Jun 17th 2023

Cardano stands out as a prominent cryptocurrency with a substantial market capitalization. Its primary objective is to offer a versatile and expandable blockchain platform that facilitates the execution of smart contracts. This platform opens the doors to a diverse array of decentralized financial applications, innovative cryptocurrency tokens, captivating games, and various other possibilities for development.

What is Cardano?

Established in 2015, Cardano has emerged as a prominent player among global cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization.Cardano’s associated cryptocurrency is actually called ADA, but many people use ADA and Cardano interchangeably.  Cardano’s coin is named after Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century mathematician known as the first computer programmer.

In 2021, Cardano made significant progress by introducing smart contract support through its Alonzo update. This testnet update marked the initial step in delivering the anticipated scalability and diverse applications to Cardano users. With this update, users gained the ability to develop smart contracts, create non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and manage multiple assets. Subsequent releases and forks are expected to further enhance the mainnet by introducing additional smart contract functionalities and expanding its capabilities.

How Is Cardano Different From Bitcoin?

Bitcoin and Cardano exhibit distinct differences in their design and functionality. While Bitcoin was primarily developed as a peer-to-peer payment system, Cardano encompasses an entire ecosystem that enables developers to create tokens, decentralized applications (dApps), and various other use cases on a scalable blockchain network.

One significant difference lies in their consensus mechanisms. Cardano employs a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) approach, whereas Bitcoin relies on a competitive mining process that rewards participants with the cryptocurrency. By utilizing PoS, Cardano minimizes energy consumption and waste by eliminating the need for power-intensive mining rigs. Instead, Cardano users can install compatible wallet software on their computers or devices, stake their Ada (Cardano’s cryptocurrency), and actively participate in the network to earn rewards.