What is Cardano (ADA)?

Expert consultations for this material were provided by representatives of the Russian -speaking community Cardano.

The main thing

• Cardano-blockchain platform based on the Proof-OF-STAKE algorithm, written in the Haskell programming language and designed to create decentralized applications based on smart contracts.
• Cardano (ADA) – native cryptocurrency of the blockchain Cardano. ADA coins can be delegated to the network steiling pools, including using the most popular Daedalus and Yoroi wallets.
• Cardano has implemented a number of unique architectural solutions, which became possible thanks to a major research community. Its representatives publish a large number of reviewed scientific papers on the development of a blockchain project.

Who invented Cardano and when

Cardano has several founders:

• Charles Hoskinson – a mathematician and an entrepreneur who stood at the origins of Bitshares and Ethereum. He is the general director of IOHK and the “spiritual leader” Cardano.
• Jeremy Wood – Director of Strategic Development. At the end of 2013, he held the post of executive director of Ethereum Foundation, after which he acted as a consultant in a number of other cryptocurrency projects.
• Aggelos Kiaias is the main researcher at the project, cryptograph and professor of Edinburgh University.

In June 2014, Hoskinson left Ethereum due to disagreements regarding the further development of the project, after which, jointly with Wood, founded Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), which in 2015 began to develop and develop Cardano.

On February 7, 2017, IOHK developers introduced the Whitepaper blockchain protocol OUROBOROS.

The official launch of the Cardano platform took place on September 29, 2017. Tokens trade began on October 1, 2017.

They decided to name the blockchain in honor of Jerolamo Cardano (1501 – 1576), an outstanding Italian mathematician, physics, biologist, chemist, astrologer, philosopher, writer and lover of gambling.

Cardano creator Mathematician Charles Hoskinson named Cardano a project aimed at creating a flexible and interactive variety of programmable money using scientific methods, which are based on mathematical evidence and game theory.

Who is engaged in the development of Cardano

– registered in Tsug, Switzerland, non -profit organization, the main function of which is to “standardize, protect and develop Cardano technology”. She is responsible for relations with financial regulators, state structures, public, and also develops strategic partnership with other projects. (abbreviation from Input Output Hong Kong) – founded by Wood and Hoskinson Engineering and Technological Company. IHK is engaged in cryptocurrency development and research activities. The company is related to the Cardano Foundation by a contract, according to the terms of which it will remain the main developer of the platform until 2020. – Investment fund with offices in Singapore, Japan, USA, Indonesia and India. His mission is to “develop and maintain commercial enterprises, as well as help integrate businesses in the Cardano ecosystem”.

One of the main differences between Cardano and competitors is a large research community. The solutions to the problems and problems facing the project are offered by the authors in scientifically reviewed publications.

Cardano blockchain architecture

Although Cardano originally used the Proof-OF-Stake mechanism, it also used the UTXO model, which came from bitcoin. At the same time, the Shelley era also allowed the use of account models similarly to Ethereum. Addresses of this format are used to calculate awards. Cardano uses the advantages of both models.

The inputs and outputs contain information about the origin and movement of funds. The inputs report from what address the funds take place and the outputs – from which address is the transfer of funds.

To prevent double spending, each node on the network keeps records of transactions. When a new transaction becomes accessible (appearing either in a block or in a mempoule), it is analyzed in order to find out if it modifies an unfortunate exit associated with each address in the network.

The UTXO model cannot optimally support the functionality of smart contracts. To solve this problem in Cardano, I released its own adapted version of UTXO called Extnded Utxo (EUTXO).

It uses mechanisms that share the performance of a smart contract into many transactions. Each transaction exit contains a data field with arbitrarily selected information related to a certain smart contract. The EUTXO model was introduced after activation in the main network of Cardano smart contracts.

Features of the work of the OUROBOROUS algorithm

As stated in Cardano, Ouroboros (variation POS) is the first algorithm with mathematical proven stamina against attacks.

