Cardano's September 2023 Updates: Enhanced Wallets, Scaling Progress, and Smart Contract Advances

Cardano unveils significant updates in September 2023, focusing on user experience and network scalability.
Enhancements include revamping the Lace Wallet, scaling efforts, and progress in smart contracts and governance.

Cardano, renowned for its meticulous peer-reviewed approach, has unveiled substantial updates as of September 29, 2023, aimed at enhancing the user experience and expanding the network’s capabilities across various domains.

At the heart of these updates lies the comprehensive overhaul of Cardano’s Lace Wallet. The dedicated team worked diligently to introduce features that address the delegation ratio among different stake pools, integrated portfolio persistence, and resolved several user interface (UI) issues. In a bid to make the wallet more user-friendly, the DApp connector received an update, allowing activation with selected extensions as listed on CIP-95.

Subsequently, adjustments were made to Lace to align with these changes, accompanied by further updates to the Lace UI to accommodate various types of governance actions. Furthermore, significant progress is being made on the development of the DApp Store, highlighting Cardano’s commitment to strengthening decentralized applications on its platform.

The Basho phase, designated for scaling, witnessed proactive collaboration between the Hydra and Mithril teams. Their joint efforts are centered on enhancing network resiliency and scalability. The Hydra team, for instance, improved the gen-hydra-key node command for smoother usability, while the Mithril team introduced a new distribution supporting zstandard compression of snapshot archives. These concerted actions represent steps toward addressing the historical scalability trilemma, positioning Cardano as a more secure, decentralized, and scalable blockchain platform.

Smart Contracts and Governance Progression

In the realm of smart contracts, Cardano continues to lead the way. The Plutus tools team exposed the new Marconi API queries through a JSON-RPC server, enhancing system performance and synchronization times. Simultaneously, the Marlowe team added Docker support to the Marlowe oracle and upgraded Cardano node dependency to v.8.1.2.

Furthermore, Cardano introduced the Voltaire GovTool, a crucial tool for ADA holders to engage in on-chain governance. This tool enables ADA holders to register as delegate representatives, delegate voting power to other DReps, and participate in reviewing and voting on governance actions, embodying Cardano’s commitment to community-driven governance.

The flurry of activities within Cardano’s ecosystem, as detailed in the weekly development update, underscores its continuous evolution and unwavering dedication to delivering a robust, user-friendly, and scalable blockchain platform.