Cardano has been ramping up efforts to match layer 1 solutions since the turn of the year.In the latest move aimed at optimizing the network, Cardano developer IOHK has outlined new improvements.The research and development team behind the blockchain advanced yesterday that it will be increasing the block size by a margin of 11%.This will, in the long run, help solve scaling issues that have crippled the network.
Meanwhile, ADA price has dropped back to the $1.04 range following an attempt to breach $1.10.The coin welcomed modest gains earlier this week – most of which have been erased in the latest descent.Here is more:
IOHK proposes block size increase on the Cardano network
Cardano developer Input Output Hong Kong has proposed increasing the block size on Cardano from the current 72 kilobytes (KB) to 80 kilobytes (KB).IOHK says the 11% increase would align with its plans to scale network capacity.Increasing the block size means that the number of transactions included per batch would go up but could consequently affect the network capacity and time taken to complete a transaction.
The development company also said the smart contract platform Plutus’ memory limits would be increased to 14 million units per transaction, up by 1.5 million.
The update is due to be implemented on February 4th (Friday).It is expected to improve the performance of dApps on Cardano – a need that has become even more necessary as demand grows.
Last month, the Cardano network saw increased adoption that escalated the blockchain load by 90%.Several projects have also launched on Cardano, and the high traffic speaks to the necessity of scaling.Input-Output also said that Cardano would debut some dApps in the coming future, such as Milkomeda – an L2 solution.
The development company will, however, attentively observe Cardano’s general network condition before continuing with any further adjustments.
As Cardano’s evolution continues in the third stage (Basho) of its developmental roadmap, problems beyond network optimization have surfaced.Case in point – CardStarter and SundaeSwap’s public row.
Whales are swimming in Cardano and could fuel a bullish narrative on ADA
Cardano’s planned upgrade and expected improvement in performance across the network is pulling whales.Metrics show that huge-scale investors are accumulating as ADA recovers from its January dip.Investor pressure is building up on ADA, with a spike in buys as traders scramble to acquire tokens at the cheap.
According to observations by a renowned crypto strategist on Twitter, Santiment has found that the number of user addresses holding ADA in the range of 10,000 – 1,000,000 tokens has increased by 15,000% since mid-December.About 3,900 wallets in this range of whale wallets have been created since December 15th, further indicating that large-asset holders and investors are getting increasingly interested in ADA.
Also, Crypto intelligence platform IntoTheBlock said on Monday that the share of whales holding between 1 million and 10 million ADA increased by a massive 40.7% in January alone.These addresses account for 25% of the total supply.
The increase in buys of Cardano coupled with the fact that over 341,500 users have previously bought in around the $1 price point has helped establish stable support.
Cardano records the highest spike yet in smart contracts
Last September, the long-awaited Alonzo upgrade arrived on Cardano, and along with the hard fork event came smart contract functionality.
Cardano-based smart contracts platform Plutus has seen massive growth since and has recorded a significant spike more recently.Plutus has added 116 smart contracts onto the ecosystem in the period crossing January 31st and February 1st, signaling the single highest jump in smart contracts on the chain.
Notably, the addition of smart contracts onto the chain has been consistent and steady until they reached 1,011, then the jump happened.
The introduction of smart contract functionality allowed Cardano developers to build DeFi applications on the network – a significant step in the evolution of the network.
The success of any blockchain, not necessarily Cardano, highly depends on developer uptake and the number of dApps available on-chain.
Smart contracts support on Cardano has resulted in a surge of network activity and pumped the blockchain’s ability to compete with larger ecosystems such as Ethereum’s.On January 22nd, the network reached an all-time high in average blockchain load, hitting 99.49%.
Cardano (ADA) market performance
ADA has retreated to $1.04 after seeing a steep fall from $1.09 earlier.Though the crypto token is down by 2.15% in the last 24 hours, a weekly review shows it is trading just around the same level it was seven days ago.
The price dip coincides with the general price movement in the crypto market.The majority of crypto assets are seeing minor losses on the day.
With the general outlook being bearish, pressure is increasingly mounting on the bulls.It is crucial that Cardano remains above the historical $1.03 support to avoid more losses.
To learn more about this token visit our Investing in Cardano guide..
