Cardano: Hoskinson addresses Grayscale filing as IOHK announces Mary hard fork

The much-anticipated Mary hard fork will take place today on the Cardano testnet at 20:20:16 UTC, according to an announcement made by IOHK a few hours ago. Via the said announcement, IOHK also confirmed that the Goguen native token upgrade will take place at the next testnet epoch rollover, transforming Cardano into a multi-asset network.

“Next comes the mainnet, targeted for the end of February,” the post in question added.

Today at 20:20:16 UTC (the next testnet epoch rollover) we’ll hard fork the #Cardano Testnet & apply the #Goguen native token upgrade (aka ‘Mary’ ), transforming it into a multi-asset network. Next comes mainnet, targeted for the end of February. Onward.https://t.co/C6uGDeUvGV — Input Output (@InputOutputHK) February 3, 2021

Interestingly, Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson had previously commented that it will be seen on the mainnet “tentatively on February 22.”

Native token functionality extends the accounting infrastructure defined in the ledger model (which is designed for processing ADA-only transactions) to accommodate transactions that use different types of assets simultaneously.

Native assets on Cardano would be implemented in a way that eliminates the added complexity that is required by Ethereum for the same functionality. According to an IOHK blog, Ethereum requires custom code for user-defined tokens to be supported on the chain. Cardano reportedly supports user-defined tokens natively, without the need for custom code, through the native tokens framework. This eliminates the need to use custom code or costly smart contracts.

With the expectation that more Goguen updates will be rolled out over the course of the year, many in the community believe that the cryptocurrency has the potential to breach the $1-level once more. In fact, ADA has rallied by over 100% over the past month, with the altcoin trading at $0.41, at the time of writing.

Cardano was in the news recently after leading digital asset firm Grayscale filed a Grayscale Cardano Trust with the Delaware corporate registry, leading many to believe that an ADA trust could soon be made available.

However, Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson cautioned that he wouldn’t “hold his breath” until he sees an approved application from the SEC, while also advising users to “manage their expectations accordingly.”

“Companies will proactively register things,” he said, adding that this move is something Grayscale CEO Barry Silbert is doing in order to maximize his options.