What Is Cardano (ADA)?
ADA is the native token of Cardano, which is a public blockchain founded in 2017. Don't forget to take a look at the Cardano price chart above to see the current (and the previous) ADA price. Cardano places a lot of emphasis on helping countries with severe banking access problems. Overall, it aims to create a more transparent, fair, and secure society by shifting power away from unaccountable institutions to individuals.
The name of the network is inspired by a significant figure in Renaissance mathematics – an Italian polymath from the 16th century Gerolamo Cardano. Overall, Cardano is the first network to emerge from an approach motivated by research and scientific mentality.
It’s also one of the first networks built using Haskell programming language, which is known for its high degree of fault tolerance. Though the programming language used for the development of smart contracts is Plutus, which allows the creation of strict contracts.
Every new proposal considering the improvement of the Cardano blockchain has to go through peer-reviewed research. This academic approach ensures that all changes are made logically and bring the best results. Besides, it increases the stability and durability of Cardano by reducing the risk of unexpected downfalls.
The Cardano network, along with its native token ADA, is secured by its custom Ouroboros protocol that focuses on sustainability. The protocol is defined as a combination of novel technology, statistically validated mechanisms, as well as economic and behavioral philosophy. Essentially, it’s a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism which is a more energy-efficient alternative to the Proof-of-Work mechanism used by Bitcoin.
Besides, Cardano is a multi-layer protocol. It has two layers – a settlement layer and a control layer. The settlement layer is responsible for transacting, trading, and purchasing ADA tokens. The Control layer, on the other hand, is responsible for executing smart contracts, dApps, and confirming identity.
Who Developed Cardano?
Charles Hoskinson, the CEO of IOHK and the co-founder of Ethereum, is the one who developed Cardano. He has been involved in the crypto world since 2011. However, he’s also a mathematician, which explains his urge to name the blockchain and its native token after famous mathematicians. It also explains his choice of employing an academic strategy involving mathematical computations and decisions based on logic while developing and maintaining the network.
EMURGO also contributes to the development of the Cardano protocol. It’s a multinational blockchain technology company that aims to support, integrate, and encourage Cardano blockchain applications.
Besides, it’s important to mention the Cardano Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that aims to standardize, safeguard, and advance the Cardano network.
Overall, Cardano is controlled by three separate projects that are responsible for different parts of the Cardano crypto project:
- IOHK, which is the one that builds and designs the blockchain.
- Cardano Foundation, which is the one that oversees the development of the blockchain.
- EMURGO, which is the one that uses commercial ventures to support the blockchain.
The ADA Coin
The native coin of Cardano is ADA. Just like the name of the blockchain is inspired by a well-known polymath from the past, the ADA coin also takes its name from an inspiring person. ADA is named after Ada Lovelace, a mathematician from the 19th century. She is often considered as the first-ever computer programmer.
Essentially, ADA is a governance token. It provides its users with the right to vote on various decisions considering the Cardano network. The project can grow over time thanks to the democratic governance framework and an innovative treasury system that allows Cardano to sustainably fund itself. Again, if you’re wondering about the current Cardano price, check out the ADA price chart above.
Apart from being the governance token, ADA can also be used for other things. For example, it can be used as a payment method for various products or services that support crypto assets. Additionally, if you want to make transactions on the settlement layer of Cardano, you have to use ADA coins as well.
Besides, ADA coins can be staked. This means that you can earn profit simply by holding ADA in your wallet. Though, keep in mind that staking rewards will probably decline over time, as the amount of circulating tokens is going towards its max supply.
IOHK developed a wallet called Daedalus specifically for storing Cardano crypto assets. It is known for its advanced security features. Another wallet that was created for ADA coins is Yoroi. It was developed by EMURGO and it’s very convenient because it takes only one click to install it. Besides, it doesn’t require downloading a copy of the blockchain’s history.
The Supply of ADA Coins
ADA is a deflationary token. This means that the amount of ADA coins in circulation is limited. The max supply of ADA is 45 billion coins.
Overall, Cardano’s primary public token sale took place between 2015 and 2017, during which the ADA price was only around $0.0024 but managed to reach $0.02 by October 2017, following the mainnet launch. Apart from the tokens allocated for the Initial Coin Offering (57.60%), approximately 30.86% of ADA tokens were reserved for staking rewards, while the remaining 11.4% were designated for the Cardano development team, including IOHK, EMURGO, and the Cardano Foundation.
When discussing the ADA price, bear in mind that it is prone to fluctuations, just like the values of numerous other crypto assets. The Cardano price is ultimately impacted by the same factors that have an impact on the entire cryptocurrency market.
The Alonzo Upgrade
The Alonzo upgrade was launched in August of 2021 as a hard fork. A hard fork is an upgrade that involves major changes and is not backward-compatible. The Alonzo upgrade brought the functionality of smart contracts to the Cardano blockchain, allowing it to support various dApps and NFTs. It essentially resulted in the increase of the Cardano price.
The name Alonzo is also not a randomly given name, just like it is with the blockchain itself and the native token. Alonzo Church, an American mathematician who is regarded as one of the pioneers of computer science, was an inspiration for the name of this upgrade. You can definitely notice a pattern with the names here.
Since the Alonzo upgrade provided Cardano with the functionality of smart contracts, it made the blockchain a worthy competitor of Ethereum, which is one of the top blockchains in the crypto world. Due to the fact that smart contracts are one of the pillars of the decentralized finance industry, they can give a blockchain a vast range of capabilities and support for applications that aren't necessarily a part of that blockchain.
The Cardano Evolution
Speaking of upgrades, Cardano didn't stop with the Alonzo upgrade. Numerous upgrades have taken shape in Cardano’s development, further strengthening its power as a scalable and sustainable blockchain in the ecosystem.
Uniquely, most of them share similar patterns with the network and the coin — they’re all inspired by eminent mathematicians throughout the ages.
Here is a full breakdown of Cardano’s evolution until 2024:
- Chang. Released in 2024, the Chang hard fork, named after the mathematician and cryptographer Tsutomu Chang, puts more emphasis on decentralized governance, on-chain voting, and enhanced smart contract capabilities with advanced cryptographic algorithms.
- Valentine (SECP). A minor intra-era hard fork upgrade that added the support of an elliptic curve called SECP256k1, which provides stronger protection toward cryptographic attacks and is also adopted by Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the BNB Chain.
- Vasil. Named in honor of the late Bulgarian mathematician and fellow Cardano community contributor, Vasil Dabov, this 2022 upgrade introduced several essential mechanisms to improve blockchain performance.
- Alonzo. As mentioned before, it was a hard fork upgrade that brought the functionality of smart contracts to the blockchain, opening the paths to dApp and NFT creations and support.
- Mary. Implemented in March 2021, Mary was an upgrade to Cardano’s past Shelley protocol (before the network upgraded to Allonzo). Mary brought native token and multi-asset capabilities to Cardano, enabling users to create custom tokens and transact them directly on the blockchain.
- Allegra. Before Mary, there was Allegra, which was another improvement to Cardano’s now defunct Shelley protocol. That said, without Shelley, we wouldn’t have the token locking support that enables diverse smart contract use cases on Cardano today.
- Shelley. In 2020, Cardano shifted from the Byron to the Shelley protocol, aiming for an improved decentralization of Cardano by 50 times compared to other networks.
As Web3 innovation continues to evolve, Cardano will follow through with the implementation of its clearly communicated roadmap with a firm root in academic research and rigorous testing.
