What is Cardano? Cardano is an open source smart contract platform, Cardano uses a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism called Ouroboros to secure the network and manage the block production process. was built by Charles Hoskinson – co-founder of Ethereum in 2015. By 2017, Cardano was officially launched and successfully raised $60 million through ICO. In 2021 Cardano had a capitalization of up to $80B. So what makes Cardano different? Let’s find out with Weakhand.
To understand more about Cardano, please read the articles below:
- Solana Ecosystem: Hackathon With 813 New Projects, Network Upgrades & Many Other Outstanding Updates
- What is Sui (SUI)? Sui Cryptocurrency Overview
- What is Aptos (APT)? Aptos Cryptocurrency Overview
What is Cardano?
Overview of Cardano
Cardano is a layer 1 decentralized blockchain that allows developers to build smart contracts, create dApps and decentralized protocols (DeFi) on Cardano. Cardano was born with the goal of solving problems of security, scalability and sustainability.
Cardano is built using Haskell, a functional programming language. Plutus, created by IOHK, is a language based on Haskell. NIt has additional features to support blockchain and smart contract use cases.
Cardano is an open source platform for smart contracts, Cardano meets many use cases, solving problems in many industries. These include retail, education, government, finance, agriculture and healthcare…
Cardano aims to have multiple ways to scale, primarily through Layer-2 and sidechains. IOG released Cardano EVM Sidechain allows Solidity developers to easily port applications into the Cardano ecosystem; Hydra is an L2 layer, Ouroboros Hydra is a new version of Cardano’s consensus mechanism, designed by IOG. It helps enable faster transaction speeds, increased throughput, and reduced transaction costs for Hydra protocols.
Highlights of Cardano
Cardano uses a unique architecture that uses a two-layer system, differentiating it from most other blockchain platforms. The payments layer (CSL) allows ADA token holders to send and receive transactions almost instantly with low fees, while the computation layer (CCL) serves as the foundation for the rest of the platform. Cardano function.
- Security: As a smart contract platform, Cardano provides security and scalability through its unique two-layer architecture. Cardano Payment Layer (CSL) processes all transactions using the Cardano cryptocurrency, with minimal transaction fees. At the same time, the Cardano Compute Layer (CCL) is a set of protocols that help run smart contracts. It allows developers to create decentralized applicationsensuring security and giving a small portion of the money to the end user.
- Proof of Stake Consensus Algorithm: Cardano uses a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which is low-energy, secure, and helps reduce transaction fees.
- Ability of extension: Cardano addresses scalability by implementing the Ouroboros protocol, a new protocol built on a Proof of Stake model that ensures high transaction speeds, and fair opportunities for users. Provides advanced features such as separation of layers, security in choosing blockchain validators, secure voting mechanism for token holders, and infinitely scalable consensus mechanism.
Technology
- Consensus mechanism: Ouroboros is Cardano’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Users can delegate their ADA tokens to the stake pool operator and earn rewards while retaining ownership of their tokens. Cardano was one of the first cryptocurrencies to adopt a PoS consensus mechanism, specifically using a variant called Delegated-Proof-of-Stake (DPoS). Ouroboros Praos is the current consensus mechanism.
- Accounting model: Cardano uses the UTXO accounting model, Assets are stored on the ledger as a directed acyclic graph (DAG) between addresses. In a transaction, those unused outputs are used to create new outputs.
- Classic UTXO: Transactions can include one or more UTXOs as input and one or more UTXOs as output — all of arbitrary size — to satisfy transfer needs.
- Extended UTXO: Cardano uses a new version of UTXO called extended UTXO (eUTXO). eUTXO includes data and scripts, allowing arbitrary logic and metadata to be attached to each individual transaction.
- Native Tokens: Tokens on Cardano do not need to be deployed through smart contracts. Therefore, they are not susceptible to exploitation to the same extent as ERC-20 or ERC-721 and do not require transfer of smart contract execution. Since they are not created using heterogeneous smart contracts, dapp developers can integrate all of Cardano’s native tokens in the same way. Additionally, the eUTXO model allows many different types of tokens to be transferred together in a single transaction.
- Staking: ADA holders delegate their ADA tokens to a stake pool operator (validator) to receive block rewards while retaining ownership of ADA. They can use or withdraw their ADA at any time.
- Haskell and Plutus: Cardano is built using Haskell, a statically typed functional programming language. Plutus, created by IOHK, is a language based on Haskell; it has additional features to support blockchain and smart contract use cases.
