Layer-1 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain Cardano 
$0.145583 is making strides in its smart contract development journey. The protocol’s lead developer, Sebastian Guillemot, announced that the first Zero Knowledge (ZK) contract, named Halo2, has transitioned to the mainnet.
Benefits of Cardano ZK Smart Contract
Guillemot released the transaction hash “71579b77ab7d974eb31ef1b50d58f14f2ceac2bcf540aac50f777f56a8f24bff” to facilitate easy transaction verification. He explained that the ZK smart contract transactions are supported by Plutus v3. This innovation will enable the formation of zkApps and partner chains on the mainnet.
Input Output Global confirmed the validation of the Halo2 ZK Proof campaign. This step targeted Ad-hoc Threshold Multi-Signatures Schemes (ATMS) and successfully verified the signature.
The first transaction locks funds, while the second transaction unlocks them with a 90 out of 100 verification score of the ATMS signature via Halo2 proof. The locking transaction incurs a fee of 0.16 ADA, while unlocking (Halo2 verification) costs 2.03 ADA, which is considered reasonable.
— Input Output
IOHK reported low transaction fees during simulations of real-world use cases for the smart contract protocol on the testnet. The transaction fee for token locking is set at 0.16 ADA, while unlocking on Halo2 totals 2.03 ADA.
Cardano’s Future
In pursuit of superiority among rival networks, Cardano views the ZK initiative as a strategic move.
Over the past year, Cardano has implemented several upgrades. The platform announced the gamified Hydra Doom test aimed at enhancing prior records of Hydra and incentivizing user participation.
During this significant milestone, Cardano’s price fell below one dollar due to the overall market downturn. At the time of writing, ADA Coin was trading at 0.9220 dollars, reflecting a 24-hour loss of 7.37%.
The introduction of the first ZK smart contract on Cardano’s mainnet demonstrates substantial progress in scalability and security. The low transaction fees offered by Halo2 position Cardano competitively against other networks providing similar solutions.
