Cardano (ADA) introduces smart contracts after effective hard fork

Cardano has concluded its Alonzo hard fork to introduce Plutus-powered smart contract scripts.

The upgrade has been finalized effectively IOHK tweeted, enabling the creation and implementation of smart contract on the public blockchain for the first time.

Cardano notes that it is still in the “early days for the project,” asserting that now is when “the mission truly begins” in a blog post published on the same day:

“Cardano has announced the completion of its Alonzo hard fork, ushering in its long-awaited smart contract functionality.”

“This is where the mission truly begins as we – the whole community – start delivering on the vision we have all been working towards for so long. Building a decentralized system that extends economic identity and opportunity to everyone, everywhere.”

The Alonzo fork allows smart contracts to be written for Cardano by Plutus scripts, which the team defines as “a purpose-built smart contract development language and execution platform using the functional programming language Haskell.”

Though, the team has fortified its community to continue sensible potentials for Alonzo, stating:

“There are high expectations resting on this upgrade. Some unreasonably so. Cardano watchers may be expecting a sophisticated ecosystem of consumer-ready DApps available immediately after the upgrade. Expectations need to be managed here.”