The little-known cryptocurrency Cardano (ADA) has come out of nowhere to become the third largest after Bitcoin and Etherium after a recent rise in prices, as blockchain enthusiasts are looking for more respectful options with the weather.
Cardano’s price has risen more than 36% in the last week and its market capitalization stands at $ 90.60 billion (€ 76 billion), according to the crypto website. CoinMarketCap.
What is Cardano and what are the reasons for its success? Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Cardano?
Cardano is a blockchain platform and has its own internal cryptocurrency called ADA.
The tokens are named after August King “Ada” or Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century British countess known for her work on a theoretical calculation engine. She is considered primarily the first computer programmer and is the daughter of the poet Lord Byron.
Cardano was established in 2015 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, and was launched in 2017. Since then, the testimony has returned 7.080% to investors.
Cardano is the largest cryptocurrency using a participatory proof blockchain model, which is considered a greener alternative.
As cryptography enthusiasts become aware of the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies, Cardano dominates Bitcoin and Ethereum, and this could be one of the reasons for its recent success.
Recent data from Bitcoinenergyconsumption.com show that Bitcoin’s estimated annual emissions exceed 57 million tonnes of CO2 per year, which represents approximately the same annual carbon footprint as a small European country.
Meanwhile, Iran and China temporarily banned all cryptographic mining this summer because the computers used in the process were wasting too much electricity and causing power outages.
The betting test works by randomly assigning coins to users, who place coins as collateral. This differs from the working test mechanism, used by both Bitcoin and Etherium, which requires a global network of computers to run at the same time when a transaction is performed.
This method is designed to encourage greater computational effort for transactions, which uses much more energy than the participation test.
On his website, Cardano says, “We have changed science. We have changed what it means to build global systems and sustainable models of exchange and governance.
“We, together with our community and our partners, are defining a new future: a decentralized future without intermediaries, in which power is returned to the individual.”
What are the reasons for Cardano’s success?
Over the past two weeks, the cryptocurrency market has been growing. Bitcoin and Ethereum have been at the forefront, but “altcoins” (alternative digital currencies to Bitcoin) have also picked up pace in the price race.
Cardano’s price hike came after announcing a major update called Alonzo, which will be released in September.
Alonzo will introduce smart contracts to the blockchain. Smart contracts are programs stored in a blockchain that run when the default conditions are met. They are typically used to automate the execution of a deal and will allow Cardano to deploy its own smart contracts and pave the way for its own decentralized applications (dApps).
Another reason for Cardano’s rise is that, as of August 25, its currency will be listed on the Japan Stock Exchange after the country’s authorization, which is considered to have one of the strictest criteria for entering the market.
It means Cardano’s ADA will join the elite Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin currencies in Japan where it will be tested.