With Alonzo behind him, Cardano is setting up important partnerships

Input Output Global (IOG) developers launched Alonzo late Sunday evening, enabling smart contract functionality on Cardano for the first time.

Opponents had expressed doubts that this would actually happen, let alone if it happened in time. However, with this important milestone behind us, the focus shifts to the Cardano ecosystem and how it will complete in the coming months.

Important news on the horizon

On this, Sidney Vollmer, Head of Brand and Comms at the Cardano Foundation, sent out a tweet, teasing the community with what's to come.

Vollmer said all will be revealed at the upcoming Cardano Summit. Adding, with confidence, that "it will blow people away".

“I don't really want to brag or anything, but… some of the partnerships we will announce at #CardanoSummit will blow a lot of people. I am really grateful for the opportunities we have at @CardanoStiftung to change the world for the better and have fun together. Tune in. "

Although cryptocurrency is well known for causing a lot of hype, making unsubstantiated claims, and not forgetting the announcements, Cardano is an innocent project for these things.

With all of this in mind, who are these partners and how can they all benefit from them?

Speculation on Cardano's partnerships

The good news is that the Cardano Summit will be held soon. This means that we won't have to wait long to know the details of who these partners are and their role within the ecosystem.

The conference will kick off next weekend on 25-26 September, as a mix of live and virtual events. Registrations are open on https://summit.cardano.org/

However, in terms of gathering information on partners, the lack of an itinerary and the absence of a list of speakers add more mystery.

Further investigation has emerged regarding the deals that "will blow people's minds". For this to happen, the expectation is to partner with a household name that is leader in their field. Upon this, the mind falters with the possibilities.

Time to be realistic

With the arrival of smart contracts, Cardano can do everything Ethereum can do. According to cardanocrowd.com, 60 dApps are already available at the moment, including Space Budz NFT, the Nami wallet, games, and a liquidity protocol called Liqwid Finance.

A look at the available categories shows a wide range of options, including crowdfunding, insurance, governance, identity, and social, to name a few.

However, IOG Marketing Director Tim Harrison found it necessary to moderate expectations. In a blog post, Harrison wrote that it will take some time for the ecosystem to fill up. Perhaps even longer before the user's traction takes hold.

“Observers at Cardano may expect a sophisticated ecosystem of consumer-ready DApps available immediately after the update. Expectations must be managed here ”.

He added that Ethereum has taken two years since the launch of its first hugely successful dApp: CryptoKitties.

Therefore, despite Vollmer's enthusiasm, there is still a long way to go. Meanwhile, here you can consult the quotation in real time from ADA, the Cardano token.