ADA on the rise, investors anticipate smart contracts in new Cardano update

ADA, Cardano’s native cryptocurrency, has successfully broken through resistance at the US $1.80 level on 13 May and has since then rallied to an all-time high at $2.47.

This pattern-breaking move is even more clearly seen in the ADA/BTC price. While bitcoin is struggling to recover from a price shock that happened almost a month ago, altcoins, particularly ETH and ADA, seem unshaken.

Last week, we covered ETH as it reached two new all-time highs within two weeks. It seems that ADA is now doing the same, following the footsteps of its predecessor.

A handful of technical analyses have predicted a breakout about a month ago, although no matter how many ascending triangles could be found, the price just didn’t seem to move that way, especially after the price crash on Sunday, 16 April.

Now ADA’s price is taking everyone by surprise — so, what’s been driving ADA’s price lately? A combination of positive development news, celebrity statements, and a soaring number of new fans may be the causes.

We’ve learned that on 26 April, the Ethiopian minister of education confirmed a collaboration plan between Input Output Hong Kong, one of the foundations that oversee the development of Cardano, and the Ethiopian government, to implement a nationwide blockchain-based academic record.

Following this news, investors are reminded that Cardano is still moving forward, albeit slowly. Cardano has also announced before that it is launching smart contracts functionality this August, promising a whole new open door for corporate use cases. As August approaches, investors could only anticipate higher and higher prices.

Another news from a tech billionaire may have also stirred higher interest in ADA. On 13 May, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in a tweet that Tesla has ‘suspended’ bitcoin payment for purchasing Tesla’s cars, because of environmental concerns related to bitcoin mining.

“Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to a more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction.”

Given that Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain network right off the blueprint, speculators bet on Cardano as the eco-friendly coin that might soon be adopted by the electric car company.

In other news, the founding father of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson (also one of the founders of Ethereum), has had a fun and brief Twitter discussion with crypto fan Mark Cuban on the applications of Cardano, which turns into a pitch for future investors. You can follow up on their banter in this thread.

Where is ADA headed? Stick around for more news on one of the world’s top cryptocurrencies.

Invest in Cardano: Click here to add ADA to your portfolio

“Internet Computer” cryptocurrency gains $45 million in market capitalisation

Internet Computer (ICP) made a brief but surprising appearance last Tuesday among the top cryptocurrencies in coinmarketcap, such as dogecoin and Binance coin.

On the following Thursday, it gained $45 million in market capitalisation for a brief time, which was quite an achievement for a coin that very few people knew about. ICP has been trading at around $258, but this is 60% of the price immediately following its debut listing on Coinbase.

Internet Computer Protocol is a network that promises to deliver the same functionality as Ethereum, where software and website developers can release their products on a decentralised platform, while also promising ‘internet speed’ services.

The network was founded by Dfinity Foundation, which is based in Zurich — Ethereum Foundation is based in Zug in the same country, Switzerland. Dominic Williams, the founder and chief scientist of Dfinity Foundation claims that Internet Computer will be the “new open Internet”.

In this decentralised network of supercomputers, app developers supposedly won’t have to rely on big Internet companies like Google, Apple, and others, to be able to publish their apps for download.

Bypassing the traditional road, they may be able to reach a wider range of audiences without being burdened with publishing fees and/or transaction fees that is currently plaguing the Ethereum network.

For comparison, Ethereum has a block time of 13 seconds and up to 30 seconds during the 2017 network congestion; Dfinity’s network will have an average block time of about 5 seconds.

Backed by investors including Polychain Capital, Eterna Capital, and Aspect Ventures, the new blockchain network may soon be a dangerous competitor to Polkadot that proposes the same concept, but from a blockchain interoperability perspective.

Should you invest in Internet Computer? Only time can help you tell apart between the high price and high value of an upcoming project. Exciting right?

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