Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform with the stated goal of empowering "changemakers, innovators, and visionaries" to create meaningful global change. For more in-depth information on this project, refer to our detailed exploration of Cardano. This open-source initiative also seeks to "redistribute power from unaccountable structures to the margins to individuals," contributing to a society that is more secure, transparent, and equitable. Established in 2017, Cardano is named after the 16th-century Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano. Its native ADA token is named in honor of the 19th-century mathematician Ada Lovelace, who is widely considered the world’s first computer programmer. The ADA token is intended to enable owners to participate actively in the network's operations. Consequently, holders of this cryptocurrency have the right to vote on proposed software changes. According to the team behind this layered blockchain, there have already been significant use cases for its technology, which facilitates the development of decentralized apps and smart contracts with modular capabilities. In August 2021, Charles Hoskinson announced the launch of the Alonzo hard fork, which led to a notable increase in Cardano’s price, with a 116% rise in the subsequent month. The Cardano 'Alonzo' hard fork officially launched on September 12, 2021, introducing smart contract functionality to the blockchain. Over 100 smart contracts were deployed within the 24 hours following the launch. Cardano is utilized by agricultural companies for tracking fresh produce from field to fork. Other applications built on the platform allow educational credentials to be securely stored in a tamper-proof manner and enable retailers to combat counterfeit goods.

Cardano was established by Charles Hoskinson, who was also among the co-founders of the Ethereum network. He serves as the CEO of IOHK, the company responsible for developing Cardano’s blockchain. In an interview for Eulerpool’s Crypto Titans series, Hoskinson shared that he became involved in cryptocurrencies in 2011, experimenting with mining and trading. He stated that his first professional engagement in the industry occurred in 2013, when he developed a course on Bitcoin, which attracted 80,000 students. Besides being a technology entrepreneur, Hoskinson is also a mathematician. In 2020, his technology company made a donation of ADA valued at $500,000 to the University of Wyoming’s Blockchain Research and Development Lab.

Cardano is among the largest blockchains to successfully implement a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which is more energy-efficient compared to the proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm utilized by Bitcoin. Although the much larger Ethereum network is transitioning to PoS, this shift will occur gradually. The Cardano project emphasizes ensuring that all technological developments undergo peer-reviewed research, allowing innovative ideas to be scrutinized before validation. According to the Cardano team, this academic rigor contributes to the blockchain's durability and stability, enhancing the likelihood of anticipating potential challenges in advance. In 2020, Cardano implemented the Shelley upgrade, which aimed to make its blockchain “50 to 100 times more decentralized” than other major blockchains. At that time, Charles Hoskinson, the project's founder, predicted that this would enable hundreds of assets to operate on its network. The Alonzo hard fork, launched in September 2021, marked the end of the Shelley era and the beginning of the Goguen phase. This upgrade allows users to develop and deploy smart contracts on Cardano, facilitating the creation of native decentralized applications (DApps) on the blockchain. The price of Cardano surpassed the $3 mark, reaching an all-time high of $3.101 on September 2, 2021, ahead of this launch. For more information, you can refer to Eulerpool.

Named in honor of the late Bulgarian mathematician Vasil Dabov, a notable contributor to Cardano, the Vasil hard fork is regarded as one of the most eagerly awaited upgrades for Cardano. This hard fork represents the third developmental epoch of Cardano and is intended to introduce several enhancements to the blockchain’s smart contract programming language, Plutus, as well as boost the network’s capacity. Initially scheduled for June 2022, the event has been postponed multiple times. The Vasil upgrade will introduce five essential mechanisms to enhance Cardano’s scalability and usability: CIP-31, CIP-32, CIP-33, CIP-40, and diffusion pipelining. CIP-31, also known as “reference inputs,” will introduce a new type of input, allowing developers to examine the result of an output without spending it, thus optimizing transaction throughput and increasing concurrency. The CIP-32 proposal is designed to enable inline datums. Instead of attaching datums to datum hashes, which is the current practice, CIP-32 would permit developers to attach datums directly to outputs. This update allows developers to script code that points directly to the input, facilitating simpler and quicker communication of datum values between users. Cardano Improvement Proposal 33 allows for reference scripts to be attached to outputs. Consequently, the reference scripts will be used to satisfy the validation requirements instead of the spending transaction, thereby making the validation process more efficient and reducing transaction size. CIP-40 introduces a novel type of transaction output known as collateral outputs, aimed at enhancing the overall scalability of the network. Diffusion pipelining serves as Cardano’s consensus layer scaling solution. This improvement proposal envisions increased DApp deployment by allowing overlaying of certain steps that a block undergoes as it progresses across the chain, enabling concurrent transactions.

