Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently revealed that the team of developers working on Cardano's Hydra layer two (L2) solution has successfully implemented the popular video game "Doom" on the platform. Building on this achievement, the programmers are now setting their sights on getting a Nintendo emulator to work on Hydra.
Hoskinson also discussed Bitcoin and BitcoinOS (BOS), a smart contract operating system designed to bring advanced capabilities and interoperability to Bitcoin. In a recent partnership announcement, Cardano joined forces with BOS to incorporate the Grail bridge, which will open up Cardano's decentralized finance (defi) sector to Bitcoin's $1.3 trillion liquidity.
This collaboration allows Cardano users and developers to securely access Bitcoin's assets, enhancing cross-chain compatibility and boosting Cardano's defi potential. Hoskinson, in an interview, explored the possibilities for BOS and Cardano in conjunction with Hydra's L2 solution.
Hydra improves Cardano's transaction efficiency and reduces delays by handling processes off-chain. It supports parallel transactions through "Hydra Heads" or state channels, enabling faster interactions. During the interview, Hoskinson mentioned the successful implementation of "Doom" on Hydra, where smart contracts verify in-game state changes.
So how does it work? Every action a player takes in the game, such as walking, shooting, or looking around, is logged as a transaction via a smart contract call on the Hydra L2 chain. Hoskinson then revealed their next goal: getting a Nintendo emulator to work on Hydra.
Hoskinson also discussed the speed-running community, a group of gamers dedicated to completing video games as quickly as possible. He highlighted the popularity of video-sharing and streaming platforms like Youtube and Twitch, which have allowed this community to thrive. Speedrun.com, the leading hub for speed-running leaderboards, currently hosts over 2 million recorded runs across more than 20,000 games.
The addition of gaming features and advanced Bitcoin interoperability marks a new chapter for Cardano's ecosystem. However, it remains to be seen whether this expansion beyond standard blockchain tasks will be successful. The capabilities of Hydra and Cardano's collaboration with BitcoinOS aim to redefine decentralized interactions. Currently, Cardano (ADA) ranks as the 11th largest asset by market cap, with a modest 2.8% gain. However, it has seen a 5.8% decline over the past week and a 16.2% slide against the U.S. dollar in the last 30 days.