As is the case with almost every sustainable and disruptive trend, the decentralized finance (DeFi) space has been flooded with new projects that aim to improve the user experience, remove inefficiencies, and offer better services. But few of them have the technology, expertise, and potential to make an impact on a global scale. Cardano and Polkadex, both of which are set to launch their mainnet in September, are among the rare few that would fast-track the DeFi adoption.
Ready for Mainnet
Cardano’s ADA token has been flying high since IOHK, the company behind Cardano, announced the launch of Alonzo mainnet on September 12. The Alonzo hard fork is currently on the testnet. A test network (testnet) is the experimental playground where developers can test, create, and optimize various functionalities, discover flaws, and monitor the performance of the blockchain.
On September 12, a hard fork combinator (HFC) event will transition Cardano from the current Mary era to the new Alonzo era which brings the “Plutus” smart contract functionality.
Smart contracts will allow Cardano to compete with other programmable blockchains like Ethereum, enabling developers to build dApps on Cardano.
Polkadex, on the other hand, is a non-custodial, peer-to-peer decentralized trading platform that combines the performance and functionality of centralized exchanges with the speed, security and low-cost of decentralized exchanges. Built on the Polkadot Substrate Framework, it addresses issues like low liquidity, high fees, slow processing, and poor user experience prevalent on most trading platforms.
If Polkadex could demonstrate on mainnet what it promises, we’ll see newcomers, professional traders as well as institutions embracing the crypto trading platform. It handles up to 500,000 transactions per second and offers low latency of 20 milliseconds. Polkadex is setting itself apart from the traditional DEXes by making arbitraging, frontrunning, price slippage, and high transaction fees a thing of the past.
Real-world Impact
Only time will tell whether Cardano will be able to make a dent in Ethereum’s dominant position. Almost 60% of the world’s decentralized apps are built on Ethereum, including Maker, Aave, Curve, Compound, Uniswap, and others. Ethereum also has a wide range of platforms for NFTs, gaming, online gambling, and more.
However, Cardano is indeed making an impact with its work in identity management and governance to bring the benefits of blockchain to the masses. It is working with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education on a universal student credentialing system, where it would put students’ grades, academic accomplishments, etc. on blockchain. It is also eyeing to build the whole national ID system in Ethiopia, which has a population of about 110 million.
Polkadex, meanwhile, is giving traders access to advanced trading tools such as API data links, bots, customized trading algorithms, and advanced market orders. But one of its biggest highlights is the decentralized KYC option to ensure privacy for traders.
On top of that, its non-custodial nature prevents hackers from stealing your assets if hackers ever break into its servers because your data is encrypted and stored locally on your device rather than on cloud servers.
The DeFi space is plagued with security breaches. Recently, we saw hackers steal hundreds of millions of dollars from platforms like Poly Network and THORchain. Although the Poly Network hacker has returned all the money, they warned crypto enthusiasts about security flaws.
Closing Remarks
Decentralized finance is innovating relentlessly to eliminate inefficiencies and make it easier for users of all types to interact with the ecosystem. Building an entirely new financial infrastructure and getting the masses to embrace it is a long journey. The mainnet launches of Cardano and Polkadex this month would be an important milestone.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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