Get to know ADA Cardano

What is ADA?

Crypto enthusiasts have most likely heard of ADA the native cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain. Cardano envisions a promising future, aiming to support various innovations such as DeFi, GameFi, and NFTs. ADA operates on a Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism, offering low transaction fees while supporting high transaction throughput. Cardano's blockchain is also designed with scalability in mind, meaning it can expand to accommodate a growing number of users without compromising performance. Within its own ecosystem, ADA serves multiple purposes — from transferring value and paying fees to purchasing goods and deploying decentralized applications (dApps). A simple analogy: when you live in a country, you use its local currency. The value of that currency depends on governance, development, and market perception. In the world of DeFi (Decentralized Finance), however, the direction of the ecosystem isn’t solely determined by its creators — but by the collective input of its community, much like a decentralized country voting on its future.

Who Created ADA?

One key reason ADA gained credibility early on is because it was founded by Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world. His direct experience in the crypto space gave investors and enthusiasts confidence in Cardano’s potential. Notably, Cardano implemented the PoS model even before Ethereum transitioned from PoW (Proof of Work), which was considered less scalable and less efficient for mass adoption. The development of Cardano is managed not by a single entity, but by three main organizations:

 

1.      Cardano Foundation – Responsible for securing funding for the blockchain, supporting the community, overseeing the entire ecosystem, and providing education and awareness about the Cardano blockchain and the ADA token.

2.      EMURGO – Invests in startups building on the Cardano blockchain.

3.      IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong) – Responsible for researching and developing Cardano's core technologies.

 

Features and Strengths of ADA

ADA is used to build decentralized applications (dApps) via smart contracts and enables user participation in the ecosystem's governance. ADA holders can vote on proposed changes and development directions, making it a truly community-driven blockchain. Cardano’s security comes from its Ouroboros consensus protocol, which is developed using Haskell, a programming language renowned for its reliability and security. This foundation gives Cardano strong structural integrity from the ground up. The Cardano blockchain is organized into Epochs, Slots, and Slot Leaders:

-          Epochs are time frames that contain multiple slots.

-          Slots hold individual transaction data.

-          Slot Leaders are randomly chosen validators who confirm whether the transactions are valid.

This structure allows the system to process a large number of transactions in parallel, maintaining both speed and security.

The Future of ADA

Cardano's development is ongoing, with one of the most anticipated upgrades being the Hydra scaling solution. According to its developers, Hydra could potentially handle over 1,000,000 transactions per second (TPS) — a claim that, if realized, would significantly enhance the blockchain’s appeal to both developers and users. The strength of ADA also lies in its highly active and supportive community. If the Hydra protocol proves successful, it could propel ADA’s growth exponentially.

Conclusion

ADA continues to attract attention from investors and developers alike, with steady progress in its ecosystem. Recently, there has been a proposal to include ADA in an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) — a move that, if approved, could bring substantial institutional capital into the ecosystem and potentially increase the token’s market value.

 References:

https://hydra.family/head-protocol/

https://cardano.org/