Cardano Summit 2021 wrapped up on September 26th, 2021, with a deluge of fantastic announcements from all three founding entities of Cardano: EMURGO, IOHK and Cardano Foundation.
The successful Alonzo Hard Fork has brought smart contracts to Cardano and supercharged development for the network.
During the conference, we heard from all the various teams and projects building on top of Cardano.
EMURGO, as a founding entity of Cardano, also delivered announcements and talks on plans to accelerate Cardano’s ecosystem, the upcoming roadmap for Yoroi Wallet, and EMURGO Academy’s blockchain education objectives.
In this blog, we will do a recap of all these talks and discuss how it will help propel the future of the Cardano ecosystem.
EMURGO: Investing in Cardano’s Future
Ken Kodama, CEO of EMURGO, delivered a keynote address on the main stage at Cardano Summit 2021 where he outlined EMURGO’s strategic vision to bolster Cardano’s ecosystem.
With the launch of smart contracts on the Cardano mainnet, the conditions are set to unleash the technological capabilities of the network, enabling developers to build DeFi, NFT, and other dApp projects for ADA users.In the keynote address, it was announced that EMURGO is increasing its commitment to the Cardano ecosystem with the launch of a new $100 million Cardano ecosystem investment vehicle to accelerate the building of DeFi, NFT, and blockchain education tools on Cardano.
This investment vehicle is completely owned by EMURGO and is composed of two entities, EMURGO Africa and EMURGO Ventures, each with a distinct investment thesis.
For the launch of EMURGO Africa, it partnered with Adanian Labs, a venture building studio operator in Africa, to support impact driven startups expanding the Cardano ecosystem across the continent and Adaverse, a Cardano-focused joint accelerator program in Africa with leading blockchain industry accelerator Everest Ventures.
For the launch of EMURGO Ventures, it announced its first seed investment into Milkomeda – a dcSpark sidechain project bridging Cardano and other Layer 1 blockchain protocols that will utilize wrapped ADA (wADA) as an asset.
The new investment vehicle of EMURGO will begin its business operations in early 2022.
For projects and middleware companies building on Cardano that are interested in applying for seed investments and/or partnerships, please contact ventures@dev.emurgo.io
What’s in Store for Yoroi Wallet Users?
Download Yoroi Wallet here!
Delivered by EMURGO’s Head of Product for Yoroi, Sergio Sanchez Ferreros gave a quick look at all the new user functionalities Yoroi will be deploying in the short and mid-run.
The aim is to transform Yoroi’s light wallet into the main bridge between dApps on the Cardano and Ergo chains.
To achieve this, the team is focusing on user experience, dApp connectivity, native assets support, staking, and voting on Project Catalyst
Yoroi dApp connector. As a light wallet, Yoroi is positioned perfectly to allow users to interact with all the dApps that are about to launch on the network. From the wallet’s interface, users will be able to connect directly to any dApp, sign transactions, and track the process using the transfer ID
Native assets and NFT gallery. Cardano works using a native assets framework where tokens and NFTs built by the community have the same transaction rights as ADA. Yoroi will keep track of all these assets on an easy to search window, which will show tokens and a separate gallery for NFTs. Additionally, the important metadata of these assets will be accessible via the wallet
Staking. Cardano’s green and ESG-friendly proof-of-stake blockchain works by users delegating their ADA to pools to keep the network secured. Currently, in Yoroi, it is possible to choose a pool and delegate to it. Also, the rewards gained in each era are visible on the wallet’s interface. In the near future, additional information on the performance of each pool and educational material will be added, ensuring each user can make the best choice
Voting on Project Catalyst. One of the cornerstones for governance is Project Catalyst. Now with Yoroi, it is possible to register to vote on the proposals put forward by the community. In the future, Yoroi will incorporate more native functionalities connected directly to the Catalyst platform and allow more information directly using the wallet’s interface.
How Cardano Education Benefits Societies and Individuals
Innovative technology needs the education to build up the community’s capacity to use it and teach others how to use it.
EMURGO through its education unit EMURGO India identified this need early in the development of Cardano and has allocated considerable resources to educating the next generation of Cardano users and developers.
Ellapan Venkatesan, CEO of EMURGO India, explained more about how Cardano education delivers a supply of developers in an emerging industry to meet economic demands for societies and career empowerment for individuals.
Now, more than 2500 learners have been certified from 25 different countries via EMURGO Academy’s tailored course programs.
The academy has launched its Cardano developer specialization that includes an overview of Cardano, a Haskell programming module, Plutus development, and Marlowe use.
The aim is to train future Cardano users and developers that are capable to design and implement dApps using the Extended UTXO model.
There are two different online course programs for those both with a non-technical and technical background.
1) Foundations of Blockchain with an overview of Cardano
2) Cardano Blockchain Developer
Interested students can pick the course level that aligns with their objectives and professional background.
Conclusion
Cardano Summit 2021 was packed with speakers, projects, and exciting announcements, but it only signals the start of the journey. From here on out, it is the community and the developers who will bring about the future of Cardano.
EMURGO will support these entrepreneurs in every step of the way with EMURGO Africa and EMURGO Ventures providing funding for the future of Cardano DeFi, NFTs, and dApps, Yoroi Wallet allowing an easy and safe way to use its dApp connector, and EMURGO Academy bringing quality and easily accessible blockchain education.
To begin exploring the solutions blockchain can bring to your business or project, please contact ventures@dev.emurgo.io for more information.
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
