During a keynote at the Rare Evo 2024 conference, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson unveiled a series of significant updates to the Cardano blockchain. Speaking to a diverse audience of developers, stakeholders, and enthusiasts, Hoskinson outlined Cardano’s next steps in technology development, governance, and global connectivity.
Cardano Roadmap for the Coming Months
The centerpiece of Hoskinson’s presentation was the introduction of Plutus V3, the latest version of the Cardano smart contract platform, which is set to bring enhanced functionality and improved security features. “Plutus V3 is coming in a few weeks,” Hoskinson said. “We’ve got Ouroboros Leios, and that paper came out after years and years and years of chasing how to overcome the blockchain dilemma. Well, not only have we overcome it, we’ve overcome it and we’re working on it. We’re working on it with Intersect with all of you prototyping it publicly with people here. That’s the Cardano difference.”
Emphasizing the technological advancements, Hoskinson touched on Hydra, Cardano’s layer 2 scaling solution designed to dramatically increase the network’s transaction rate. He went into detail on the mechanics of Hydra, particularly its use of the scaled UTXO model, which ensures transactions are processed efficiently and securely. “Hydra is an amazing technology,” he noted. “We’re very excited about Hydra, and we designed the scaled UTXO specifically for Hydra. (…) This ability to seamlessly move on and off the chain. (…) It just works, and it’s secure and fast.”
A large portion of the keynote address was devoted to the evolution of governance within the Cardano ecosystem. Hoskinson announced the imminent formation of what he described as “the largest decentralized autonomous organization in crypto history,” which will manage one of the largest digital treasuries. He also explained the structure of this decentralized autonomous organization, which includes a three-party system of governance that combines a constitutional committee, staking pool operators, and elements of liquid democracy.
“This new governance model represents a revolutionary step towards a fully decentralized and democratic governance of a blockchain ecosystem,” said Hoskinson, emphasizing the system’s potential to empower society and promote more inclusive decision-making.
Highlighting Cardano’s international outreach, Hoskinson reviewed recent engagements with government and academic institutions in Argentina, which have underscored the global interest in the potential of blockchain technology. “It was great to meet with the government. We met with the mayor of Buenos Aires, we met with a lot of other great people and they are very excited to welcome us to the University of Buenos Aires School of Law for the Constitutional Convention. We will be hosting delegates from over 50 countries around the world to talk about what Cardano should be like in the next 10 years,” he said.
Looking ahead, Hoskinson excited the crowd with previews of the upcoming Cardano Summit in October. He announced a unique challenge that will showcase Hydra’s ability to handle 1 million transactions per second (TPS): a live multiplayer Doom game session on Hydra, where each frame of the game represents a transaction on the blockchain.
“I’ve got you something. You’re going to have 30,000 concurrent players, 35 FPS, 35 transactions per second, about a million TPS. (…) We’re going to have a deathmatch where people fight each other in Doom. We’re going to find a win to make it happen, and the winner gets $100,000 in USDM (…) That’s how we get to 30,000 players. Why? Because we want to show the power of this,” Hoskinson revealed.
Hoskinson concluded his keynote by emphasizing his commitment to advancing blockchain technology through rigorous research and community-led innovation. He highlighted the growing flexibility and capabilities of the Cardano ecosystem, stating: “Every day, people in this room, and people outside this room, come together and ask the question, how do we make this simpler, faster, cheaper, easier, and better? Why? Because we want crypto to take over the world.”
At the time of publishing this report, ADA was trading at $0.3734.
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