Cardano’s L2 Hydra New Version Released, Here’s What Changed

Cardano (ADA) developer Sebastian Nagel, a contributor to its second-layer solution Hydra, shared details of its hotly-anticipated upgrade. This release goes live amid yet another wave of Cardano (ADA) skepticism coming from passionate Ethereum (ETH) maximalists.

Cardano’s Hydra receives new API endpoints, becomes faster and safer with v0.12.0 release

Cardano Hydra, a second-layer scaling solution, had its v0.12.0 software build published yesterday, Aug. 18, 2023. Release notes and a summary were unveiled by Nagel on his personal Twitter.

New #Cardano #Hydra release: version 0.12.0

– Support cardano-node 8.1.2 + Mithril bootstrapping
– New API endpoints
– Improved off-chain performance and security

Just in time for our Hydra master-class next week at #RareEvo23 and online. Register here: https://t.co/OoSkPDtjqG

— Sebastian Nagel (@ch1bo_) August 18, 2023

As highlighted by Nagel, the new software is fully compatible with the Cardano Node v8.1.2 client and the novel signature protocol Mithril developed by Input Output Global (IOG). Launched on mainnet on July 30, it is set to optimize the processes of node synchronization on Cardano (ADA) and make it more developer-friendly.

Also, with the new v0.12.0 build, Cardano’s (ADA) Hydra starts operating new application programming interfaces (APIs), which makes it more accessible to Web3 developers and researchers.

Last but not least, the developers introduced a number of code optimizations so that Hydra’s on-chain performance and security accomplish new milestones.

The exact details of the release will be demonstrated by its contributors on Rare Evo 2023, a large cryptocurrency convention in Denver, Colorado, which is set to happen Aug. 24-26.

The Cardano-based protocol Hydra kicked off on mainnet in May 2023.

Charles Hoskinson confirms Cardano’s L2 ambitions

This L2 protocol is set to make the Cardano (ADA) network more scalable and advance the performance of its decentralized applications. Hydra’s launch is among the most impressive milestones for Cardano (ADA) in 2023.

Last week, Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson yet again reaffirmed the commitment to scaling Cardano (ADA) with both Hydra and Mithril. He opined that this way of scaling is mutually beneficial for various parts of Cardano’s (ADA) design.

It’s getting delusion town now. Hydra is live on mainnet and evolving fast. Mithril is live as well and the first step towards a rich DA and light client strategy. We already designed a significantly better way of handling transactions via tiered pricing and Babel fees.

There’s… https://t.co/2cJa8ivJGu

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) August 17, 2023

Meanwhile, Cardano’s rival Ethereum (ETH), he added, is competing with its own L2s and is being “eaten” by them step by step. This was a response to a trolling take that suggested that Hoskinson would drop Hydra by the end of the year.