Cardano Delays Vasil Hardfork by “a Few More Weeks”

Key Takeaways

• Cardano’s technical manager Kevin Hammon has said that there could be “a few more weeks” before the network launches its Vasil upgrade.
• Vasil is Cardano’s most complex upgrade to date, aimed at improving the network’s scalability.
• It was initially supposed to launch on June 29, but has suffered from two delays to allow more testing time.

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Cardano’s core technology program manager, Javier Franco, has said that the team’s priorities are to ensure that things are “done right,” even if it takes more time to launch the Vasil hardfork.

Cardano Delays Vasil Hardfork Again

After failing to launch last month, Cardano’s Vasil hardfork has been delayed again.

Kevin Hammon, the technical manager of Cardano developer Input Output Global, said in a Thursday interview that the much-anticipated Vasil upgrade would be postponed to complete testing and ensure a “smooth process.” He added that it could be “a few more weeks” until the update is ready to go live. 

According to Input Output’s core technology program manager Javier Franco, the Vasil hardfork is Cardano’s “most significant update” to date. “There are lots of moving parts, lots of dependencies,” he said, explaining that the team’s priority is to ensure that “things are done right” even if it takes more time to launch the upgrade.

The hardfork was originally scheduled to go live on June 29, but as the deadline encroached, Input Output moved the goal post to the last week of July to “allow more time for testing.” 

The upgrade promises to significantly increase Cardano’s scaling capabilities. Input Output has previously stated that it is the most complex undertaking Cardano has taken to date. Besides the mere technical complexity of the code itself, the upgrade requires significant coordination between the ecosystem’s stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition.

Cardano is the world’s eighth-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of around $17.5 billion. However, despite being one of the crypto industry’s oldest and best known Layer 1 smart contract networks, it has failed to build a vibrant DeFi ecosystem like many of its direct competitors. According to data from Defi Llama, it holds about $136.65 million in total value locked. Ethereum, the biggest smart contract network, holds closer to $57.44 billion, while Solana holds $2.69 billion. 

Cardano’s native token ADA was largely unaffected by the Vasil postponement news. According to CoinGecko data, it’s currently trading at $0.52, up 5.7% on the day. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.

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