What is Cardano

Cardano is a public blockchain platform that is open source and decentralised.

Consensus on the platform is achieved using proof-of-stake, and facilitates peer-to-peer transactions with its native cryptocurrency ADA.

Learn more about Proof-of-Stake here:

Cardano was founded in 2017 by Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood, both former Ethereum founders.

The platform is governed by three entities:

• Cardano Foundation - standardise and promote the ecosystem.

• IOHK - engineering company responsible for development.

• Emergo - responsible for commercial application.

Cardano differentiates itself from many other cryptocurrencies by focusing on scientific research and working with universities

More on PoS consensus mechanism:

Using proof of stake is far more energy efficient as a consensus mechanism as it eliminates the need for computer resources that are used on Proof-of-Work chains.

How does Staking work?

Holders can set aside (stake) tokens (ADA) on the network to validate transactions.

The quantity of tokens staked corresponds with the chances of being chosen to validate transactions, and being rewarded with more of the same token.

The more tokens staked, the more likely to be chosen to validate transactions, thus being allocated more rewards.

Cardano has been applied commercially by multiple businesses, and organisations.

For example:

In 2019, New Balance announced a test program on the Cardano blockchain so buyers could tract the authenticity of basketball shoes.

In the same year, the Ministry of Education in Georgia signed a memorandum of understanding with the Free University of Tbilisi to use Cardano to build a credential verification system for the country.

There are just a few examples, the platform has been adopted by many more organisations since.

There are so many different options for companies to adopt blockchain(s). Cardano is just one of them.

We look forward to seeing what the project can accomplish in the future.

Thanks

Ben