Cardano (ADA) is a decentralized PoS (proof-of-stake) blockchain platform. Its design aims at being a more efficient network than its PoW (or proof-of-work) counterparts which have their interoperability and scalability limited by their own infrastructure, delayed transaction times and energy requirements.

One of Cardano’s original developers, Charles Hoskinson, was also the co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, which, in turn, was where he gained first-hand knowledge on the proof-of-work networks’ limitations and challenges. He began designing the Cardano network as well as its cryptocurrency (ADA) around 2015.

"ADA" draws its name from the countess Ada Lovelace. The 19^th century English mathematician is known to be history’s first computer programmer.

The platform and its ADA token were launched two years later (2017), positioning itself as an alternative to Ethereum.

It runs on the Ouroboros consensus protocol and sets its sight on many things, such as smart contracts and providing banking services.

Cardano Explained

Cardano is decentralized and the oversight of its protocol ecosystem is done by a collaboration of three parties:

· The Cardano Foundation: a not-for-profit organization which acts as the legal custodian and is responsible for the Cardano brand, improving its reach on the global stage

· IOHK: a software engineering and technology company which builds Cardano, promotes Blockchain education while collaborating with academic partners, furthering its mission and improving scalability.

· EMURGO: acting as global technology partner, EMURGO is responsible for integrating business into their blockchain and thus increasing the rate of commercial adoption of the Cardano protocol.

The Ouroboros Protocol

Known as the first proof-of-stake protocol, Ouroboros is also the first protocol to be informed by scholars and academic research, meaning its framework is research and evidence-based as it entails peer-reviewed insights to its development.

Cardano’s has a 5-stage building process, each of which is named after an historical figure:

1. Foundation (or the Byron Era)

2. Decentralization (or the Shelley Era)

3. Smart Contracts (or the Goguen Era)

4. Scaling (or the Basho Era)

5. Governance (or the Voltaire Era)

These five different phases contribute towards the ultimate goal of developing the network into a DApp (or decentralized application) with verifiable smart contracts and multi-ledger capabilities.