Cardano (ADA)
Cardano (ADA), co-founded by the former CEO of Ethereum, will of course come into the crypto radar with the popular nickname “Ethereum killer”. The link with Ethereum does not come out of the blue as the Cardano blockchain also uses Smart Contracts and “decentralized apps” (DApps). More about Smart Contracts and DApps later in this article.
Ethereum, however, is a second-generation blockchain with Cardano once again part of the third-generation blockchain technology. To explain briefly, the focus for the first generation blockchain was on sending decentralized money. The second generation added contracts to add more conditions to a transaction for greater control. The third generation, which includes Cardano, focuses on scalability, interoperability and sustainability.
Cardano
Cardano is the first blockchain platform to use source code that is tested for bugs and vulnerabilities by a large scientific network. Cardano uses the proof-of-stake model for the verification of blocks. This in contrast to Bitcoin that works on a blockchain according to the proof-of-work principle. Both models aim to solve a block and create a new block in the blockchain. Where proof-of-work assigns responsibility based on brute, energy-consuming computing power, proof-of-stake assigns the creation of a block based on power (how much ADA someone has). What also makes this project special is that there is a plan for a democratic voting system in which users can vote in order to have a finger in the pie regarding the development and thus future of Cardano.
Cardano specifications
Protocol: Proof of stake
Algorithm: Ouroboros
Total number: 45,000,000,000
Characteristics and the technology behind it
Unlike the descriptions for other cryptocurrencies, the features of Cardano and the technology behind Cardano have been merged. This is precisely because the most interesting features of ADA are of a technological nature.
Peer-reviewed network
Yes, it is a mouthful, but in short it means that a network of scientists and researchers ensures that new protocols for ADA are first tested extensively, by means of a scientific research method, before thinking about actual implementation.
Proof-of-stake model
Cardano chooses to let the reward depend on how many ADA tokens you already have. The proof-of-stake model of Cardano would also be the only model with a mathematically proven safety and, in addition, just like the development of the technology, it relies on the previously described peer-review principle. Safe much?
Democratic voting system
Looking to the future, Cardano offers a democratic voting system to determine the direction of development. Users may vote for upgrades, updates and modifications maintained in some sort of library of proposed technology features.
DApps and Smart Contracts
Cardano also works with DApps and Smart Contracts, just like NEO. DApps are non-proprietary apps that cannot be closed and have no downtime. They run decentralized on the Cardano blockchain. Third parties can also develop these DApps. The aforementioned Smart Contracts are a specific form of a DApp. These Smart Contracts keep so-called metadata of a transaction. This is data that is not crucial for a simple transaction, unlike sender, receiver, quantity and time. Data in the Smart Contract can contain an additional condition, such as coordinates for track and trace of a physical shipment.