New cryptocurrencies are constantly emerging with a lot of fanfare, but most of these fail to capture the public’s imagination for long. They either don’t differentiate themselves from big players like Bitcoin and Ethereum, or they’re too different and can’t compete.
So what makes Cardano unique? This global blockchain initiative’s most striking feature is that it’s a peer-reviewed platform developed as an academic project by a team of cryptocurrency researchers. What it lacks in dazzle, it more than makes up for by providing a consistent and stable platform that cuts out the middle person.
History of Cardano
The team behind Cardano primarily consists of academics and engineers but also features one of the co-founders of Ethereum. Charles Hoskinson left Ethereum to set up Cardano in 2015 after a dispute with colleagues about whether the platform should remain non-profit.
As with many cryptocurrency platforms, it pays tribute to various mathematical luminaries with its names. Gerolamo Cardano was an Italian mathematician credited with helping to invent the combination lock and developing the field of probability.
Cardano’s native unit, the ADA, similarly gets its name from the historical figure Ada Lovelace, the legendary 19th Century computing pioneer.
Rather than borrowing from other chains, developers built Cardano from scratch using a rigorously academic approach. The fact that it was a peer-reviewed enterprise is striking: no other blockchain before Cardano had been subject to academic scrutiny in this way. The combination of this rigor and adherence to data in Cardano’s development is key to its popularity.
Cardano vs. Bitcoin Differences
Cardano aims to democratize cryptocurrencies by making them more accessible to individuals and removing the emphasis on mining. The proof-of-work consensus model favored by most networks allows big players to mine large amounts of currency. In contrast, Cardano has shifted its focus to using network nodes to achieve consensus.
Bitcoin is still the biggest player on the market, but it lacks customer support compared to Cardano. The latter is developing a system of ‘smart contracts’ using the Plutus platform.
Another issue that Bitcoin faces in comparison is scalability. Cardano’s design optimizes peer-to-peer transactions and can handle 257TPS, where Bitcoin can only handle around 4.6TPS.
While this is advantageous for the smaller platform, it’s worth remembering that the sheer scale of Bitcoin gives it a massive advantage in terms of attracting users.
Pros and Cons of Cardano
Pros:
- Peer-reviewed
- Experienced developers
- User-friendly
- Scalable
- Smart platform
Cons:
- Needs increased user support to match larger rivals
What Hardware Wallet to Use
There are several hardware wallets you might consider using with this blockchain, such as Tezor or LedgerNano. Both hardware wallets work across various cryptocurrencies. Besides that, you also can use Cardadno’s proprietary hardware wallets, Daedalus and Yoroi.
Daedalus Wallet
The Daedalus is an in-house creation designed to store ADA and operates as a Cardano node in itself.
This wallet is preferable to many as it comes from the same team that designed the currency. It is desktop-based and takes up around 6GB of space.
Yoroi Wallet
This wallet is much lighter than the Daedalus and doesn’t take up large amounts of your system’s resources. The Yoroi wallet doesn’t act as a node and instead connects to a full node through Emurgo.
It’s a solid lightweight option for storing ADA and is easy to install and operate.
Conclusion
Cardano is one of the most exciting prospects in blockchain today. The team of developers has an incredible pedigree, and it’s more open to scrutiny and adaptable than many cryptocurrencies.
We’re all for this platform’s goal of making blockchain more user-friendly and accessible to everybody. Cardano seems like it has an exciting future.
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