In August, the Cardano (ADA) ecosystem experienced significant growth across several key metrics, coinciding with the anticipated Chang upgrade, which was successfully implemented on September 1.
Despite the bearish market sentiment that affected ADA’s price during this period, the Cardano Foundation reported increased investor activity and blockchain usage.
August Highlights
In a recent social media post, the Foundation detailed the performance of various transaction types within the ecosystem.
Notably, smart contract transactions surged by 31%, while metadata transactions (excluding smart contracts) grew by 20%. However, simple transactions faced a decline of 49%. Overall, Cardano recorded a total of 95.9 million transactionsin August, marking a slight increase of 1.51%.
The number of wallets created on the blockchain also saw positive movement, rising by 0.67% to reach 4.87 million. Conversely, the number of delegated wallets decreased by nearly 1%, totaling 1.33 million.
Additionally, there was a 0.75% increase in plutus scripts, with 6,709 new smart contracts created, enabling developers to build secure decentralized applications without intermediaries.
Cardano’s native tokens experienced a 0.85% increase, culminating in the creation of 10.3 million new tokens. The most significant growth was recorded in policy creation, which saw a remarkable 6.53% surge with 160,299 new policies introduced.
Cardano Enters 90-Day Bootstrap Phase
Looking ahead, Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, shared insights into the upcoming developmental and governance phases of the network following the Chang hard fork.
In a recent update, Hoskinson described the current state of the Cardano network as entering a “90-day bootstrap phase,” during which key governance components will be activated. Hoskinson outlined the roadmap for the Chang hard fork, detailing the transition to the age of Voltaire, where the network will achieve full decentralization.
During this bootstrap phase, various initiatives, including the registration of Delegated Representatives (DReps) and the formation of an interim Constitutional Committee, will take place. Hoskinson also announced plans for the “Chang +1 upgrade,” expected to bring about fully decentralized governance by December 2024.
In tandem with these governance reforms, Cardano is drafting its first formal constitution, with over 50 workshops held globally to engage stakeholders in the process.
Delegates elected during these workshops will contribute to a constitutional convention scheduled to occur in Argentina this December, where the proposed V1 constitution will be developed.
Furthermore, Hoskinson revealed that Cardano’s treasury, valued at approximately $600 million in ADA, will undergo an annual budgeting process to address the ecosystem’s needs, including marketing and development initiatives.
The blockchain’s founder emphasized a significant shift towards decentralization, indicating that Input Output Global (IOG), the engineering firm behind the Cardano ecosystem will eventually relinquish its governance role, and DReps will no longer be necessary.
Amid these developments, market intelligence platform Santiment highlighted a surge in address activity for ADA. Historically, increased address activity during price declines often signals a potential rebound.
Currently, ADA has seen a nearly 3% increase over the past week, trading at around $0.344, with a recent 2% rise in the last 24 hours. However, the token still reflects a monthly loss of nearly 1%.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com