Cardano, which goes under the trading moniker ADA, released a new paper on January 27. In it, the firm explains how smart contracts will be put into place for the planned Goguen update. The unique setup's release date is unknown, and Cardano has a history of delayed releases.

The Extended UTXO platform was set up to be an improvement on Bitcoin's architecture. In Bitcoin, all transactions are based on input and output representations. A single transaction just takes some Bitcoin as an input and reshapes it into some other output. It is like changing a $20 into smaller bills. The specific outputs are unimportant as long as the totals match. A private user key works as a signature verification.

Analysts said that the model works well with the same-time and distribution nature of a blockchain. However, difficulty with programming it makes it impractical for a lot of situations. Ethereum is a good contrast. As an account ledger, complex calculations and a shared state make it easier to set up smart contracts. However, the security is a challenge. The security issues facilitated the DAO hack.

To combine the computational power of Ethereum and the security of Bitcoin, researchers set up systems to split the execution of one contract into may transactions. Each output has data. It is called contract continuity. The state change is like Ethereum's.

The current processes involve staking. This was shown on the test platform of Cardano last year. The next process will be Goguen for smart contracts. The last of the phases should be in place around the end of this year.

However, the project has already had a lot of delays. In April 2019, Guguen's CEO expected the release by the end of that year. The contract language has existed since December 2018. The January 2020 release formalizes the previous contract. Even so, the release date is still uncertain. The team hopes that improving the test environment will allow for a main release around the end of the first quarter of 2020. The CEO added that the firm is working on improving the project's timeline accuracy.