The Cardano network’s recent upgrade, which added smart contract functionality, has seen tremendous growth, boosting the platform’s competitiveness against its larger rival Ethereum.
According to data supplied by the Cardano Foundation, the number of smart contracts based on Plutus, a Cardano-based smart contracts platform, had reached 888 as of December 8th.
Cardano was able to deliver a decentralised financial (DeFi) apps development platform and programmability after the smart upgrade was activated during the September Alonzo upgrade.
Plutus is growing popularity among developers, as seen by the recent milestone. This comes after Cardano said in September that 800 projects wishing to use the network had filed for $4 million in funding.
Initially, Cardano developers Input-Output HK disclosed that Plutus Pioneer courses for developers were running concurrently with the upgrade.
“Thousands of developers have been taking part in the Plutus Pioneers course, learning the fundamentals of Cardano’s native development framework. Scores of projects have already started developing in Plutus and are at various stages of expertise and readiness,” IOHK said in a blog post.
It’s also worth mentioning that, considering Cardano’s efforts to upgrade the network, the smart contract capabilities was a defining moment for the ecosystem.
Its success, however, is largely dependent on developer adoption and the amount of dApps incorporated into the Cardano network.
Cardano has stated that users and developers can expect some bumps along the way, especially in the early stages of the project.