What Is Cardano?

Given the new ascent into the top ten of cryptocurrencies, many people have been investigating the rise of Cardano. With all of the new alt-coins popping up – mainly as ways to make a quick buck – it’s tempting to think of Cardano as just being another scammy coin, but when looking at the project, it’s a bit more than just a Dapp.

Academic Backing and Mainstream Induction

The Cardano protocol is ultimately meant to be a platform for smart contracts and double as a cryptocurrency, as well as to develop smart ledgers. Think if you had a mix between Monero, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, you would get something close to Cardano. The first proclamation of the team is to be the “first blockchain project to be developed from a scientific philosophy.”

It indeed has shown its colors as it’s partnered with IHOK and a large team of academics. Cardano uses a consensus, proof-of-stake algorithm known as Ouroboros which claims to be able to defend against many of the attacks that plague the blockchain while keeping the door open to further development. Ouroboros attempts to protect the privacy of users and also create “side chains.”

On top of this, the project is aiming to launch an ADA debit card, which comes with its wallet, Daedalus. The attempt is to create the popularization of cryptocurrency to be used in the general economy with ease.

Price Action of Cardano

The immense ascent of Cardano comes with questions that pertain to not just its core project, but also the happenings with partnerships and investors.

Two very large factors, in particular, seem to be carrying Cardano’s price movement. First, many exchanges have immediately begun to support this project – notably Bittrex with the ETH/ADA trading pair, increasing liquidity for investors. Binance also added ADA to its platform which exposes ADA to the general Asian market.

Second, the team has hinted at an updated roadmap for the project. With new partnerships, many investors think this coin could have a robust upward run over an extended period. The new roadmap is scheduled to be released this Thursday evening, UTC.

Potential Future

The only trouble with all of the hype and news is that this has happened many times before in the crypto space. The typical steps are to release a white paper, hype the project with partnerships and expert developers, run the price up, and then cash out; this is the principal reason why there are so many booms and busts in the crypto arena.

The real difference for Cardano is that there are significant partnerships with private organizations and governments that will give life to the project in a way that’s dissimilar to others.

The central organization behind the project is the Cardano Foundation. It has selected a well-known think-tank – Z/Yen Group’s Distributed Futures – to partner with on a research program into blockchain applications to enhance the Protocol of Cardano and Ada. Distributed Futures is a new practice of Z/Yen with focuses on blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies, and artificial intelligence.

This new partnership will attempt to cover proof of concept and pilot testing and has already published two joint research papers on smart ledgers, which the Dutch government is trying to use in its blockchain work. The partnership is attempting to affect banking, trade, and insurance directly, and will engage with regulators, investors, and policymakers.

Overall, this new project looks to be the new blockchain standard protocol, while also hoping to responsibly work with current institutions to accept and integrate with the blockchain. The real potential in Cardano is the link between all crypto projects and the status quo.

Cardano is one of the first attempts to create an all-encompassing protocol to launch the blockchain from techy fantasy to real-world practicality.