Cardano application
Atala PRISM is a self-sovereign identity (SSI) platform on the Cardano blockchain providing digital infrastructure for banking, healthcare, education, etc. Traditional countries, universities and industries in the Web2 space are using Atala’s identity infrastructure:
- World Mobile Network: brings internet connectivity to internet-starved areas, starting with Zanzibar; Subscribers to this network will be able to access Atala for digital services such as banking and healthcare.
- Education: an ID and information authentication solution, it protects academic credentials in a tamper-proof ecosystem.
- Administration: Used for administration in information provisioning and authentication systems.
- Agriculture: Cardano blockchain is used for product certification and traceability.
- Health care: uses Atala SCAN to authenticate and verify the origin and supply chain of pharmaceutical products, ensuring patient safety around the world.
Cardano’s Development Roadmap
-
Byron: September 2017 with the mainnet launch of the Cardano blockchain. During this phase, the chain operates as a federated network that only supports ADA transactions.
-
Shelley: Launched in July 2020, bringing Cardano’s proposed Ouroboros Proas Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol to life.
-
Goguen: Support for smart contracts in September 2021. The Plutus programming language has been released and welcomes dapps, NFTs, and DeFi ecosystems.
- Basho: Currently underway and aims to improve scalability by adding sidechains and L2 to the ecosystem.
- Voltaire: Currently underway concurrently with Basho and will take the final steps towards self-sustainability. Voltaire is responsible for the treasury system and voting system for Cardano Improvement Proposals (CIPs). Once completed, the community will control the hard forks and treasury instead of IOG, Cardano Foundation and EMURGO which currently hold all seven governance keys.
Core Team
Charles Hoskinson – Founder and CEO
- Charles Hoskinson studied at Metropolitan State University of Denver and the University of Colorado Boulder studying analytic number theory before turning to cryptography.
- Charles Hoskinson is a technology entrepreneur and mathematician based in Colorado.
- Charles Hoskinson is an American businessman, co-founder of blockchain engineering company Input Output Global, Inc. (formerly IOHK) and the Cardano blockchain platform and co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain platform.
- Charles Hoskinson is the founding chair of the Bitcoin Foundation’s education committee and founded the Cryptocurrency Research Group in 2013.
Jeremy Wood – Co founder
- Jeremy Wood graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the school Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.
- Jeremy Wood used to work as Executive Assistant at Ethereum. After leaving Ethereum, Jeremy joined Charles Hoskinson founded a new project called IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong), a research and engineering company building cryptocurrencies and blockchains. IOHK’s key project is Cardano, a public blockchain and smart contract platform hosting the ADA cryptocurrency.
- Presentin addition to Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood, Cardano is being managed and operated by three organizations: Cardano Foundation, Emurgo and IOHK.
Investor
Cardano is supported by:
- Input Output Global (IOG): A blockchain research and development company founded by Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood. This is the development branch.
- Cardano Foundation: A non-profit organization focused on core development and ecosystem growth. Own the Cardano brand and drive adoption.
- EMURGO: A venture capital firm that is the for-profit arm of Cardano. EMURGO facilitates integration for Web2 business partners and incubates business opportunities.
Tokenomics
Information about ADA Token
- Token Name: Cardano
- Tiker: ADA
- Blockchain: Cardano
- Total Supply: 45,000,000,000 ADA.
ADA Token Allocation
- 57.6% of ADA tokens were sold through rounds and ICOs
- 11.5% of ADA tokens are held by IOHK, Cardano Foundation and Emurgo.
- 30.9% of ADA tokens are for staking rewards.
ADA Token Release
Updating
ADA Token Use Case
- Reward: ADA tokens are used as block rewards for nodes in the network when Cardano begins to enable this function in the Shelly testnet through Staking.
- Staking: Users stake ADA tokens through staking pools and will be rewarded when the node creates a new block.
- Pay: In the future, ADA tokens can be used to pay fees when users issue assets (UIA) on Cardano’s platform.
- Currency: ADA token is also used as a currency.
- Transaction fees on Cardano Blockchain: ADA tokens are used to pay transaction fees within the Cardano network.
ADA Token Exchange
Currently ADA tokens are traded on major exchanges such as: Binance, Coinbase, OKX, Kucoin, Gate, Houbi, Bybit, Bitget, Crypto.com, MEXC, …
Project Information Channel
- Website: https://cardano.org/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cardano
- Telegram: https://t.me/CardanoAnnouncements
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CardanoCommunity
- Reddit:
Summary
Cardano is a cryptocurrency founded by Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of Ethereum. Cardano is one of the fastest growing projects in the cryptocurrency space. Cardano focuses on building a scalable, secure, and efficient decentralized network using a systematic approach to blockchain research and development.
Hope this article provides useful information about the Cardano project and ADA token.