Launched in September 2017, by one of Ethereum's co-founders Charles Hoskinson, the Cardano network has been attracting the attention of the crypto community. Designed using Haskell programming language, the network has a high level of fault tolerance.
Its concept is based on scientific peer-reviewed research, with the aim to position Cardano as the blockchain 3.0 with the exclusive features: scalability, interoperability, and sustainability.
Cardano operates on two layers that allow more flexibility of the smart contracts in tailoring their design, privacy, security, and execution. The first layer, Cardano Settlement Layer (CSL) acts as a balanced ledger. The second layer, Cardano Computation Layer (CCL) collides information such as why a particular transaction occurs. The second layer allows the creation of different rules for transaction evaluation.
Cardano’s own ICO is known as ADA and can be stored on Cardano’s wallet Daedalus. The wallet is unique for the market, as well as safe, versatile and powerful, allowing users to activate decentralized applications within the blockchain of the cryptocurrency.
Users can search through their ADA transactions with the Cardano Block explorer. They are presented with information about the blockchain’s state. Also, they have encrypted private keys and spending passwords, forming an extra layer of malware prevention.
Daedalus’ users benefit from paper certificate exporting, providing maximum security in placing one’s funds in cold storage, safe from any hacker attacks. They also receive information when a transaction becomes irreversible.
Cardano’s team confirmed that the future update releases will make it a multi-currency wallet, allowing currency exchanges. Bitcoin and Ethereum Classic are the first ones to be added to the wallet.
The update also includes a mobile version for Android and iOS of the wallet. Furthermore, it will allow token holders to take part in the block generation process and earn more from their investment, also known as staking.
With regards to Proof-of-Work, Cardano differentiates itself by using the Ouroboros Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm. New blocks generation and transaction verification are done by slot leaders (anyone who holds an ADA coin). One becomes a slot leader when the “Follow the Satoshi” algorithm selects the user’s coin. The process is automatically done so that users don’t have to verify each transaction manually.
Looking at the features and the plans for the development of the network's wallet, it is no wonder why its current position is 8th amongst the most popular and promising highlights on the market. It reached its peak at the beginning of 2018 when it hit the charts with an impressive market cap just above $33 billion. Since then its price has been fluctuating insignificantly.
At the moment, nearly 26 billion ADA coins are in circulation. Cardano has announced that a maximum of 45 billion coins will be released in the future.