The upgrade, released to Cardano’s mainnet on June 19, offers significant improvements in epoch boundary performance and corrects previous concerns with P2P/DNS. The Cardano GitHub states, “All SPOs are strongly encouraged to update.”
Cardano Node 8.1.1 Upgrade
The upgrade is considered a minor release designed to ensure better network connectivity and user stability. As Rick McCracken of DIGI tweeted,
“This update improves node performance at the epoch boundary and corrects previous concerns with P2P/DNS. It also contains all the performance improvements from 8.0.0. Let’s rock and roll! #Cardano.”
The improvements in the network offer several benefits for Cardano’s network, particularly for stake pool operators and users. Given the increasing total value locked (TVL) in Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem, the upgrade appears to target the network area seeing the most growth.
Benefits include enhanced efficiency, increased scalability, improved network security, and better distribution of rewards.
Improved epoch boundary performance leads to a more efficient network capable of faster processing of transactions and managing smart contracts. This translates to reduced latency and improved user experience for stakeholders.
It also allows the network to handle more transactions and users concurrently. This is crucial for the long-term growth of the Cardano ecosystem as it continues to attract more users and decentralized applications.
The upgrade will also contribute to increased network stability by reducing the likelihood of bottlenecks and performance issues during epoch transitions. This helps maintain consistent network performance and a seamless experience for users.
For stake pool operators and participants, the upgrade additionally ensures a more accurate and fair distribution of rewards. This fosters a healthier ecosystem by incentivizing stake pool operators to continue maintaining and growing the network.
However, despite the upgrade, Cardano’s market stats show a slight change in its price. The price of ADA currently stands at $0.25872, with a 24H change of -0.21% and a 7-day change of -8.02%. The token remains significantly below its all-time high of $3.09503, reached in September 2021.
Growing DeFi interest in Cardano
Nonetheless, the Cardano ecosystem’s interest is growing, with a marked increase in the network’s total value locked (TVL). In mid-June, Cardano’s DeFi TVL surged past 500 million ADA amid expanding ecosystem interest.
On June 13, data from DeFiLlama shows that the ADA token TVL had risen to 513.25 million ADA from 198.65 million ADA on Jan. 1, a new all-time high for the smart contract network. As of June 20, the TVL has increased further to 516.49 million ADA as of press time, an increase of 0.63%.
This growth in TVL is impressive, given that Cardano reached the milestone of 400 million ADA tokens on May 19. This suggests that over 116 million new ADA tokens were added to the Cardano DeFi ecosystem in two months.
It is worth noting that this increase comes despite the U.S. SEC potentially classifying Cardano as a security in their June 5 lawsuit against Binance, a classification that the Cardano Foundation disputes, an assertion the Cardano communities have refuted. Several exchanges have also delisted ADA in recent days following regulatory uncertainty.
The continued rise in TVL on Cardano highlights a consistent upward trend in decentralized finance (DeFi) activity, alongside continued network improvements.
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