With the Vasil Hard Fork just a little over a month away, the Cardano network is undergoing significant upgrades.
Recently, Cardano passed CIP-31 / CIP-33 (Cardano Improvement Proposals), which essentially reduces transaction sizes and trims down the time needed by smart contracts to perform operations.
Twitter user @Soorajksaju2 had explained that the CIP-33 mechanism would substantially lower the cost of Plutus (smart contract) transactions by reducing their size and making them more ‘lightweight’. Meanwhile, CIP-31 was aimed at allowing DApps to access transactional output without the need to recreate them as before.
Both updates were among several Cardano Improvement Proposals under the network’s purview. The CIPs are described as “a collection of sensible and sound solutions to common problems within the Cardano ecosystem”.
Cardano racing towards the finish line
Cardano’s much anticipated Vasil Hard Fork, which is to be implemented in several stages, is aimed at making the blockchain more scalable and improving the network’s stability and connectivity. The planned upgrades are also expected to make building dApps easier on the platform.
Currently, protocol developers were testing out the new upgrades on the ‘Closed Public Tesnet’ before the changes were deployed on the Mainnet. Meanwhile, the Mainnet hard fork proposal is to be submitted on 29 June.
According to founder Charles Hoskinson, the Vasil Hard Fork currently remains on track to meet its 29 June deadline.
Short-term risks remain a worry
As of April 22, the number of wallets holding Cardano had increased by 100,000 compared to April as the network raced towards its hard fork event. However, market sentiment appears to be weak among retail investors at the moment, with recent Bitcoin corrections wreaking havoc on the altcoin market.
Over the last 30 days, Cardano investors have lost nearly 30% of their investments. ADA fell to yearly lows on 12 May and even though it recouped some losses, downside risks remain this week.