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2021 has been an incredible year for Cardano, full of new highlights and developments for users, which in turn ushered in a new era for EMURGO.
There were many upgrades this year including the highly anticipated launch of smart contract capabilities on Cardano’s blockchain network, opening up the doors for dApps and services such as DeFi to be built on Cardano.
Developed by EMURGO, a founding entity of Cardano, Yoroi Wallet has continued to evolve in its development roadmap in step with Cardano’s overall roadmap to integrate new functions and upgrades.
With an array of new dApp services coming to Cardano in the near future, Yoroi is positioned to be the go-to light wallet for Cardano ADA and Ergo ERG users to interact with dApps within these ecosystem
In this blog, we’ll go over a quick recap of key Yoroi highlights over the course of 2021 and what it all means for 2022.
Yoroi support for Cardano’s Mary Hard Fork
The first milestone Cardano hit in 2021 was the Mary Hard Fork which occurred at 21:44:51 UTC on 1 March 2021.
This upgrade to the network brought about the native token standard and created a multi-asset ledger, one of the main tools for Cardano non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Even without smart contract capabilities at the time, the network saw several tokens and NFTs created on Cardano.
Yoroi as the official light wallet for Cardano had to develop its system quickly to support these new assets.
By doing so, the token ecosystem on Cardano expanded considerably and paved the way to the support of smart contracts.
Yoroi Upgrades to Support Cardano Governance Project Catalyst
Another major step in the development of Yoroi was the ability to register for voting in Project Catalyst.
Project Catalyst is the largest decentralized fund on the planet – allowing the Cardano ADA community to vote on funding grants for various Cardano ecosystem projects.
To date, there have been more than 900,000 votes cast and more than 300 projects funded from Project Catalyst Fund1 to 6 and Yoroi Wallet was a major player in facilitating governance on Cardano.
Cardano’s Project Catalyst Fund6 launched with a pool of $4 million worth of ADA available with approximately 150 different projects expected to be funded.
Project Catalyst’s most recent Fund7 will commence voting on January 13, 2022 with $8 million worth of ADA available.
Many of the best projects in the Cardano ecosystem have gotten their start here, and many more will come.
Its creation has been one of the most valuable initiatives introduced by Cardano into the blockchain industry.
It was in Fund3 that Yoroi users were able to register to vote on projects, and receive rewards for voting.
Yoroi’s Head of Product at Cardano Summit 2021
In September 2021, EMURGO and Yoroi were one of the key participants to present at this year’s Cardano Summit.
The event served as the prelude to the launch of smart contract capabilities on Cardano.
Many of the brightest minds from the ecosystem attended and were on hand to present their updates for Cardano.
The event also served as a platform to showcase many of the upcoming Yoroi updates.
EMURGO’s Head of Product Sergio Sanchez Ferreros presented a talk entitled “What’s in store of Yoroi users?” to discuss improvements users could expect including:
Yoroi dApp connector – As a light crypto wallet Yoroi’s main use is as a bridge between dApps and users. Since the advent of smart contracts, the development team has been refining this role for the browser extension.
Native assets and NFT list – NFTs have exploded on Cardano, there are millions of these assets on the ledger being traded by people all the time. To accommodate this demand, Yoroi is looking at ways to incorporate such assets with a better user experience as we move forward, with things such as more information about such assets and image displays.
Yoroi Wallet Well-Positioned During Alonzo Hard Fork
The Alonzo Hard Fork went live on the main Cardano network on the 12th of September 2021, Epoch 290.
This was one of the most anticipated updates in Cardano’s history as it finally brought about smart contract support.
This kickstarted the development of dApps on top of the Cardano ledger.
Yoroi has been instrumental in the support of the dApp ecosystem in Cardano.
Decentralized applications (dApps) need a bridge to connect with the network’s users.
As a light wallet with a desktop browser extension, Yoroi can quickly connect with smart contracts, which paves the way for connecting with decentralized exchanges (DEXs), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and external data (oracles).
Proof of this was the first dApp transaction using Yoroi by the development team of SundaeSwap – a Cardano DEX enabling decentralized swapping, staking, lending, and borrowing.
As shown in their video, a DEX transaction was successfully conducted using a private build of the Yoroi dApp Connector.
Yoroi dApp Connector
To help meet the expected increasing demand for dApps on Cardano, EMURGO, the team behind Yoroi Wallet, announced several months ago its upcoming plans to launch the dApp Connector initially for Yoroi’s desktop browser users which will bridge interaction between users and all sorts of dApps on Cardano.
Via Yoroi’s dApp Connector, users can simply access such dApps and do so from their preferred web browser – bringing huge utility to Yoroi users holding Cardano ADA.
After enabling the dApp Connector, the user can participate in any activities that the dApp permits such as purchasing or selling tokens and NFTs, gaining access to resources, or using other features offered by the dApp.
What to Look Forward to in 2022 and Beyond
The Cardano Basho Era is in full development, including Layer-2 scaling solutions to the Cardano Ledger such as Hydra.
This improvement will vastly increase the network’s throughput and allow easier mainstream adoption of Cardano’s scalable, sustainable, and interoperable third-generation blockchain.
Yoroi will integrate all of these improvements to support the entire Cardano and Ergo ecosystem.
The coming year will be one of increased third party development on Cardano as the smart contracts of today are connected with front ends to create dApps.
Yoroi’s dApp Connector as a wallet hub for Cardano’s decentralized ecosystem, along with many new decentralized services such as DeFi, NFTs, and others will continue to launch on Cardano as the ecosystem, bringing lots more liquidity and utility.
Please follow Yoroi on Twitter for developments and exclusive sneak peeks into upgrading Yoroi’s user experience at the beginning of 2022.
For more questions and feedback, please contact Yoroi’s Support here.
About Yoroi Wallet
- Yoroi Twitter: @YoroiWallet
- Yoroi Homepage: https://yoroi-wallet.com/
About EMURGO
- Official Homepage: dev.emurgo.io
- Twitter (Global): @EMURGO_io
- YouTube: EMURGO channel
- Telegram: EMURGO Announcements
- Facebook: @EMURGO.io
- Instagram: @EMURGO_io
- Medium: EMURGO Announcement
- LinkedIn: @EMURGO_io
