African blockchain firm 3air has officially abandoned Cardano blockchain in favor of SKALE, an Ethereum-backed network, after reporting a “huge talent shortage” for Haskell developers.
According to 3air CEO Sandy Bitenko, skills from Haskell, Cardano’s main programming language, are lacking. Petenko said that after months of actively recruiting senior Haskell programmers to develop Cardano, only 3air was able to attract part-time developers for the first time. Although the company contacted the development agencies recommended by Cardano, 3air was unable to find the talent it needed.
With the move to SKALE, 3air developers can immediately start working on their development goals, according to the CEO. He also announced SKALE’s fast transactions, zero gas fees, and multi-chain features, especially in relation to decentralized applications, to decide whether to use the protocol.
SKALE launched the first phase of its mainnet in June 2020 after receiving $26.75 million in funding over the past two years. The Ethereum-compatible network, which claims to be completely decentralized, has shifted its focus to Web3, non-fungible tokens, and decentralized applications.
While Cardano has one of the largest crypto communities, slow progress on the development front has opened the door to many shrewd competitors in the decades. While Cardano developers emphasize an academic approach to development, including following a peer review process, other smart contract platforms have taken a more iterative approach to building, testing, and launching their projects.
Related: If the peer review system isn’t working, what the hell is the use of Cardano relying on it?
Cardano’s choice of Haskell, a highly academic programming language, has also been criticized for contributing to a slower and more complex development process. One such criticism, dated November 2017, refers to the “relatively small number of developers” who were using Haskell at the time.
However, Cardano has expanded its footprint in places like Africa, with the Input Output Hong Kong development team working with regional authorities to improve educational outcomes. Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, believes there could be 100 million new DeFi users on the continent by the middle of the decade.
