IOHK, the company behind the Cardano blockchain, says it’s rolling out the public testing phase of its big Shelley upgrade today.
The blockchain’s much-awaited upgrade is designed to transform Cardano into a fully decentralized proof-of-stake network. It will introduce a reward system for holders of ADA, the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, who can earn crypto by helping power the network.
“Tomorrow, the 9th [of] June, we’re entering a new phase for Cardano.
The Shelley public testnet will open up so any operator that wants to set up a Cardano stake pool can do so, ready for staking and delegation on mainnet later this summer.”
IOHK marketing and communications director Tim Horrison says the pioneers from the friends and family testnet, a group of select stake pool operators who did the initial testing of Shelley, will mentor and support new pools.
The progress on Shelley has fueled a Cardano price rally, with ADA surging from $0.052 on May 24th to its current price of $0.084, according to CoinMarketCap.
Ethereum is also working on its own proof-of-stake upgrade, which is now likely to launch after Cardano. Testnet coordinator Afri Schoedon estimates that phase 0 will launch by 2021.