Cardano

What is Cardano (ADA)?

Cardano is a Layer 1 blockchain.

Who created Cardano?

Cardano was created by Charles Hoskinson, who has been described as the black sheep among Ethereum’s eight co-founders. While Cardano development began in 2015, the network did not launch on mainnet until September 2017. The Cardano network is developed and maintained by IOHK, a company founded by Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood.

How does Cardano work?

ADA functions as the network token for Cardano, with users able to pay for transaction fees using the asset, and Proof of Stake validators receiving ADA as rewards for maintaining the chain.

What is the maximum supply of ADA?

ADA’s supply is hard-capped at a limit of 45 billion. While the supply of ADA was inflating at a rate of 5.53% as of June 2024, new ADA issuance reduces by 0.3% every epoch (every five days).

What are the benefits of using Cardano?

IOHK has engaged in extensive research in partnership with academic institutions and governments. The network introduced smart contract functionality until the activation of its Alonzo upgrade in September 2021. Cardano also launched support for sidechains facilitating off-chain execution in November 2023.

What are the risks of using Cardano?

Cryptocurrencies are subject to significant price volatility. Centralized exchanges pose counterparty risk to users, while non-custodial wallets can be targeted by hackers and scammers, and can be lost forever if a user fails to securely store their private keys. Some legal jurisdictions have also sought to crack down on cryptocurrency trading and related activities.

U.S. regulators have recently sought to characterize ADA as a security due to the project raising more than $62 million through an initial coin offering that began in 2015. In 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuits against the Kraken and Binance centralized exchanges both described ADA as a security. The Cardano team refuted the categorization.

What is ADA’s historic price range?

ADA tagged an all-time low of $0.02 on March 13, 2020, and posted a record high of $3.09 on September 2, 2021.