With the Protocol Version 8 upgrade, the Cardano blockchain will have its next Chain Upgrade Event (CUE), improving the network’s compatibility with other blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. SECP256k1, an elliptic curve used in other blockchains for cryptographic security, will now be supported thanks to the upgrade.
An anonymous Cardano supporter with extensive knowledge of Cardano development, ThePizzaKnight, has brought attention to the idea and simplified it for the average reader to understand. He claims that the occasion will make integrating ZK-powered projects like Midnight easier with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other potential sidechains. Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, retweeted the thread today to support the progress.
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He compared real-world language families like English and Spanish to cryptographic primitives to make his thesis clear.
Cryptographic primitives include elliptic curves. Cardano employs curve25519 in contrast to many other blockchains, including those of Bitcoin and Ethereum, which use the elliptic curve known as SECP256k1. These can be compared to several languages, making it challenging for Cardano to interact with blockchains that use SECP256k1.
Nevertheless, on the Cardano blockchain, SECP256k1 will have native support as part of the Protocol Version 8 upgrade. By offering Cardano an inherent capacity to interact with other chains like Bitcoin and Ethereum, this additional capability will make inter-chain operability easier. In essence, Cardano will now be able to understand SECP256k1.
As they will have access to other chains and tokens while building on Cardano, developers will gain from the development by opening up new cross-chain opportunities. To achieve this, users are encouraged to persuade their Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) to update their Cardano nodes to version 1.35.4.
IOG, Emurgo, and the Cardano Foundation have chosen early February as the potential release date. However, IOG is requesting through a poll that closes today at 13:00 (UTC) if the release date is practical for builders and SPOs.
Following the Vasil hard fork in September 2022, the Protocol Version 8 update is one of the most important modifications to the Cardano chain. IOG stated that all Vasil features are now accessible on the Cardano mainnet five days following the successful trigger of the Vasil upgrade on September 22.
It is relevant to note that just two weeks after the Vasil upgrade, Cardano saw a 100 percent growth in the number of smart contracts, indicating a higher adoption rate due to the upgrade’s greater network scalability.