The process of creating blocks in the OUROBOROS is divided into eras and slots. The era forms a certain number of slots during which a certain level of distribution of steaks is established. It is either programmed or at a later stage of development is calculated according to the block of the block.

At the beginning of each era, leaders are elected, each of which is endowed with the right to process transactions and sign blocks in specific slots. For each slot, a leader is randomly selected from the number of stakeholders, which creates another block associated with the previous one in the chain.

While transactions are recorded in blocks, the distribution of steaks through which the leader is elected, changes. In Cardano, the probability of recognition of blocks by “canonical” increases as the number of blocks created on top of them grows (as in the Proof-OF-WORK mechanism).

The processes of choosing leaders and the purpose of the slots are based on the distribution of steaks and lottery. However, not anyone who is the first to receive the right hash wins – the leader for each slot determines the number generated by calculating a number of steak cholegers in the previous era. The chances of the slot of winning are proportional to the sum of its steak, the percentage of coins that he controls either directly or through delegates.

Cardano cryptocurrency (ADA): Functions and staining

Cardano native cryptocurrency is trading under the ADA ticer. This is a reduction in the name of Augusta Ada King, Countess Lovelyis (1815 – 1852). The poet of the poet George Byron, Ada Lavelis was a mathematician and the author of the description of the first computing machine, for which the first program in the world. She is considered the first programmer in history. ADA cryptocurrency subunit (0.000001 ADA) is called LoveLace.

The main function ADA is translations in the Cardano blockchain. According to Messari, in September 2022, the average commission for the transfer was about 0.33 ADA, which was $ 0.15- $ 0.17.

Steering is available for ADA. Ordinary holders can delegate their coins to the operators of the NOD Steiling Pulp, which are involved in the consensus algorithm. In Cardano, the delegation mechanism is built into official wallets: Daedalus (designed by IOHK) and Yoroi (developed by Emurgo). Current profitability during ADA delegation – from 3.7% to 4.2% per annum.

Steiling Pools participate in the consensus algorithm-there are about 3200 in Cardano now (data for September 2022). In addition to the size of the involved steak, the profitability of the pool depends on some other parameters. Among them:

• Saturation. This criterion depends on the weight of the pool compared to competitors and the ratio of the total number of pools in comparison with the target value that Cardano calculates the Cardano protocol. The more “saturated” the steiling pool, the less profitable it has. This parameter is a mechanism for combating the centralization of the Cardano network and prevents the appearance of dominant pools.
• Distribution index. It is calculated based on the size of the steak, costs and income of the pool, as well as from its level of saturation and history of work. Using this parameter, Daedalus and Yoroi wallets distribute ADA coins, which are delegated by holders through them.

Cardano blockchain scaling

The current performance of the Cardano blockchain is about 250 transactions per second (TPS), which is much less than indicators of projects such as SOLANA. As stated in one of the publications of IOHK, at the moment in the Cardano community there are several areas of development at once to increase the speed of work.

Conveyor processing

One way to increase the scalability of Cardano is the introduction of conveyor processing into the consensus algorithm in the consensus of the murmur, which will accelerate the so -called time of the spread of a new block. The latter means how long the nodes are able to disseminate information about the new block throughout the network. The current goal of the developers is to bring the speed of the block distribution to 5 seconds.

Entrance indoors

The introduction of the so -called entorsants entry (Input Endorsers) into the Cardano protocol is also aimed at increasing the speed of blocking the blocks. These actors monitor more and more transactions and distribute them into the predicate blocks. In total, it is planned to create two sets of blocks – one for the transactions themselves and the second to achieve consensus.

Multi -level pricing

Developers also plan to add a multi -level pricing principle to the Cardano protocol. In the current Cardano implementation, all transactions are performed in turn, without the possibility of changing priority. As soon as the network ceases to cope with the load, this can lead to delays in confirmation of operations, as well as to the potential success of DOS attacks.

