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Who Created Cardano?
Cardano was founded by Charles Hoskinson, who also helped found Ethereum. While working on Ethereum, he began to diverge from the original vision and decided to partner with the Cardano foundation.
Combining his knowledge and the Cardano resources, the two founded IOHK with the intention of building blockchains and cryptocurrencies for governments and academics. IOHK is contractually obligated to develop and maintain Cardano. A third participant, Emurgo, is involved purely in supporting and developing the project financially, and they have history working with blockchain technology.
Cardano’s early success was not surprising due to how much research and planning went into it. In 2015, it targeted Japanese investors who accounted for 95% of the total funding that year. The team’s goal is to become a central hub for all types of cryptocurrency, and one that can easily develop and adapt to future changes whenever necessary.
Why Was It Created?
Cardano is an open source platform that holds the Ada cryptocurrency. It is the first to come from scientific research and philosophy. While other blockchains are designed around having strong programming, the expert team behind Cardano is filled with engineers and researchers all dedicated to creating a flexible technology on top of that programming.
They’re treating it like NASA treats a space project – with as much regard to scientific fact as possible.
It’s important to know that Cardano is not the cryptocurrency. Instead, it is the blockchain-based platform with the intention of hosting financial software used by governments, users, and anyone with a desire to use such programs. The team behind Cardano ensures this is possible by building the network in layers.
These layers allow for smooth upgrades when necessary alongside easy maintenance. They are always future-proofing their system. The first layer was designed to run their original cryptocurrency, Ada. Similar to Ethereum, Cardano will utilize its extra layers to take advantage of smart contracts and decentralized applications.
Intended Use Cases
To develop decentralized applications and smart contracts with ease. Because of their academic background, the Cardano platform will focus on decentralized applications in that space.
Real-World Applications
The country of Greece may allow their citizens to prove their college degrees via the Cardano network. By pairing with GRNET, Greek universities are developing a private blockchain platform for showcasing and verifying diplomas and other qualifications.
Why would an investor buy Cardano?
Cardano differs from other coins in that it has a strong team behind it, alongside a scientific approach to development. Because of its multiple layers, this network is easier to scale and modify as advancements in technology are made. It is improving on the popular Ethereum platform.
Consensus Algorithm
Cardano runs on a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm. The more money a stakeholder invests, the more say they have on the platform. At a certain point, a stakeholder becomes a specialized node, giving them even more preference.
Transaction Speed
Around 250 transactions per second.
Cardano Supply
Current: 25,927,070,538 ADA
Maximum: 45,000,000,000 ADA
Reward per Block
Cardano cannot be mined. It is proof-of-stake, and stakers are rewarded with Ada tokens.
How many confirmations from nodes are required?
The honest majority. 50% + 1.
Network Fees
0.1641702 ADA. This is explained here.
Current Cost per Cardano
USD 0.166845
0.00002255 BTC
(April 3, 2018)
Cardano Market Cap
$4,325,802,084 USD
584,536 BTC
(April 3, 2018)
Which Exchanges Support It?
A wide variety, with the main ones including Bitfinex, Binance, and Bittrex. Here is a full list.
Which Wallets Support It?
Cardano has its own wallet for storing Ada, the Daedalus wallet.
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