What is Cardano (ADA)?

Cardano is the blockchain platform that houses the ADA cryptocurrency. According to the Cardano team, the digital currency represents the future of money, enabling fast, direct and guaranteed transfers through the use of cryptography.

Since Cardano is also a smart contract platform, it could be compared to Ethereum. However, unlike the current form of Ethereum, Cardano claims to also be scalable by utilizing a layered architecture.

Proof of Stake (PoS)

Cardano is one of the few but growing number of projects making use of a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. The specific mechanism used in Cardano is called Ouroboros. The development of Ouroboros is led by Chief Scientist Professor Aggelos Kiayis. Cardano claims the mechanism is the first of its kind, having a comparable level of security to that of Bitcoin.

According to founder Charles Hoskinson, Cardano is a third-generation blockchain platform. Currently, there are three organizations taking care of developing and maintaining the Cardano blockchain. These are:

• The Cardano Foundation
• IOHK
• Emurgo

How can I use Cardano?

At the moment of writing, Cardano's version Shelley, which will support staking is in the test phase, which means that at this moment, staking is not yet supported. However, you can still use Cardano as an investment or to transfer value.

Who founded Cardano?

Charles Hoskinson founded Cardano, Hoskinson is also one of the co-founders of Ethereum. In 2015, he and Jeremy Wood launched Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK). A research and development company dedicated to building blockchain services.

Hoskinson attended the University of Colorado Boulder and the Metropolitan State University of Denver to study analytic number theory but soon moved in the cryptography space.

Cardano versus other cryptocurrencies?

ADA refers to itself a third-generation cryptocurrency. The goal of Cardano is to solve scaling and infrastructure problems which are occurred with first-generation cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Cardano intends to streamline transaction processing by appointing a set of node leaders responsibly for verifying and validating transactions.

Can I earn money with Cardano?

Yes, you can earn money by selling and buying Cardano. Sell for a higher price than what you bought them for. In past years, Cardano's value has increased a lot, but also had some significant losses. Be aware that ADA has proven to be volatile so losses can follow profits. Always trade responsibly. Buy and sell Cardano (ADA) at Coinmerce.

How and where to stake Cardano (ADA)?

Cardano uses a consensus mechanism based on Proof of Stake. This makes it possible to set up your own validator node in Cardano's network in order to stake. However, this is quite difficult to implement. Therefore, you can also start staking Cardano on Coinmerce's platform, which is a lot easier.

By staking ADA tokens, you can earn a return on the coins. The ADA tokens are tied up for a certain period of time, after which they are used to secure the network. As a thank you for contributing, you will receive an interest rate on the tokens you have staked.

Cardano staking at Coinmerce is easily done from your wallet or on the Cardano page. You can choose on your own for how long you want to stake your ADA-tokens. It is not possible to move the ADA coins during this period. You can also see immediately what the expected return is.

By staking Cardano (ADA) at Coinmerce, you can earn an interest rate of 4.50% per year. You will need to wager a minimum of 10 euros worth of ADA to begin staking.