IOHK reports significant progress in the Cardano ecosystem, achieving $548.4M TVL, 1,368 active projects, and preparing for the Chang upgrade.

IOHK, a leading blockchain infrastructure research and engineering company, has unveiled the latest feats in the Cardano ecosystem. The update, shared on X, showed significant progress in core technology, wallets, services, smart contracts, scaling, and governance.

Another week, another #Cardano development update, now live on #EssentialCardano. Check this week’s highlights and get the latest on core technology, wallets and services, smart contracts, and scaling and governance developments. https://t.co/MrSFThcRuv

— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) July 19, 2024

Impressive Growth Statistics

Cardano has achieved remarkable milestones in its ecosystem. Notably, the total value locked (TVL) in Cardano’s smart contracts and DeFi platforms has surged to $548.4 million. Additionally, the number of projects under development has increased by three, reaching a total of 1,368.

Further, over 10.2 million native tokens have been minted on the Cardano blockchain, governed by 146,328 unique token policies. Moreover, the Cardano network has processed 94 million transactions as of July 19.

As the Ledger team gears up for the Chang upgrade, focusing on rigorous testing to ensure a smooth transition to the Conway era is pivotal. According to the update, these efforts include writing unit tests and conducting conformance tests to enhance system robustness. Concurrently, the Lace team is preparing for the release of Lace v.1.14, anticipated in the coming weeks.

Scaling Innovations and Governance Updates

As mentioned in the update, the Hydra team has made progress on simplifying incremental decommits, closing remaining gaps and refining the process. They updated dependencies to ensure compatibility with Cardano node v.9.0.0 and improved documentation.

The team also streamlined the setup process for the getting-started demo and developed an SDK wallet. Welcoming a new contributor, they held early design meetings on payment channels.

The Mithril team released distribution 2428.0, which supports Cardano node v.9.0.0, addressing several bug fixes and optimizations. They continue to implement transaction certification, calibrating signature parameters for the mainnet and optimizing artifact production.

Additionally, they have started working on the certification of Cardano stake distribution and are drafting a CIP for the diffusion of Mithril signatures through the Cardano network.

Community Engagement and Educational Initiatives

With the release of Cardano node v.9.0.0, all users are advised to upgrade in preparation for the Chang upgrade.

The Intersect team, a member-based organization (MBO) supporting Cardano’s distributed governance, has reportedly provided updates on the latest node release, the Chang timeline, Intersect’s constitutional council, committee updates, community tooling, and events.

Catalyst, an extension of the Cardano treasury and a testing ground for Cardano community, announced the results of Fund12, with 258 new projects preparing for onboarding. Town Hall 171 celebrated fund winners and participants. Catalyst has completed over 900 projects and allocated more than 100 million ADA in funds.

The Education Sector

In the educational sector, the Cardano team is actively teaching the Cardano Developer course at UTN in Buenos Aires. They are also updating content for Mastering Cardano and supporting in-person training sessions for the constitutional committee.

Ultimately, this update follows a notable price rebound for Cardano, which experienced a 40% gain over 14 days, peaking at $0.44 on July 18. However, mixed signals have emerged in the market, causing temporary price stagnation. Despite this, Cardano’s DEX volumes have surged, reflecting ongoing developments and broader market trends.