The Cardano team is planning to launch the decentralization of the network’s stake pool operator (SPO) just weeks after giving the community full control of block production.
The SPO development was announced by IOHK, the blockchain research and development firm behind Cardano. The company states that SPO decentralization aims to set up a reliable and effective connection between distributed nodes.
IOHK notes that before decentralization of the stake pool operator, there is a need to enhance the Cardano network software. The first phase entailed activating the peer-to-peer (P2P) governor, deployment of the connection manager, and releasing a private P2P testnet in April.
Currently, the team is testing the engineering testnet before deploying a semi-public P2P testnet for a selected class of SPOs.
Additionally, before the decentralization process began, the SPOs have been operating on relay nodes globally to generate their configuration for linking with peers. Upon achieving complete decentralization, SPO will also enhance efficiency to support automatic node communication without relay nodes. According to IOHK:
“To provide better efficiency, it is essential to enable automated node communication without reliance on IO-run relay nodes. Thus, the networking team is now deploying the automated P2P code, which will allow pool operators to create and run a more decentralized network.”
Nearly a month ago, Cardano announced block production had attained 100% decentralization. According to IOHK, decentralization was gradual, and it is the first step of creating an independent protocol-free from central authorities.
Cardano rising in popularity amid network development
Elsewhere, the network’s development has seen Cardano’s rise in popularity globally as IOHK plans to achieve real-world use cases for the Cardano blockchain.
Recent data from Google Trends showed that interest in Cardano news was surging between January and March 14 when it peaked. Most interests emanated from Netherlands, Ireland, and Australia.
Furthermore, Cardano’s (ADA) interest has recorded a price surge in the token leading to a drastic rise in active addresses and transaction count.
Data provided by intelligence platform Coinmetrics and calculated by Finbold indicates that ADA’s active addresses have grown 417.81% between January 1 and April 28, 2021. Elsewhere, over the same period, the transaction count rose 382.84%.
