Cryptocurrencies are being confronted with a variety of issues, including scalability, energy consumption, and the capacity to interact with traditional currencies. A public blockchain, Cardano claims to be the third generation of its kind. The community behind it is hard at work finding solutions to these issues; and making the platform better than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Cardano’s native cryptocurrency is called ADA. ADA coins have risen to the position of the number four most valuable cryptocurrency by market value as of October 2021. In this article, we will walk you through all you need to know about this cryptocurrency.
What is Cardano?
Bitcoin and Ethereum are two examples of so-called second-generation cryptocurrencies. Cardano claims to be the first cryptocurrency of the third generation. It aspires to provide a platform on which smart contracts may be built, much like Ethereum.
A group led by Charles Hoskinson developed it to make the cryptocurrency industry more stable. Cardano created as a study but has already blossomed into its own blockchain network. Its designers claimed that smart contract blockchains like Ethereum have scalability; and interoperability issues that a new platform built from scratch might solve.
What Makes Cardano So Unique?
The team behind Cardano motivated by the field of scientific publication; and they decided to model their cryptocurrency after the peer-review process used in the scientific publishing industry.
This means that the network’s consensus method, Ouroboros, designed, examined, and approved by academics before it implemented. Haskell, a programming language utilized by the likes of Bank of America and AT&T; used to write the network’s underlying code.
Additionally, Cardano’s developer, IOHK, has released a slew of scholarly papers that elaborate on the platform’s technology.
To validate transactions, the Ethereum network presently employs the power-hungry and transaction-capable proof of work consensus technique. However, Cardano employs proof of stake, which requires less power, and Ouroboros determines the next block creator and verifies blocks.
Proponents of the proof of stake consensus method argue that it improves the safety of blockchain networks while also drastically cutting their energy use and carbon impact.
The creator of Cardano, IOHK, has already made strides in identity management and traceability, announcing many collaborations. In 2019, IOHK collaborated with shoemaker New Balance to combat counterfeit shoes; allowing buyers to verify the authenticity of items using the Cardano blockchain. The business began working with the Ethiopian government in April 2021 to implement an identification solution throughout the country’s educational institutions.
How ADA Created and How Can One Get Access to It?
Unlike Bitcoin, the ADA token is not created by mining. Validators, who are the network’s replacement for miners are selected based on how much ADA cash they presently own. Each participant in a block validation wagers on their level of confidence that they will successfully verify each transaction in the block. The validator “wins” the wager and receives an ADA payout if the block accepted by the blockchain.
Cardano’s ADA token, which one of the leading top 10 cryptocurrencies, listed for purchase or trading on the majority of the prominent cryptocurrency exchanges.
What is Ouroboros?
Ouroboros is the central algorithm of Cardano and the project’s answer to proof of stake. It is also the first blockchain protocol to be based on peer-reviewed research.
Cardano’s capacity as a distributed proof of stake platform fundamentally supported by the consensus protocol. It ensures the integrity of the network, verifies trades, and may be exchanged for freshly minted ADA.
What May Cardano Be Used for?
Although ADA a cryptocurrency that can bought, sold, and used to settle transactions on the blockchain, its not often treated as if its a true currency on par with Bitcoin.
Users of the Cardano platform required to purchase ADA in order to conduct transactions, take part in governance, become slot leaders, and receive a portion of the transaction fees that paid.
Final Thoughts
Since mining ADA requires a small fraction of the energy needed to mine Bitcoin, its one of many PoS coins to gain popularity when Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk brought attention to the importance of cryptocurrency’s green credentials.
Additionally, Grayscale, a digital asset management, included Cardano in its Large Cap Cryptocurrency portfolio in July. Cardano also took the top place for the most GitHub contributions per month between July 2020 and June 2021. This analysis indicated that Cardano rated a close second to Ethereum in terms of monthly active developers. This cryptocurrency has a promising future, but you need to decide whether it is worth investing in.