Let’s start from the beginning. Interestingly, Cardano is a Proof of Stake blockchain project. It is worth mentioning that, Cardano belongs to a “third-generation” blockchain. Notably, it seeks to address the scalability issues inherent in second-generation blockchains, much like the highly anticipated Ethereum 2.0.
People should take into account that, Cardano’s development is characterized by a scientific philosophy as well as plenty of academic research. Importantly, with the 2020 Shelley release, it moves closer to achieving its goals.
Interestingly, the project, as well as its associated ADA cryptocurrency, generated a lot of community buzz since its 2015 inception. The technology company Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) is the main driving force. Charles Hoskinson founded this company.
Let’s answer the question a simple question. What is Cardano?
It is a general-purpose blockchain based on peer-reviewed academic research. As a reminder, a multidisciplinary team of engineers, mathematicians, and others are working on this project. Importantly, the ongoing platform development is always accomplished using a scientific approach. Based on the information provided by its creators, the key design principles behind Cardano are security, scalability, and interoperability.
People should take into account that, Ada the native currency of Cardano, is used to perform operations on the Cardano blockchain. It is similar to the relationship between ether (ETH) and Ethereum.
The project’s development consists of multiple business units. For example, IOHK handles the development of the Cardano protocol, while the Cardano Foundation supervises the project. Moreover, EMUGRO is responsible for business development and driving adoption.
Cardano (ADA) roadmap and interesting details
It is worth mentioning that, its roadmap consists of five main phases: Byron, Shelley, Goguen, Basho, and Voltaire. As a reminder, Byron, the first phase marked the launch of the network along with basic functionality, such as transferring ADA.
Moreover, the Shelley hard fork took place in 2020 and offers further towards decentralization. Importantly, at the moment the Cardano community operates the nodes, with stake pools run by ADA holders.
Interestingly, as of December 2020, functional smart contracts cannot be deployed on the blockchain platform. Moreover, this will roll out as part of the Goguen update. Also, following Goguen, the Basho era focuses on optimization of scalability and interoperability. Furthermore, the Voltaire era introduces a treasury system to address governance.
Key features of this blockchain project
Importantly, the team behind Cardano published more than 90 whitepapers for the underlying technology. Another key feature is a well-defined roadmap, while the network wants to have baked-in security, scalability, as well as interoperability.
Interestingly, while not yet operational, the Cardano blockchain will allow for scalable smart contract functionality in the future.
As a reminder, much like Ethereum, the possibilities for the use cases of Cardano are vast. It only plans to act as the base layer for applications to be built on top.
People should keep in mind that, despite big promises, it has yet to fully deliver-just like almost anything in the cryptocurrency space apart from Bitcoin. While this project is ambitious in its foundations, its development is relatively slow.
Let’s have a look at the ADA. It is Cardano’s token. Moreover, the token is both a digital currency and a way to make transactions on the Cardano network.
Last but not least, Cardano is an ambitious project that aims to provide blockchain infrastructure in the crypto ecosystem. Interestingly, the project progresses slower than some may expect but also aims high. This project aims to tackle the scalability problems inherent in second-generation blockchains, much like the highly anticipated Ethereum 2.0.
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