What is the Cardano Blockchain? One of the existing Blockchain projects is Cardano. Like Ethereum, Cardano is a smart contract platform
Scienceloversss - What is the Cardano Blockchain? One of the existing Blockchain projects is Cardano.
Like Ethereum, Cardano is a smart contract platform that focuses on security through a layered design framework.
Cardano's approach is quite unique because it is built on scientific philosophy and academic research.
The Cardano team consists of both end-users and regulators, so this platform seeks to find a middle ground that balances regulatory needs with the principles of privacy and decentralization which are the core values of Blockchain.
Uniquely, Cardano uses Haskell, a programming language that has very small fault tolerance.
Unlike other crypto projects, Cardano's goal is not to take over the entire financial system, but rather to use Blockchain technology to take the banking system to an inaccessible place especially in developing areas.
History of Cardano
The Cardano concept was created by Charles Hoskinson who is also one of the founders of Ethereum.
While Ethereum is an excellent smart contract platform, according to Charles Hoskinson, Ethereum is a second-generation Blockchain that needs improvement.
What makes Cardano extraordinary is that this platform requires more attention in its maintenance.
There are three organizations working to develop and maintain Cardano, namely:
- The Cardano Foundation
- Hong Kong Input Output (IOHK)
- Emurgo
As a platform focused on smart contract services, Cardano competes in the market with other players, such as EOS, Lisk, NEO, and NEM.
How Cardano Works
Although a fellow Smart Contract platform, Cardano works quite differently from Ethereum in terms of the consensus mechanism used as well as the technical design framework.
Consensus Mechanism
Cardano uses a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism by utilizing the Ouroboros algorithm. This mechanism works as follows:
- Slot leader is in charge of verifying transactions and creating blocks
- Anyone who has Cardano coin, ADA, has the right to be a slot leader. Doesn't depend on how much you have
- To become a slot leader, the “Follow the Satoshi” algorithm will choose the coins owned by everyone
- The network performs this process automatically, so no additional work needs to be done
The programming languages used in the Cardano system are Haskell and Plutus.
Haskell is a functional programming language that has been in use since 1990, but a more stable version was released in 2010.
Similar to Haskell, Plutus is also a functional programming language created by the Cardano team themselves.
Cardano Architecture
In terms of the technical design framework, the Cardano framework is divided into two layers.
This layer separates values from the general ledger by reasoning why they are transferred from one account to another.
This separation gives end-users more control over the privacy and execution of their own smart contracts.
The Cardano Settlement Layer (CSL) stores the general ledger values, while the Cardano Computation Layer (CCL) stores the reasons why the transaction occurred.
Currently, Ethereum as a fellow smart contract platform only has one layer and is working on developing this second layer.
Cardano is one of the platforms with the largest supply of coins in the industry with a maximum supply of 45 billion.
ADA, the Ultimate Cardano Original Token
ADA is a digital currency within the Cardano network. It is named after the 19th-century British mathematician, Ada Lovelace.
A total of 57.6% of the total 45 billion tokens were distributed to investors during the Initial Coin Offering (ICO). At that time, the developer managed to raise US$62.2 million as initial capital.
Last month, ADA tokens skyrocketed by 1,000% compared to the beginning of the year due to the lucrative Proof of Stake system. Participants can accumulate coins to secure the network and the money is quite large. Imagine, participants will receive incentives every five days and interest from the platform of 4.5%
Cardano Development Process
After developing Cardano for two years, Hoskinson finally released it in 2017. Of course, Cardano brought a number of updates to be called a third-generation cryptocurrency.
However, the development process is not simple but must go through five phases. Uniquely, Hoskinson named each phase based on the name of a historical figure based on the era.
1. Byron, The Era Cardano Foundation Was Built
This first era was marked by the launch of Cardano in 2017 after the third generation blockchain was in development for two years. Currently, token trading within Cardano takes place in a federated network built on Cardano's first Proof of Stake consensus.
The network is called Ouroboros, which is the heart of Cardano. Ouroboros is claimed to be safe because it is based on academic research with a mathematically confirmed safety level
2. Shelley, the Era of Decentralization
Previously, the Cardano blockchain was in the form of a federated network, this era focuses on making it decentralized within the community. The more nodes run by community participants, the more decentralized the network is.
As a PoS network, Cardano is a network designed to be decentralized. Participants stack their ADA tokens to secure the network. This practice was not uncommon at first, considering that Bitcoin as the world's first cryptocurrency still adheres to the Proof of Work blockchain consensus algorithm.
By the end of the Shelley era, Cardano was 100 times more decentralized than any other blockchain network. PoS schemes that allow participants to participate in funds from the network have proven to be effective in attracting new users.
However, another challenge arises, namely how to secure Cardano's liquidity pools from unscrupulous hands. After all, the Shelley era made Cardano more mature, profitable, and valuable to its users.
3. Goguen, the Era of Smart Contracts
This era runs parallel to the Shelley era, where participants from various backgrounds were taught programming languages. The goal, so that they can create smart contracts using Plutus and Marlowe.
The combination of the two, namely Plutus and Marlowe, is expected to be able to help users create smart contracts that are easy to apply and secure. When they stake ADA tokens in the network, smart contracts will help them reach profitable deals.
4. Basho, the Era of Networking
This era is underway when the Cardano developers decide to create an additional chain to support the existing blockchain.
The goal is to make Cardano more reliable, flexible, and high-performing. Additional chains are also expected to increase network capacity.
5. Voltaire, the Era of Independence
The main goal of developing Cardano is to make it a self-sustaining network. In this era, Cardano will introduce voting schemes and a treasury system so that participants will own the future of the blockchain.
Not only that, but participants can also submit proposals for the development of Cardano. Other participants have voting rights to execute or reject the proposal.
To make the system self-sufficient, Cardano will also apply a transaction fee to finance its development activities. When that time comes, Cardano will no longer be under IOHK management but will be completely owned by the community.
Conclusion
So, what is the Cardano Blockchain? Briefly, Cardano can be described as follows:
- Cardano is a Smart Contract platform like Ethereum or NEO that makes it easy to create new tokens and is a DApps (Decentralized Applications)
- More than 60% of Ada tokens are allocated during the ICO stage
- Cardano is created and regulated by a company called IOHK, and Charles Hoskinson is the inventor
- Ada tokens will be needed for future applications, so the Ada token value has the same characteristics as Ethereum
- Cardano ADA token holders can earn more tokens by validating future block transactions, can receive multiple block rewards and a small share of network fees
- Cardano holders can vote for protocol changes, which makes the Blockchain system more flexible.
