Cardano (ADA), a blockchain platform based on proof-of-stake, has shown significant advancements in technology, as noted by Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the company behind the Cardano blockchain.

In their recent announcement, IOHK highlighted key improvements made across various areas of the platform, signaling continued growth and progress for Cardano.

Smart Contract Enhancements in Cardano

One major advancement involves the ledger team which has improved test frameworks and data quality in the Newconstraints phase3. They have introduced new constraints and types like Size, SizeSpec, and Sized to achieve this.

Additionally, IOHK has observed developments in wallets and services. The Lace team is gearing up to launch Lace v.1.9, introducing new features and enhancements for Cardano users.

In the smart contracts domain, the Plutus team has added a guide in the documentation to explain utilizing AsData functionality for script optimization. They have also implemented a UPLC optimization pass to minimize script delays and force.

Major Update from Mithril Team

For scalability improvements, the Hydra team has ensured test compatibility across all networks and merged streaming plugins. They have fixed tutorial instructions for Cardano-node downloads and resolved a bug related to contesters.

The Mithril team has rolled out Mithril distribution 2412.0 with vital updates, including support for the Prometheus metrics endpoint in signer, deprecation of the snapshot command in client CLI, full implementation of the chain observer based on Pallas, and compatibility with Cardano node v.8.9.0.

Moreover, the team has addressed community requests by verifying the output folder structure and investigating and resolving any potential issues impacting the CI end-to-end test.

Increased Token Trading Volume Noted

As per DeFiLlama data, Cardano's total value locked (TVL) currently is at $422 million, a slight decrease from the previous $500 million milestone. Cardano holds a substantial stablecoin market capitalization of $23.3 million.

Review of Token Terminal data reveals significant market indicators for Cardano. The fully diluted market cap, which estimates the potential market value of all tokens, stands at $29.20 billion with a substantial 4.9% increase in the last 30 days. The circulating market cap, representing active circulating tokens, is at $22.88 billion, marking a 5.2% growth rate in the same period.

Positive Long-Term Outlook for ADA

In recent analysis by crypto analyst "Trend Rider" on ADA's price action, it was highlighted that ADA witnessed a decline after hitting a yearly high of $0.811 on March 14. Currently, ADA is trading within the range of a parabolic red line and a rider band.

The parabolic red line signifies a significant resistance level, whereas the rider band serves as a potential support area for ADA's price. The consolidation within this range suggests a period of stability before the next significant movement for ADA.

Although there has been a slight weakening in the bullish trend strength over the past two weeks, indicating a potential temporary slow down, the overall trend direction remains bullish with positive long-term prospects for ADA.

ADA is currently priced at $0.652, maintaining a sideways movement in the past 24 hours. Nonetheless, over the week, the token has recovered from previous losses and gained 5.4%.