The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by daily trading volume, Binance, is ready to support the Cardano network upgrade (quotation ADA) to smart contracts together with the Alonzo hard fork. This is according to the announcement made on the official Binance website. Both the update and the hard fork are scheduled for September 12th. On that day, events will begin on epoch 290 or around 21:44 UTC. Withdrawals and deposits from ADA will be suspended from 21:14 UTC on the same day, the announcement reads.
In particular, ADA trading will not be affected during the network upgrade and hard fork. Furthermore, the event will not involve the creation of any new tokens, Binance noted. ADA users are advised to allow sufficient time for deposits to be fully processed prior to the aforementioned time limit.
Additionally, the exchange has stated that it will handle all technical requirements for users holding ADAs in Binance accounts. Thereafter, Binance will reopen ADA deposits and withdrawals once the upgraded network is deemed stable. A notification will be sent when everything is ready.
Cardano network update
Since mid-year, the third-generation blockchain project has been launching parts of the Alonzo series of updates. The overall result was to bring smart contract functionality and capabilities to the Cardano network. They would also mark the end of the Goguen era of allowing decentralized applications (DApps) to be built on the blockchain.
First, IOHK's blockchain operators launched Alonzo Blue which offered smart contracts to a limited number of technical insiders. With it, came the huge anticipation for the development and growth of the network. Alonzo White and Alonzo Purple followed. In addition to the DeFi features, the updates offer the potential for issuing ERC-20 tokens from the Cardano blockchain. There is also a new NFT corner with smart contracts.
However, previous implementation delays hurt investor confidence in Cardano. A while back, most of the crypto community even bet against Cardano launching smart contracts as scheduled. These sentiments appear to have faded, as ADA is now ranked as the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Cardano has even been called the Ethereum killer as it strives to acquire capabilities similar to those of the Ethereum network.
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Furthermore, Cardano collaborated with Coinfirm for anti-money laundering analyzes. Weiss Crypto said the action would make the network a censored zone and go against the whole point of decentralization. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson was however confident the move was necessary for further mass adoption.
On September 7, ADA experienced an industry-wide price drop, falling as low as $ 2,40, according to our data. The coin is now attempting to regain ground and was trading at $ 2,60 at the time of writing, 8% higher on the day.
