Cardano

About Cardano

ADA is the native cryptocurrency of Cardano, a decentralized public blockchain platform developed through academic peer-review and a research-driven approach. Built on the Ouroboros proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, ADA is used to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions, pay network fees, and participate in protocol governance through staking and voting. The platform features a unique two-layer architecture—separating the Cardano Settlement Layer (CSL) from the Cardano Computation Layer (CCL)—to optimize value transfer and smart contract execution independently. Launched in 2017 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, Cardano is developed by IOG in collaboration with the Cardano Foundation and EMURGO, focusing on high-assurance security and scalability using the Haskell programming language. ADA holders can earn staking rewards by delegating their tokens to help secure the network.