Cardano (ADA) developers on Monday launched a new upgrade that improves transitions between different epochs reduce every layer-1 make blockchain smoother for network users. More precisely, the Cardano Node 8.1.1 has been launched and all stake pool operators (SPOs) are now strongly encouraged to use their nodes to update.
Cardano SPOs 8.1.1 has been released for mainnet! 🔥
This update improves node performance at the epoch boundary and corrects previous concerns with P2P/DNS.
It also contains all the performance improvements from 8.0.0. Let’s rock and roll! #Cardanohttps://t.co/Bo0ZyXMXRR
— Rick McCracken DIGI (@RichardMcCrackn) June 19, 2023
Cardano epochs
First of all, it is important to know what exactly is meant by these so-called epochs. Epochs literally means eras and in this context it means the different time periods on the Cardano blockchain. It is a time period that the network uses to validate new transaction blocks. Each epoch lasts 432,000 slots and each slot lasts 1 second. This means that a single epoch equals approximately 5 days.
Cardano is one Proof of Stake (PoS) network which means that transaction blocks are validated by so-called validators. Cardano works with stake pools and users can delegate their ADA tokens to such a stake pool.
Staking rewards are earned during each epoch and rewards are paid out at the start of the next full epoch.
Upgrade 8.1.1 changes the way epoch calculations are made in a way that speeds up network processes during the change in epochs.
The upgrade also includes bug fixes peer to peer network communications and the Cardano-based domain name system.
ADA rate
The cardano price is currently at a level similar to last year’s low. While bitcoin (BTC) is currently still significantly higher than the deep trough of November last year, cardano is having a hard time.
In the past month, it has fallen very hard after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had labeled cardano, like many other altcoins, as a security in the charges against Binance and Coinbase.
In fact, ADA is down as much as 30 percent in the past month. At the time of writing, the price stands at $0.2584.