Maxwell Williams 
The ambitious project of Cardano (ADA) is making waves in the private projects ecosystem. Since its launch in 2017, it has been aiming to become a strong contender against Ethereum by introducing a new and improved blockchain with smart contracts capabilities. Despite yet to achieve that goal, more applications are being developed for this robust platform on an ongoing basis.
Despite Some Delays, Cardano Brought Smart Contracts Feature Online
Cardano (ADA) first surfaced in 2017 and was hailed as an “Ethereum killer” that promised to revolutionize smart contracts. Regrettably, its success wasn’t quite what had been anticipated. It took until September 2021 for Cardano’s blockchain to develop enough infrastructure to utilize smart contracts – the focus beforehand was on setting up staking protocols and other central aspects of the network.
One year after the introduction of smart contracts, Cardano‘s network has made significant strides. Boasting 5,028 deployed smart contracts on its blockchain using Plutus v1 -Cardano’s own language- this stunning feat was further amplified in September 2022 when they unveiled an upgraded version: Plutus v2. This progressive update was activated with the Vasil hard fork and marked a milestone for Cardano‘s unstoppable advancement!
There Is a Sprawling DeFi on ADA
With so much attention on smart contracts, it’s no surprise to wonder what these contracts are for and if there is DeFi available on Cardano. Yes, indeed – information from DefiLlama shows that almost 20 different DeFi protocols have been built into Cardano! From decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, and stablecoins protocols to staking protocols, the possibilities of utilizing Cardano with various financial services are endless.
Nevertheless, it must be noted that the TVL of these protocols is fairly low – only totaling $123 million. The Cardano network’s biggest application, Minswap, has a humble TVL amounting to $34 million.
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