“We got some dates:” Cardano to green light Shelley testnet in December

IOHK CEO and Founder Charles Hoskinson tweeted the team intends to launch Cardano’s Shelley testnet on Dec. 9. The Shelley era introduces a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism and promises to decentralize the current Cardano network by finally allowing network participants to stake $ADA and operate nodes. Shelley will also unveil delegation and incentive schemes “to drive stake pools and community adoption.” According to Hoskinson, a tentative snapshot of the current network is set for Nov. 29, which the development team will use to issue ADA tokens on the new testnet.

Why it matters:

• Shelley marks the first significant development for Cardano since its mainnet launch over two years ago. Cardano’s initial phase, dubbed Byron, operated as a federated network with limited functionality — users could only execute token transfers. The Shelley era is a monumental step in Cardano’s goal maturation as it looks to become a viable smart contract platform.
• The Shelley testnet will also financially incentivize participation. Users will earn real ADA tokens by staking their current holdings on the test network. The Cardano development teams believe the information it gathers during the testnet event “will be crucial in creating a fair and balanced incentive mechanism, which will ensure reliable and honest network participation long into the future.” Learn more about the benefits of testnet events in our Pro research report on Incentivizing Testnet Participation.