The Cardano (ADA) ecosystem experienced substantial growth in various key metrics in August, coinciding with the successful implementation of the anticipated Chang upgrade on September 1. Despite the bearish market sentiment affecting ADA’s price during this time, the Cardano Foundation reported increased investor activity and blockchain usage. 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 transactions in August, marking a slight increase of 1.51%.
The number of wallets created on the Cardano blockchain saw positive movement, rising by 0.67% to reach 4.87 million. Conversely, the number of delegated wallets decreased by nearly 1%. 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, resulting 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.
Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, shared insights into the upcoming developmental and governance phases of the network following the Chang hard fork. He 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, initiatives such as the registration of Delegated Representatives (DReps) and the formation of an interim Constitutional Committee will take place. Plans for the “Chang +1 upgrade” were also announced, expected to bring about fully decentralized governance by December 2024.
In tandem with 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.
Hoskinson 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. Market intelligence platform Santiment highlighted a surge in address activity for ADA, which historically signals a potential rebound during price declines. 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%.
The Cardano ecosystem has shown remarkable growth in various metrics, signaling positive developments for the future of the network. With a focus on governance decentralization and the development of a formal constitution, Cardano is positioning itself for a new era of innovation and community participation.
