Cardano has marked a new milestone by outpacing Ethereum in core development activity. Throughout the past year, it recorded 21,439 GitHub commits, demonstrating its robust focus on continuous innovation. This increase in developer engagement could be a bullish signal for the cardano coin and potentially lead to gains for investors. However, there are no guarantees around that, especially as many factors come into play when it comes to the future growth of Cardano. And yet, the developer surge is indeed raising everyone’s attention in the crypto community, which is why in this blog, we aim to take an in-depth look at this milestone and what it could mean for Cardano. Read on to learn more!
An overview of Cardano’s development
Cardano’s continuous development follows a unique roadmap. The first step in the roadmap was the Byron era, which aimed to build the foundation of the network. During this time, users could buy and sell Cardano’s native token, ADA, and the network relied on the Ouroboros model, a unique Proof Of Stake system that focused on security. The next phase was Shelley, which saw the network control shifting from a few central nodes to a larger group of participants. This was a significant milestone for the Cardano ecosystem, which enhanced resilience and security by decreasing reliance on a small group of operators.
Next came the Goguen era, which introduced smart contract functionality, enabling developers to build dApps on Cardano, and at the same time, it allowed support for different assets, such as non-fungible tokens as well as standard tokens, with the network becoming more versatile. The following era was Basho, which brought more scalability through sidechains, which represent separate but connected blockchains. The purpose of this new development was to boost performance and allow for more transactions to be handled. Currently, Cardano is in the Voltaire era, with a focus on self-governance. This phase includes a treasury and voting system that allows users to contribute to network upgrades and have a say in how funds are spent, offering the community greater control over the future of Cardano.
Cardano versus Ethereum’s core development activity
Cardano is currently the most active blockchain in core developer work, with its high level of engagement showcasing a robust focus on maintaining and improving its core technology. While this achievement is indeed notable, Cardano has experienced a decline in its total ecosystem engagement, as its active developers decreased by 37.72% from one month to another. This means that even though it sees improvements in terms of core development activity, the broader ecosystem of Cardano isn’t necessarily doing well, as it may be losing momentum. On the other hand, Ethereum is still one of the top blockchains and continues to be active, but it has seen a reduction in core developer activity. This decline shows that Ethereum is struggling to maintain interest from developers despite its established ecosystem and large user base.
However, different analysts reacted to the developer decline, and some state that this is a normal consequence of speculative excesses in the cryptocurrency industry. Many developers were interested in blockchain during the 2021-2022 bull market; however, this quickly changed as speculative projects began to underperform, with funding shifting to other innovative industries, such as AI. Other analysts have a more optimistic outlook and attribute this decline to an overemphasis on projects that are driven by hype rather than value-adding solutions. This trend can, however, be reversed as long as the focus is switched towards building real-world applications that provide solutions to user problems, thus attracting more developers to the space and ensuring long-term growth.
Factors that impact core developer activity in blockchain networks
Different factors impact developer activity in blockchain networks, such as how decisions are made within the projects. For Ethereum, conflicts that happen internally over direction and upgrades have often led to frustration among developers and delays. When it comes to Cardano, its research-focused approach can be a downside in the sense that it discourages developers who seek to build projects as rapidly as possible.
Another essential factor that can influence core developer activity is competition from newer blockchains, as the networks provide lower fees and faster transactions, and these characteristics make them more appealing to developers aiming to work on groundbreaking technology.
ADA’s price outlook
From the very beginning, ADA has experienced a dynamic price history due to its significant network upgrades. One of the most notable upgrades was Alonzo, which occurred in September 2021 and introduced smart contracts, leading to a price increase of 2.96 USD way before the upgrade. The Mary upgrade, which introduced multi-asset support in March 2021, allowed users to create custom tokens on the blockchain, and this enhanced functionality resulted in a positive price effect. At the moment of writing, ADA is trading around $0.75, which represents a substantial decline of 50% from its peak in December 2024. However, despite this decline, forecasts for this year vary. While some analysts believe ADA could reach a price of $2.36 in a bullish scenario, this depends significantly on different factors, such as positive market sentiment and increased adoption.
The future growth of Cardano is strongly tied to its ability to deploy its smart contract ecosystem efficiently and draw in developers: while its unique approach to development is perceived as a potential advantage, competition from other platforms is intense. And even if there’s optimism surrounding its long-term potential, ultimately, its price will be driven by factors that cannot be controlled, such as overall demand as well as market conditions.
Conclusion
At the moment, Cardano is first when it comes to core developer activity, which could potentially be a positive sign for ADA, its native cryptocurrency. But that doesn’t mean the road ahead will be smooth because Cardano is facing challenges: its overall developer engagement has dropped, and this could negatively impact its performance in the long run. In short, it remains to be seen how things will unfold for Cardano, but one thing is clear: it has already made a name for itself in the crypto ecosystem, and it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.
The above information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by London Loves Business and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining from making) any finance decisions. Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision. London Loves Business bears no responsibility for any gains or losses.
