Academia-driven blockchain platform Cardano, launched the first iteration of its KEVM test net, catalyzing an ADA price recovery of over 13% in the last 24 hours.

Announced on May 28, the new testnet is the first correct by construction version of the Ethereum Virtual Machine — KEVM is designed to define the formal semantics of the EVM in the K framework in a manner consistent with the methodical and scientific approach adopted by the Cardano team in the development of the project.

The KEVM smart contracts testnet has been launched! Developers will be able to take any application that runs on the EVM and execute it on the KEVM – This is a necessary step towards the promise of third-generation blockchains. Read more on our forum: https://t.co/m0RgsQQsz0 — Cardano Foundation (@CardanoStiftung) May 29, 2018

KEVM Testnet Goes Live

The new testnet is set to accelerate the growth of the Cardano project, as developers will be able to take any application that runs on the Ethereum Virtual Machine and execute it on the KEVM. This process can also be used to determine whether smart contracts work correctly by formally specifying the desired properties of the contract in K, which is then combined with the KEVM specification. In turn, the K framework can be used to verify the desired properties.

The development of the KEVM testnet is led by Runtime Verification founder and UIUC Professor Grigore RosuI, who commented on the release of the testnet:

“This is an important first in cryptocurrency that is a necessary step towards the promise of third-generation blockchains.”

The launch of the KEVM testnet precedes the upcoming launch of the IELE testnet, which will function as a Cardano virtual machine. Unlike the Ethereum Virtual Machine, IELE will operate as a register-based machine — IELE will possess an unbounded number of registers and support unbounded integers.

In a similar manner to the Ethereum, IELE will implement a gas limit in order to restrict resource usage and prevent DoS attacks. These features, while difficult to implement, were labeled “tricky but manageable” by the Cardano development team.

Cardano $0.21 13.37% Cardano, currently ranked #7 by market cap, is up 13.37% over the past 24 hours. ADA has a market cap of $5.33B with a 24 hour volume of $178.26M. Cardano Price Chart ADAUSD Chart by TradingView Cardano Aims to Eliminate Smart Contract Vulnerability The two testnets are intended to make it easier to compose secure smart contracts, establishing automated techniques that mathematically authenticate contracts and allowing IELE to support smart contracts written in any language with formal semantics in K. Ultimately, KEVM and IELE will enable official verification tools to eliminate smart contract vulnerabilities before they occur. The issue of smart contract vulnerabilities is a major point of concern within the cryptocurrency ecosystem — the upcoming launch of the EOS mainnet recently suffered a temporary setback when a Chinese security company identified smart contract execution flaws that could jeopardize the security of the entire network. A recent investigation into the security of smart contracts entitled “Finding The Greedy, Prodigal, and Suicidal Contracts at Scale” found that 3.4% of all smart contracts are faulty. The study, which verified 125,000 smart contracts with an algorithm that checked for the most common vulnerabilities found that nearly 4,905 ETH could be captured by exploiting faulty contracts. Smart contract exploits have led to notable, significant hacks in the history of cryptocurrencies, such as the $55 million DAO hack or the 150,000 ETH Parity hack. The issue of faulty smart contracts is growing rapidly as blockchain technology and cryptocurrency gains real-world traction, making smart contract safety critical. The launch of the new Cardano KEVM testnet is a key milestone in establishing new protocols and standards that result in the creation of reliable, safe, smart contracts as the industry matures.