Cardano (ADA) traded quietly on Saturday after an eventful week that saw the 10th largest cryptocurrency rise by just over 14%. However, despite this growth, ADA has struggled to breach the psychological barrier of $0.50 since its last failed attempt in July.
Nevertheless, network activity appears to be thriving amidst this lackluster price performance. As the Cardano community celebrates its seventh year since mainnet launch with zero downtime this week, the blockchain platform showcased impressive advancements within its ecosystem, highlighting a flourishing community even as ADA grapples with market resistance.
Notably, the latest weekly development report, dated September 27, showcased impressive statistics that underscore Cardano’s expansion.
The number of projects building on the platform has reached 1,376, marking a 4.24% increase from the 1,320 projects reported during the same period in January. This growth in project development signals strong developer interest and activity within the Cardano ecosystem.
Other key metrics have also seen substantial gains. Native tokens on the network have increased from 9.48 million to 10.40 million since the beginning of the year, representing a 9.7% rise. Token policies have surged from 94,390 to 168,811, a staggering 78.8% increase.
The number of Plutus scripts, essential for smart contract functionality, has experienced exponential growth. While a January 26 report showed 6,332 Plutus V1 scripts and 17,718 V2 scripts, the latest data reveals a combined total of 88,340 Plutus scripts, signifying a massive increase in smart contract deployment and utilization.
Transaction volume has also seen a notable uptick, rising from 82.7 million in January to 96.94 million at press time, reflecting increased network activity and adoption.
These positive developments have been crucial in advancing key milestones driving the network toward full decentralization. Notably, the Alonzo Hardfork in 2021 enabled smart contracts, the Vasil Hardfork in 2022 improved scalability and the recent Chang Hardfork introduced key decentralized governance features under CIP-1694, marking the first hard fork of the Conway era.
Elsewhere, the Cardano Foundation and Input Output Global (IOG) have continued to pursue technical improvements and partnerships. Recent highlights include the release of Cardano node v.9.2.0, updates to the Marlowe smart contract language, and preparations for the upcoming Cardano Days event in Spain.
Experts maintain a bullish outlook despite the contrast between the network’s technological advancements and ADA’s price performance.
According to analyst “Captain Faibik,” the recent confirmation of a falling wedge breakout suggests a potential for a significant midterm rally of $0.70s.
“ADA Falling Wedge Breakout is already confirmed…!! Expecting 2x Bullish Rally in the Midterm so don’t miss the Ride.” the pundit tweeted on Friday.
