The Cardano Alonzo Hard Fork is approaching fast. It marks the latest change to Cardano and follows the Allegra and Mary forks. Alonzo introduces smart contracts and 2 development languages into the Cardano blockchain; Plutus and Marlowe.
As with the previous Shelley era, Cardano will use a hard fork combinator to deploy Alonzo. This is a somewhat unique approach to forking, creating a unified multi-protocol blockchain.
Alonzo matters. It marks a turning point in Cardano, and it could be a great time to increase your infrastructure. Learn more about the Cardano Alonzo hard fork below…
What is the Alonzo Hard Fork?
Alonzo is the latest Cardano hard fork. Subject to any further delays, the mainnet hard fork should take place on September 12.
Build Cardano Smart Contracts With Haskell
Alonzo is the 3rd and final phase of the Goguen era. Following the previous Allegra and Mary hard forks. Among other things, Goguen implements smart contracts on the Cardano blockchain.
Cardano has created a purpose-built smart contract development language known as Plutus.
Plutus is built on Haskell and allows both on-chain (smart contracts) and off-chain components (dApps).
Marlowe Allows Non-Programmers to Build Cardano Smart Contracts
Cardano has created the Marlowe domain-specific language (DSL) as an easy-to-use template for smart contracts.. This is an accessible language, designed for businesses and financial experts. Marlowe will encourage those from a non-technical background to build smart contracts. This is a major advantage over other blockchains.
The Cardano Hard fork Combinator
Cardano forks differ from most blockchains – they don’t create a new blockchain ledger. Instead, Cardano uses a hard fork combinator. This combines all releases into a single unified blockchain ledger. The result is an unbroken chain from mainnet launch in 2017 up to and including any updates.
Cardano Users Can Hold Byron, Shelley or Goguen Currency
As mentioned, Alonzo is the final stage of, and implements, the Goguen era. Goguen follows the previous Shelley and Byron eras. Each of these eras have different ledger rules. Thanks to the combinator, the Cardano chain can handle blocks from all Cardano eras.
Alonzo will add another set of ledger rules to the chain, but won’t automatically upgrade existing currency. This is thanks to the combinator. . To benefit from the latest update, users need to transfer their currency from Byron or Shelley, to Goguen.
Different Protocol Nodes in The Same Blockchain
The combinator also simplifies node deployment. As well as ‘legacy’ blocks, Cardano also consists of a mix of nodes from previous eras.
Currently, some Cardano nodes run Byron blocks, and some run Shelley blocks. Following Alonzo, there will be a mix of Shelley, Byron and Goguen nodes all operating on the same chain.
This flexibility makes Cardano expansion an appealing option. You can add new infrastructure without having to upgrade your existing nodes. However, to participate in features such as staking and smart contracts, node updates are necessary.
Why Now Could Be The Perfect Time to Increase Your Cardano Infrastructure
Cardano is becoming increasingly relevant. Alonzo is bringing a lot of attention to the Cardano network, and a lot of investment. Marlowe gives mainstream institutions easy entry into smart contracts. This is unique among blockchains and makes Cardano an appealing prospect.
Now could be the perfect time to get on board with Cardano, or ramp up your existing infrastructure.
Blockdaemon can help. We can increase your Cardano nodes, without the hassle of management and maintenance. We can also support you with dedicated, white-glove Cardano staking.
You Can Benefit From Our Experience
Blockdaemon hosts nodes for major exchanges, custodians and financial institutions. In fact, we support more Cardano nodes than any other provider. We offer a full node lifecycle management service and have never been slashed.
We are the Cardano experts. If you need to ramp up your Cardano infrastructure, get in touch with Blockdaemon today.
