In a significant development, Cardano, a smart contracting platform, has successfully deployed the Hydra Head on the mainnet, a crucial milestone that comes three years after the proof-of-concept was initially introduced in 2020. This achievement is particularly important for the platform’s current Basho stage, aimed at enhancing transaction processing capabilities for decentralized applications (dapps).
Hydra Head is the first among a series of layer-2 protocols designed to improve Cardano’s scalability and adaptability across various use cases, focusing specifically on swift and low-cost transactions. The progressive enhancement of Cardano’s mainnet enables it to accommodate enterprise-level, high-throughput dapps more efficiently.
The incorporation of secure state channels within the live Hydra Head on Cardano’s mainnet allows participants to settle transactions instantly and off-chain, with confirmation only made after the channel has been closed. Interestingly, Hydra’s system resembles the Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN), which also uses state channels. Consequently, users are required to deposit funds initially, and in the future, Cardano researchers plan to connect multiple Hydra Heads, constructing an extensive network.
The development process of Hydra Head started with a protocol implementation called the hydra-node, which helps developers and individuals simulate the functionality and behavior of the Hydra protocol under controlled conditions. However, it is important to note that the hydra-node currently lacks user-friendly wallets and interfaces.
Cardano’s focus on latency reduction in transaction processing led to the creation of Hydra’s layer-2 system, which boasts instant validity. Although ambitious targets like “one million transactions per second (TPS)” are yet to be realized, Cardano envisions a flexible framework that can scale according to demand by increasing the number of Hydra Heads. In the short term, Cardano plans to continue the development of the hydra-node and Hydra Head protocol to establish a stable foundation for real-world applications. These applications are expected to benefit from rapid settlement times and low or no-cost transactions.
Cardano also aims to explore the support of multiple heads per node, persistence, and Head protocol extensions. The team is currently researching methods to interconnect multiple Hydra Heads, broadening the layer-2 solution’s scope. Concurrently, efforts are being made to streamline the integration and utilization of Hydra, making it more accessible for users in the future. As Cardano continues to evolve and enhance its platform, supporters eagerly anticipate the outcomes that these developments will bring.
Source: crypto.news
