that it would be partnering with the Dish Network to offer 8 million digital identities to its customers.The blockchain would hold the information and create a secure store of customer data.
The crypto market is growing
The other reason why Cardano could make a major gain in 2022 is the events happening across the broader market.
The level of crypto awareness and adoption has skyrocketed in 2021, which is expected to be even greater in 2022.In this case, the crypto market could record major gains in 2022, which could have a positive effect on the value of Cardano.
If the rest of the market gains, the ADA token will, too, because as one of the largest and most popular cryptocurrencies, its demand is expected to be significantly high.Therefore, if there is a strong bull cycle in 2022, the ADA token could create a new all-time high, which could benefit the investors that bought early.
Some of the areas where Cardano could see growing adoption in 2022 include payments and an influx of institutional investors that want to buy the token.
To learn more visit our Investing in Cardano guide.
Conclusion
The Cardano blockchain has much potential, and while it has had a slow growth over the years, this is expected to change ever since the network announced the rollout of smart contracts.
With the rising level of growth in DeFi and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the network could gain adoption from developers, which could send ADA through the roof.If ADA skyrockets to Hoskinson’s projected price of $150, the token could finally emerge as the Ethereum killer..
