Cardano is a public blockchain platform that came out of a collaboration among several companies and individuals in 2015.
It’s open-source and decentralized, with consensus achieved using proof of stake. Cardano has the ability to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions using its internal cryptocurrency, ADA (Cardano).
Here’s everything you need to know about Cardano-
Market cap & prices
There are two types of cryptocurrency rankings: market cap rankings and price/utility ratio rankings. The former tells you how much money a specific cryptocurrency is worth.
In contrast, the latter gives you an idea of how powerful that coin is. In general, it’s best to pay attention to both.
For example, Cardano (ADA) has a relatively high price per unit ($0.96), and its total value (market cap) ranks 9th among cryptocurrencies.
This means that ADA is very much useful as other coins.
How to get ADA?
Because it’s so new, most people don’t yet understand its potential or how to buy ADA. Don’t be surprised if you struggle to find an exchange that supports buying it with fiat currencies.
There are a few that do support credit card purchases. Still, they may require verification before they will allow you to purchase any ADA.
It’s also available on some larger exchanges like Bittrex and Kraken but can only be purchased using other cryptocurrencies.
For now, these are your best options if you want a quick way of purchasing ADA tokens for immediate use and need access in a hurry.
Who is involved?
The team behind Cardano is composed of three organizations: IOHK, Emurgo, and, thirdly, The Cardano Foundation.
IOHK, which stands for Input Output Hong Kong, is a blockchain research company led by Charles Hoskinson. His involvement stems from being one of Ethereum’s co-founders.
He also worked on projects like Bitshares and Ethereum Classic. Input-Output focuses on developing technologies that may someday be used in real-world applications.
However, none are currently available to consumers. The official website reads: IOHK’s mission is to use peer-to-peer innovations to provide financial services to three billion people that don’t have them today.
How does it work?
In order to understand how ADA works, you need first to understand what blockchain is. A blockchain is a public ledger of all transactions that have ever taken place in a network.
It is constantly growing as completed blocks are added to it with a new set of recordings. By design, blockchains are inherently resistant to modification of data.
Once recorded, information can never be erased. Each node (computer connected to any cryptocurrency network) gets a copy of the blockchain, which gets downloaded automatically upon joining a said network.
The blockchain has complete information about who owns how many coins at every given moment. Transactions are made through digital signatures verified by network nodes and recorded on every machine running its software.
This allows for transparency and trust between parties without an intermediary. The transaction fees for cryptocurrencies depend mainly on mining difficulty and transaction volume.
The higher these values, the more expensive it becomes to transfer cryptocurrencies from one wallet to another. Cardano works in the same way, even in a more powerful way.
Is it worth investing in?
If you’re wondering whether it’s worth investing in ADA, here are three things you should know.
- Unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, ADA isn’t just a coin. It is actually a platform that allows users to create their own cryptocurrency through what is called child chains.
- The team behind ADA has ambitious plans for scaling and making future additions, such as smart contracts and identity functions.
- As with any cryptocurrency, there is no guarantee of success. But if you want to invest in blockchain technology-and don’t mind taking on some risk-ADA could be a good choice.
