Cardano Foundation launches developer platform and mints first NFTA

• The Cardano Foundation has launched a developer portal to aid developers to build on the network.
• Ten NFTAs were minted in celebration of the launch.

The Cardano Foundation on July 12 announced the launch of the Cardano Developer Portal. The portal launch was announced in a tweet. According to the tweet, the goal of the portal is to make building on Cardano easier using ‘brand new content and resources.’ 

Created by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, Cardano is a third-generation, Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain platform. The decentralised platform was launched in 2017 with its native coin ADA named after the mathematician Ada Lovelace. It was created to be more efficient than existing Proof of Work networks like Ethereum.  Scalability, interoperability, and sustainability are touted as key features that put Cardano above PoW networks like Ethereum.

Easier building on the Cardano blockchain

The developer portal showcases some tools and features on the network that developers will find useful. These include; The ability to integrate Cardano into websites and applications, NFT and token creation without the use of smart contracts, and Transaction tracking through the use of metadata.

It’s finally here! And we are accepting all builds 🙌

Find out about the topics covered in the #Cardano Developer Portal and the world’s first (10) minted NFTAs on the #Cardano #blockchain 😍
Forum👉 https://t.co/z3QVCEbxw6
Dev Portal👉 https://t.co/3y1bKN4EW0#CardanoCommunity pic.twitter.com/cs4xEhlM0c

— Cardano Foundation (@CardanoStiftung) July 13, 2021

To celebrate the launch, the team minted the first-ever Non-Fungible Tokens of Appreciation (NFTAs) on the Cardano network.

“After months of writing, polishing and checking, we are confident the portal now has a very solid basis, covering everything currently possible on the Cardano mainnet. Whether you want to implement transaction metadata, mint native tokens, integrate Cardano, operate a stake pool or get your project funded: there is something for pretty much everyone. All this, right before the Alonzo hard fork which will bring smart contract capabilities. So yes, I am super excited,” says Tommy Kammerer, Developer Community Lead.  

The ten NFTAs are all based on thumbs-up photos of Cardano community members expressing their approval for the newly launched portal. They come with a QR code, which, when scanned, leads to the Cardano blockchain explorer where a user can verify ownership of the token. The tokens also grant the bearer the chance to highlight a topic of choice on the developer portal.

Sidney Vollmer, head of Brand and Communications at the Cardano Foundation added;

 Both the scope of topics covered in the Portal and the way that we are promoting them with these NFTAs show the amazing possibilities Cardano offers. It is something lots of people still need to get accustomed to. With the help of our community, they will.

 Real-life applications on the network

An example of a tangible, real-life application of the network’s identity management and traceability features is its use in Ethiopia to create a student and teacher database.

In April 2021, the government of Ethiopia revealed that it had entered a deal for the creation of a country-wide database of  5 million teachers and students. Using a decentralised digital identity solution, individual IDs of the students and teachers from some 3,500 schools will be created for the purpose of storing and tracking educational records. Minister of Education Getahun Mekuria believes the database will improve the country quality of education. The project is expected to be completed after 2022.