Cardano, which is in the top 10 coins by market capitalization, has been a leading token in the crypto market recovery that took place over the weekend. The platform has announced Cardano’s Alonzo test deployment.
While the total capitalization of the crypto market only increased slightly on Sunday 30th, Cardano’s cryptocurrency (ADA) experienced gains as high as 32% days after the deployment of the Alonzo testnet on May 27th.
According to CoinGecko data, ADA has been the most consistent earner over the past 7 days among the biggest 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, only slightly behind BNB in terms of overall gains.
Cardano Flys Higher
Cardano had been one of the top-performing cryptocurrencies before the recent market crashes, having reached its all-time high of $2.46 on May 16th before seeing its value drop by more than 50% over the next few days.
The previous success behind the cryptocurrency had been the result of its scientific approach toward scalability and performance, which allowed it to become one of the biggest Ethereum contenders along with networks like Binance Smart Chain and Polkadot.
— Cardano Community (@Cardano) May 23, 2021
The network also announced on May 23rd that it had reached the 1 million ADA wallets mark, with more than 70% of existing ADA being staked across more than 2.5k pools.
IOHK Launched the First Testnet in Alonzo Rollout
Input-Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the company founded by Charles Hoskinson to drive the development of Cardano, announced on May 27th that it had successfully deployed the first testnet in the Alonzo Rollout.
Also named Alonzo Blue, the testnet is the network’s early alpha network designed to provide the core network functionality for the Alonzo node.
Today, we are delighted to report we have successfully spun up the first testnet in our #Alonzo rollout. #AlonzoBlue is our early alpha network, providing core Alonzo-node networking capability. 1/2https://t.co/z8shaZeIhq pic.twitter.com/Eg2t9PdM8x
— Input Output (@InputOutputHK) May 27, 2021
Along with the announcement of the deployment, IOHK also stated that it had started the process of onboarding a select group of stake pool operators and “Plutus Pioneers” to better develop the foundations.
Alonzo Blue is the first phase in the deployment of the Alonzo update. It will be followed by Alonzo White, Alonzo Purple, Alonzo Red, and finally, Alonzo Black.
Over the next months after Alonzo Blue’s deployment, the program will be expanded to include users as new features and testnet functionalities are added.
The Alonzo hard fork will bring smart contract functionalities to the Cardano network, marking an important milestone in the development of the blockchain network as it will open new doors for the development of dApps and platforms.
Will Cardano and Altcoins Outperform Ethereum?
Raoul Pal, a former Goldman Sachs executive, has recently shared his belief that Cardano and other altcoins could outperform Ethereum once the Bull market returns.
The Co-Founder and CEO of Real Vision Group was recently interviewed by Crypto Banter. After being asked about his crypto investment strategy, Pal made an analogy between traditional and crypto markets:
“In traditional markets, once an established trend takes place, you move out the risk curve. So from Bitcoin, being like government bonds, you then go to Ethereum which is like corporate bonds, and then you go to junk bonds, which is all the other stuff, and then private-sector lending. So I’m just moving out the risk curve because the trend is established, and I know that in a bull market, ETH will outperform Bitcoin and alts will outperform ETH.”
He also stated that his belief was not necessarily based on his belief if Cardano or Polkadot will surpass Ethereum, but on the general trend that would arise in the case of a bull market that affects Ethereum and Bitcoin.
While Cardano has a lot going for it, given the mixed signals that global governments are sending to the crypto markets, caution on the future direction of any token is warranted.