On the evening of Feb. 14, major cryptocurrency exchange Binance will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals on the Cardano network, it was reported. The reason for this decision is the upcoming Valentine's Day update of the Cardano network, called SECP.
The update, which stands for standards for efficient cryptography (SECP), is due to take place at block height 8,403,208. The point of the update is to add new built-in features to the language and smart contract programming platform for Cardano, Plutus.
In particular, these features include updates to cryptographic primitives and support for ECDSA and Schnorr format signatures used on many networks outside Cardano. With this update, the plan is to optimize Plutus to make it easier for smart contracts developers to create interoperable cross-chain applications.
Vasil's hard lessons
Looking back at the experience of preparing for Cardano's previous major upgrade, Vasil hard fork, let's look at node compliance and exchange readiness. Thus, according to the website of Cardano's parent company, Input Output Global, more than 75% of staking pool operators are running the appropriate versions of the nodes.
As far as exchanges are concerned, the only major exchange that is fully prepared for the SECP update is Binance. However, other exchanges are also already in a state of preparation — even Coinbase.
Arman Shirinyan
Alex Dovbnya
