Thread by @TobiasIlskov

Of #Cardano's three main scaling strategies,

Hydra will most likely be the first we see really improve Cardano's user experience since it's been in active development for a while now

So, where are we at, and what's coming next?

Here's the TLDR, and some unexpected Alpha 👀🧵

Whatever the IOG's Hydra team has been doing, they've certainly been very busy

Consistently within the daily top 1-3 in Cardano-related Github commits.

And GitHub is where we can see what they're working on NOW and what's in their ROADMAP

https://twitter.com/ProofOfCardano/status/1661009163047292928?s=20

WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW

The team recently announced the first iteration of Hydra is mainnet compatible, but its use cases are still limited.

So, right now they're exploring use cases so they can tailor their approach to fit those needs
&
working on communication security

EXCITING ITEMS ON THE ROADMAP

Here's what's in the pipeline for the next several months.

1) Enabling Users to Enter and Leave a Head Without Closing it for Everyone

This will be done through incremental commits and de-commits

Example: If you and your friends were trading in a hydra head, you would be able to withdraw or "de-commit" your funds

without forcing your pals to also withdraw theirs and then have to open another head so they can continue.

Similarly, new people could join without disruption

2) Increasing the Number of People/Assets Who Can Use a Single Head

Unlike Bitcoin's Lightning channels, which only connect two people, Hydra head can host large groups of people and essentially any native Cardano asset.

However, there are limitations, because the current

Hydra iteration requires all assets in the head to be redistributed to their owners in a single transaction,

and while a single Cardano transaction can do A LOT, it isn't unlimited.

This limits a Hydra head's user and asset capacity to about 20 users at a time.

To address this, the Hydra team plans on devising a secure way to close a Hydra head using multiple transactions

that way, the # of UTXOs and users in a Hydra head will be able to be much higher.

This should allow more than 20 users and far more assets to be in the head at once

3) Multiple Hydra Heads per Hydra Node

In the current iteration, each Hydra node (the hardware Hydra runs on) can only host one head

This creates hardware inefficiency that limits potential transaction throughput

So enabling multiple heads is another high short-term priority.

4) Resilience

As of right now, it's unclear how live Hydra heads would respond during protocol-wide changes like a Chain Upgrade Event or parameter changes

Appraising those situations and resolving hiccups is another really important step in the Hydra head development

BEYOND HYDRA HEADS

These are the upgrades on the GitHub roadmap I thought were most significant, but this roadmap isn't the end.

After finishing the Head Protocol, there are two other main protocols in the Hydra family the team will turn to.

1) The Tail Protocol

This software will make it easier for people to use Hydra on low-capacity devices, like a cell phone
&
make Hydra heads capable of hosting assets whose owners aren't always online during the life of the head

These will be great for accessibility

2) The Cross-Head and Tail Communication Protocol

This will allow hydra heads to communicate with each other and with hydra tails without going through Cardano's L1

After this protocol launches, users will be able to send assets through a network of Heads, like on Lightning.

That's it!

Big thanks to @ch1bo_ for keeping the GitHub organized enough for a non-programmer like me to understand it,

and to @_KtorZ_ for this thread about Hydra a couple years ago.

Cheers everyone! 🥂

https://twitter.com/_KtorZ_/status/1398379790885863428?s=20