Cardano Launches Alonzo Testnet Amidst Ethereum Competition
Cardano has finally rolled out its first Alonzo testnet after months of anticipation, following an official announcement via its Twitter. The token’s long-awaited hard fork comes at a curious time as Ethereum chases swiftly behind in plans for a network upgrade of its own.
Cardano Begins Test Phase
Mathematician and programmer, Charles Hoskinson started Cardano in 2017 as a worthy competitor to existing crypto tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Unlike the previous two, Cardano introduced a more efficient Proof of Stake algorithm, winning investors and public faith early on through its ambitious project. Since then, ambitions have only risen with the market trends, and Cardano is not the only one hoping to be on top.
Ethereum has been touted as Cardano’s main rival, especially as both seek to dominate the highly promising DeFi industry. Apart from Ethereum’s larger dev pool and network effect, its successful contracts platform has also comfortably put Ethereum ahead of the newer token. The Alonzo test net would be Cardano’s first step to correcting this.
Cardano’s long proposed hard fork will see smart contracts enter its mainnet once the test phase is over. The major blockchain is making significant progress toward launching Plutus smart contracts, which will make it possible to deploy a wide range of DApps – a fact considered Ethereum’s strength. Once the hard fork is complete, integration of Cardano’s ERC-20 converter will follow, and Cardano users will be able to migrate their Ethereum tokens to Cardano’s blockchain within a few clicks.
Alonzo Blue testnet, which kicked off today, will be initially available for a limited number of stake pool operators, and members of the Plutus pioneer program as well as several partners, only for a few months. Transition and deployment into the mainet will then happen in about three months from now.
Cardano's ongoing hard fork is as colorful as its monumental importance. The upgrade has been spaced out in stages, as revealed at the latest Cardano 360 event.
Alonzo Blue testnet will go on for almost a month and will precede Alonzo White. Alonzo Purple is the last of the phases which would see Cardano’s deployment transition into the mainnet before fully becoming public.
Can Cardano and Ethereum Co-Exist?
Cardano’s founder Charles Hoskinson claimed today that Ethereum’s proposed shift to Cardano’s similar PoS consensus mechanism does not bother him. Should he really be worried though?
Asked during an interview on Wednesday whether Ethereum’s proposed transition to PoS consensus mechanism would “kill” Cardano, Hoskinson was confident that it was not bound to happen.
“I don’t see it like that,” he said. “Scalability, Interoperability, and Sustainability,” are what he believes sets Cardano apart from Ethereum. “That [the PoS] is just the engine. An engine doesn’t make a BMW a BMW.”
Is Hoskinson just trying to allay fears, or is Cardano definitely independent of Ethereum’s competition? It might be tricky to evaluate this at the moment, but what is very clear is that Ethereum’s hard fork and planned transition to PoS comes very close to Cardano’s. Even Hoskinson would not be proud. And as the two battle it out closely these coming months, after only both setting ATHs weeks before, it will be enthralling to see what could come of them and the market.
For now, you can buy and trade your Cardano and Ethereum on ChangeNOW here.
