Cardano (ADA) was trading at $0.51 after gaining more than 15% over the past 48 hours. The Layer 1 token is up 13% over the last week, while its daily trading volume had leaped a whopping 41.8% over the same timeframe to stand at $907 million on September 4, according to data from CoinMarketCap. These gains have been attributed to the much anticipated Vasil hard fork upgrade, which saw ADA’s total value cross the $17 billion mark toppling XRP to become the 7th cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Cardano’s Vasil Upgrade Confirmed for September 22
Cardano’s long-awaited Vasil upgrade is now confirmed on September 22, 2022. The promotion is expected to “bring significant performance and capability enhancements to Cardano” (IOHK blog).
“…the upgrade is part of the Basho phase of the Cardano roadmap, which focuses on scaling and network & ledger optimization and will bring multiple improvements to the ledger“, states IOHK.
The Vasil upgrade, originally scheduled to take place in June 2022, has been postponed twice. Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the company behind the peer-viewed proof-of-stake Cardno blockchain project, attributed the delays to the failure of the technical team to meet some critical mass factors required for the upgrade to be successful.
IOHK confirmed the September 22 date in a series of tweets posted on September 22, saying:
“Following the successful completion & extensive testing of all core components, plus confirmed community readiness, we along with @cardanostiftung can today announce September 22 for the #Vasil upgrade on the #Cardano mainnet.”
The Twitter post also reiterated that Vasil was the “significant Cardano upgrade to date,” bringing enhancements to Plutus – the innovative contract platform of the Cardano network – to enable developers to create more enhanced and efficient dApps.
It marks the first significant upgrade to the blockchain after the smart-contract-enabling Alonzo hard fork, which happened in September 2021. Cardano’s founder Charles Hoskinson said in a Livestream that the promotions were part of the road map with more developments expected in 2023.
“Generally, after a hard fork date is announced, you see a big rush, and people push through,” Hoskinson added.
This appears to be precisely what happened since, after the Vasil upgrade news, the team posited that many of the leading crypto exchanges had begun getting ready for the improvement. The report also seems to have renewed confidence in the ADA token, recording double-digit gains over the last week.
Vasil upgrade Pushes ADA Above $0.50
After bouncing off the $0.42 support level on August 29, Cardano’s price has recorded a series of higher lows in a trend that saw it flip the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) sitting at $0.49 back into support.
Bulls will now try to push the price above the $0.51 resistance level. If they succeed, ADA may run for the $0.59 range high over the coming days, resulting in a 14.67% climb from the current level.
Apart from trading above key support levels, including the 50-day SMA and the $0.50 psychological level, the up-facing relative strength index (RSI) also validated Cardano’s optimistic outlook. The price strength at 57 above the midline suggested that the buyers had started taking control of ADA.
On the downside, a daily candlestick close below the $0.50 mark or the 50-day SMA would suggest weakness amongst buyers. The price could then drop toward the $0.45 psychological level and later to the $0.42 support floor. Investors could expect ADA to consolidate here before kickstarting an uptrend.
