As mainstream cryptocurrency adoption increases and more users start transacting on blockchain networks, the need for fast, scalable protocols becomes even more apparent as transaction costs and confirmation times continue to increase. 

One protocol that has seen significant gains over the past month as new individuals and organizations continue to flood into blockchain is Elrond (EGLD), “a highly scalable, fast and secure blockchain platform for distributed apps, enterprise use cases and the new internet economy.”

EGLD/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that since reaching a low of $115 on March 25, the price of EGLD has rallied more than 110% to a new all-time high at $245.80 on April 12 as a series of positive announcements have led to increases in trading volume.

Protocol upgrades

Taking a look at the project’s Twitter feed shows that the team at Elrond has been busy expanding the capabilities of the Elrond blockchain and establishing significant partnerships that include real-world protocol integrations.

The most recent announcement came on April 11 when the project revealed the token specs for the Elrond Standard Digital Token (ESDT), nonfungible tokens and semi-fungible tokens.

One key feature of the ESDT standard is that tokens issued on Elrond do not need their own smart contracts, which helps reduce their storage footprint and cost.

Real-world adoption also drives Elrond pric

In terms of real-world adoption, Elrond announced on April 7 that the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu plans on implementing crypto payment methods for its 11,000 students, enabling those who are interested to pay their admission fees using EGLD.

Another significant development for the project was revealed on April 10 when a partnership with Shopping.io revealed the ability to use EGLD to shop and earn rewards with some of the largest retailers in the United States:

The nonfungible token platform Polkamon also helped bring extra attention to Elrond recently when it revealed that it would be integrating with the Elrond platform in Q3 in order to “enhance the user experience with additional speed & convenience.”

And leaving no sector unaddressed, Elrond has also been able to capture some of the hype around decentralized finance as the protocol’s Maiar digital wallet and global payments app now prepares to launch its Maiar Exchange on April 19.

VORTECS™ data preceded the recent breakout

Developments for Elrond were able to be captured by VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, which began to detect a bullish outlook for EGLD on April 6, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. EGLD price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for EGLD climbed into the green zone on April 6 and has remained there since, with a score of 80 registering on April 7, two hours before the price began to rise 48% over the next 5 days.

Thanks to its multi-functionality along with fast transaction times and low fees, Elrond is well-positioned to make further gains in price and overall adoption as blockchain technology continues to make inroads into mainstream society.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.