Cardano is a smart contract platform that runs on a proof-of-stake consensus protocol. It was founded in 2015 by Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of Ethereum. It is the first blockchain platform to evolve out of a scientific philosophy and a research-first driven approach. The development team consists of a large global collective of expert engineers and researchers
The native currency of Cardano is ADA, which is used to power the platform and its applications. Cardano claims to be the first blockchain platform to be based on peer-reviewed research. The platform is designed to be scalable and energy-efficient. Cardano also aims to offer more privacy than other blockchains, with features such as "zero-knowledge proofs"
The main use case of Cardano is to power smart contracts and decentralized applications. However, the currency can also be used for payments and transfers between different exchanges. Cardano is still in development and is not yet fully functional. However, the platform has potential and could become a major competitor to Ethereum.