Early Wednesday morning in Asia, a Cardano blockchain update went live to provide enhanced security and interoperability.
Named “Valentine,” the update will bring improvements to cross-chain capability for decentralized finance (DeFi) projects based on the network. This proposal was introduced in February and received positive votes from network validators.
It is reported that the upgrade will introduce improved cryptographic functions to Cardano, as well as facilitate cross-chain dapp development on Plutus, Cardano’s smart contract platform.
“Interoperability is key for blockchain growth. As more DApps are built on Cardano, it is essential that they are not siloed to just one ecosystem, enabling users to interact with different blockchains and access a wider range of services.”
– Cardano developer and code maintainer
Cross-chain bridges are programs that allow for the transfer between different blockchains.
This functionality in Cardano would enable developers to construct apps that link Cardano with other blockchain networks, thereby granting users access to those other blockchains for convenient interaction with the financial services provided by Cardano dapps.
Dapps substitute middlemen with smart contracts to provide financial services like lending and borrowing to customers, who are typically rewarded with the dapp’s token or use it as currency.
The potential result of this upgrade would be an increase in the usefulness of Cardano’s ADA tokens, which consequently sparked a surge in demand. This is evident as the token prices rose by 8% within the last day – an accomplishment greater than that of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The amount of tokens that are locked in Cardano-based dapps has gone up by more than 100% since the beginning of this year, now totalling over $110 million, indicating a high demand.
