IOHK, the blockchain development team behind Cardano, announced on July 15 that the project’s Alonzo test net had officially transitioned from Blue to White, bringing with it the ecosystem’s long anticipated expansion to functional smart contracts.
While the previous testnet, known as Alonzo Blue, did offer some smart contract features, these were only available to a limited number of insiders. Yesterday’s upgrade will allow about 500 validators, stake pool operators, and developers to test these features going forward.
Alonzo White is set to run for two to four weeks before upgrading to the final testnet for its current development phase, known as Alonzo Purple.