The multi -level pricing should make this system more flexible with the help of a new mechanism for the formation of network commissions, where each unit will be divided into three levels: honest, balanced and immediate. Each of these blocks will include various types of transfers appointed by senders.

Sadchans

Another group of solutions is associated with the deployment of second -level protocols operating on top of the blockchain. It includes sidespecks that should appear in one of the following Cardano updates in 2022-2023. The alpha version of the first Sidchane is already working in IOHK now.

Hydra

Another way to scaling Cardano is the so -called Hydra channels, named after a polyphonic monster from Greek mythology. These are the channels of the condition that are opened between various participants, on the principle of work resembling Lightning Network Bitcoin. Transactions in such channels can be carried out outside the blockchain, while using the smart contracts of the main network.

Mithril

The purpose of the Mithril project, proposed in 2021, is to increase the efficiency of synchronization of data between applications working on Cardano. This solution allows you to reduce the time required to validate the message by faster aggregation of the multi -signature.

Cardano roadmap

The long -term Cardano development strategy includes five phases (ER).

Byron

This era is named after the poet Byron, the father of Ada Lovelyis. This is the initial stage (started in September 2017), on which key components were developed, and the calculated level was prepared for decentralization.

Shelley

Named after the English poet Persian Bishi Shelley, friend of Lord Byron and the author of the famous sonnet “Osimandy”. According to another version, this phase is named after the English writer Mary Shelley, known as the author of Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus “.

At the Shelley stage, thanks to the implementation of the consensus algorithm, the 1boros Genesis consensus platform was completely converted into a decentralized mode. In particular, in July 2020, Cardano was added to staying, after which it became possible to create a staying gun, which can delegate the ADA cryptocurrency, in this blockchain.

Goguen

The current development phase of Cardano, Goguen is named after American mathematician Joseph Gauguin (1941 – 2006), professor of Oxford and California Universities, who was engaged in developments in the field of algebraic semantics and formal verification. The main task of this era is to create the basis for the development of decentralized applications in Cardano.

As part of Goguen, several major updates have already occurred. In particular, in the fall of 2021, the Cardano blockchain implicated their own standard for native tokens. In addition, a computing level was created for performing smart contracts, which includes the following elements:

-platform for the development of smart contracts and code execution https://gagarin.news/news/the-bank-of-canada-and-the-massachusetts-institute-of-technology-are-investigating-cbdc/ based on the functional language of Haskell programming language. -subject-oriented language for writing smart contracts of a financial nature. With it, contracts in Cardano can be created by specialized experts who do not have deep knowledge in programming. A special portal is open for developers on Marlowe.

In September 2022, a major upgrade called Vasil successfully activated the Cardano Mainnet. He included a second, more productive version of Plutus scripts and a new cost model. All this is designed to reduce the price of smart contracts and the size of transactions, as well as increase the speed of the Cardano network.

Basho

The fourth stage of the Cardano roadmap is named after the Japanese poet Matsuo Basa, the master of the poetic genre Hike. The main goal of this era is to significantly increase the scalability and intensity of the network. It is assumed that at this stage the basic performance of the network and Cardano will begin to accept applications with a high volume of transactions.

One of the key innovations of Basho will be sidechens, that is, autonomous blockchains, operatingly compatible with Cardano maintenance. They can be used to transfer the load from the main blockchain. In addition, sides can serve as a suitable test environment.

At the Basho stage, the implementation of various account models will be held. Although the main blockchain Cardano will continue to use the UTXO model, it will be possible to transition between UTXO and various account models. As a result, interactiveness will increase and new scenarios of use will appear.

Voltaire

The fifth and final at the moment Cardano era has been named after the French philosopher of the 18th century Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arue). This stage includes the implementation of a decentralized oncha control (t. e. direct democracy with which the era of education and Voltaire is associated) and the treasury system.