Cardano (ADA) has a maximum supply cap set at 45 billion coins. As of the current date, approximately 31 billion ADA are in circulation. Cardano tokens were made available through public sales across five rounds conducted from September 2015 to January 2017. During the pre-launch sale, Cardano was priced at $0.0024 per ADA, indicating an impressive return of over 1000 times based on the current valuation. Upon the launch of the Cardano network, approximately 2.5 billion ADA were allocated to IOHK. Additionally, 2.1 billion ADA were assigned to Emurgo, a global blockchain technology corporation integral to the founding of the Cardano protocol. Furthermore, the Cardano Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the platform and fostering adoption, was endowed with 648 million ADA. In summary, roughly 16% of Cardano's total supply was distributed to the project's founders, with the remaining 84% allocated among various investors.

Cardano utilizes an "environmentally sustainable, verifiably secure" Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol known as Ouroboros to ensure network security. The project asserts that Ouroboros enhances the security assurances typically provided by a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism while significantly reducing energy consumption—claiming it to be four times more energy-efficient than Bitcoin. This protocol is characterized as a combination of unique technology and mathematically verified mechanisms, integrated with insights from behavioral psychology and economic philosophy. The overarching aim of Ouroboros is to facilitate sustainable and ethical growth. The network incorporates an incentive mechanism, rewarding participants for their contributions.

On September 12, Cardano released its highly anticipated Alonzo upgrade. As a result of this upgrade, the blockchain network can now support a variety of crypto applications, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and smart contracts. According to Charles Hoskinson, the project’s founder, Alonzo is designed to introduce "programmability" to the network. He compared this upgrade to the introduction of JavaScript to web browsers, which transitioned the internet from static web pages to dynamic platforms like Facebook and YouTube. The Alonzo upgrade is named after American mathematician Alonzo Church, recognized as one of the founding figures in computer science. In addition to supporting NFTs and smart contracts, Cardano is now capable of facilitating decentralized exchanges. Overall, Alonzo positions Cardano within the same category as Ethereum, the world's leading blockchain that supports applications beyond its native Ether token. For example, smart contracts are a fundamental component of the decentralized finance sector, and Cardano now supports them. By February 2022, the number of Cardano wallets surpassed the three million mark. Since December 2020, this number has risen by 1,200%, increasing from 190,000 to over 3,000,000. This growth coincided with a rise in smart contracts following the Alonzo Upgrade, with Cardano surpassing the milestone of 1,000 smart contracts on January 27, 2022. Another indicator of the ecosystem's rapid growth is developer activity; Cardano leads in the number of developers contributing to its GitHub, outperforming more established blockchains like Solana. On average, more than 50 contributions are made to its repository daily. Nevertheless, the network still faces challenges with the implementation of its smart contracts, and users reported issues with the sluggish launch of its SundaeSwap decentralized exchange in January 2022.

As one of the largest cryptocurrencies globally in terms of market capitalization, you should have little difficulty finding a major exchange to purchase Cardano, including Binance, Bittrex, eToro, and HitBTC. If you're encountering challenges in finding a trading pair that links ADA with your local currency, refer to this guide on how to convert fiat into Bitcoin, providing you with an entry point to purchasing altcoins. To check the live Cardano price in the fiat currency of your choice, you can use Eulerpool’s converter feature directly on the Cardano currency page, or the dedicated exchange rate converter page. Popular Cardano price pairs include: ADA/USD, ADA/JPY, ADA/KRW, ADA/CNY, ADA/GBP, and ADA/AUD.