Cardano was launched in September 2017 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, and aims to be a third-generation blockchain (or blockchain 3.0) project — building on top of the technology pioneered by Bitcoin (first gen) and Ethereum (second gen). Cardano’s goal is to be a highly scalable and energy-efficient smart contract platform. The Ouroboro...

Cardano’s goal is to be the most environmentally sustainable blockchain platform. It uses a unique proof of stake consensus mechanism called Ouroboros, as opposed to the energy-intensive proof-of-work system currently used by Bitcoin.

Decentralized cryptocurrency networks need to make sure that all transactions are legitimate without the oversight of a central authority, like a bank. To accomplish this they use a “consensus mechanism” to verify transactions. The original crypto consensus mechanism, called proof of work, was first popularized by Bitcoin mining. Proof of work requ...