Cardano’s ada soars to top $3 for the first time after the network begins upgrades to deliver smart contracts

Cardano’s ada soars to top $3 for the first time after the network begins upgrades to deliver smart contracts

Cardano's ada cryptocurrency soared on Thursday to rise above $3 for the first time, after developers kicked off upgrades that will allow "smart contracts" to be built on the network. Ada was up 9.1% at 4.25 a.m. ET, according to , to stand at $3.04. It earlier touched an all-time high of $3.09. The digital token has had a stellar run in recent weeks as investors have become excited about the major network upgrades, codenamed Alonzo. Ada's jump on Wednesday night and Thursday morning coincided with cardano developer IOHK saying that the Alonzo upgrades had been launched on a test network. The full launch is expected later in September. The Alonzo upgrades will allow smart contracts to be built on the network, potentially making the cardano blockchain more attractive to a wider array of users. A smart contract is a piece of code that allows people to enter financial agreements without the need for a centralized party. The move could make cardano more of a rival to ethereum, which already offers smart contracts and has drawn increasing institutional investor interest for its range of potential uses in financial services. Cardano developer IOHK : "The Cardano Testnet now officially supports Plutus