The ‘Boring’ Nature of Cardano: A Badge of Honor, says CEO Frederik Gregaard

Cardano, a well-known name in the world of cryptocurrencies, has faced criticism over the delays in the rollout of its features and network upgrades. Yet Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, seems to wear these delays as a badge of honor, referring to the platform as taking a more “boring” and academic approach.

“Cardano is boring. We are boring because we are based on academic peer-reviewed papers”, said Gregaard. “The principles and research that Cardano has spent years developing are being employed by some of the fastest blockchain platforms. This is what I am incredibly proud of.”

Boring Could Be Good

Gregaard went on to explain how this slow and steady approach can potentially benefit the digital blockchain realm and humanity. A trend he believes is becoming increasingly important as AI adoption rises and the requirement for computable data becomes a necessity.

Despite having one of the most extensive changes on GitHub and being active for over 2000 days, Gregaard still jokes, “Sorry, we are boring. But boring, sometimes, is good”.

Impressive Growth Amidst ‘Boring’ Progress

Despite Cardano’s supposedly ‘boring’ image, the platform has seen significant updates and network upticks after the launch of its layer-2 scalability solution Hydra and the stake-based multisignature protocol Mithril. The platform witnessed a year-to-date increase of 198% in its total value locked (TVL) during the third quarter of 2023 even though the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) activity remained relatively flat.

The Road Ahead

As per Gregaard, Cardano will continue its journey to create a steady network involving a series of hard forks and the implementation of the Cardano Improvement Proposal 1694 (CIP-1694). Gregaard expects numerous nation-states to make use of Cardano, not just in financial markets but also across international trade and voting events.

The Role of Tribalism

Similar to many blockchain communities, Cardano has not been spared the peculiar phenomenon of ‘Crypto tribalism’, a divisive issue within the crypto realm. Gregaard, however, views this as a strength; a large and diverse community is essential for any public, permissionless blockchain project.

He also observed that some of the best work in this sphere happened in blockchains founded by known figures, causing people to rally behind projects due to the ‘legacy’ associated with them. Gregaard concluded with his belief that as the potential impact of blockchain becomes more understood, the tribalism factor will eventually water down.

In Conclusion

In the evolving landscape of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Cardano’s ‘slow and steady’ approach might come under scrutiny, but for CEO Frederik Gregaard, this is just a sign of the meticulously calculated and academically rooted strides the platform is taking. Only time will tell if the ‘boring’ nature of Cardano will lead to exciting developments in the future.