There is a lot of hype around Ethereum and its upcoming shift to Proof-of-Stake. The excitement stems from the fact that the upgrade will make Ethereum transactions faster, and more affordable. But what if there is a blockchain that has achieved all that and more? Wouldn’t such a blockchain be technically superior to Ethereum? Well, there is such a blockchain, and it’s Cardano (ADA).
Cardano has been flying under the radar for several years now, but not anymore. In less than a year, Cardano has shot up from under $0.10 to its current price that is north of $2. This is drawing a lot of investor interest in this crypto. So what makes Cardano special, and is there a chance that it could beat Ethereum? To understand Cardano and what makes it unique, one needs to look at its core features.
Cardano Core Features
Ouroboros
Cardano is one of the most forward-looking platform blockchains in the market today. It envisioned most of the problems that platform blockchains are facing today and solved them at the protocol level. Two of the core problems facing Ethereum and other platform blockchains are scalability and energy efficiency. Cardano solved these two problems with its Ouroboros protocol.
What is Ouroboros, and how does it work?
Ouroboros is the first-ever provably secure PoS protocol. Unlike other proof-of-stake protocols, Ouroboros is based on hard science. It is a combination of mathematics and an understanding of human behaviour. The idea is to ensure that it works as it is supposed to, no matter how heavily it is being used at any given time.
This is a big deal, especially for those who want to launch complex Dapps on Cardano. Such developers are guaranteed that Cardano will always be able to handle their smart contracts without lags or other issues that may cripple the efficient working of their Dapps.
The best part is that all this happens in a fully decentralized and permissionless environment. This is important given that most protocols that offer the same efficiency level as Cardano eventually lean towards centralization. It beats the whole point of using blockchain technology in the first place.
Cardano runs on Haskell
Besides being the first platform built on the foundations of peer-reviewed research, Cardano uses one of the world’s most secure programming languages. Cardano runs on Haskell, a secure programming language that keeps coding errors extremely low.
Haskell has something called formal verification, a technique that uses mathematics to prove that code is correct. This makes Cardano a perfect blockchain for creating applications for industries that need a high level of precision. It also allows for the building of applications that can be used in highly regulated industries while at the same time retaining the privacy of the user. It’s a big deal in ensuring that Dapps break into heavily regulated markets such as the U.S.
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So What Makes Cardano Better Than Ethereum?
The debate on which one is better between these two blockchains will likely rage on for years. However, there are several clear pointers towards Cardano having an edge over Ethereum.
Let's examine some of the reasons why Cardano Outperform Ethereum:
1. Ethereum is trying to achieve what Cardano already has
In any tech battle, the superior one is the one that gets things right first, not the one playing catch-up. After years of struggling with scalability issues, and energy inefficiency, Ethereum is finally moving to Proof-of-Stake. However, what it is trying to achieve, Cardano has already perfected.
Ouroboros, Cardano’s proof-of-stake protocol, is highly scalable, secure, decentralized, and is one of the most energy-efficient protocols in the crypto space. This makes it the superior blockchain for use in launching complex smart contracts that may face challenges running on Ethereum.
2. Cardano is a third-generation blockchain
Technology is ever-evolving, and every generation of tech is better than the previous. Bitcoin can be considered a first-generation blockchain and focused on payments. Ethereum is a second-generation blockchain that incorporates payments and smart contracts but faces the problem of costs and scalability.
Cardano is the new generation blockchain and solves the problems of both the first and second-generation blockchains. It brings in the elements of high scalability, interoperability, and environmental sustainability. This means it can handle more complex applications than Ethereum. It is also built factoring in some of the mistakes made in Ethereum back in the day.
For instance, Cardano would never find itself in a situation that led to the Ethereum and Ethereum Classic chain split. That’s because it has its basis in scientific philosophy. The end goal all through its development was a high assurance code. This philosophy guarantees stability and makes Cardano the superior one of the two networks.
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3. Staking Cardano is much easier than Ethereum
Staking is a big deal not just for the potential gains but also for the network’s security. With Cardano, pretty much anyone can take part in staking. As long as you hold ADA, you can stake regardless of the number of tokens.
Staking Ethereum is a whole different ball game, and you need to be rich to do it. The minimum that one needs to stake Ethereum is 32 ETH. Using a rough estimate of $3400, one needs about $108,800. It’s a figure that makes Ethereum staking out of reach for most investors.
4. Cardano transactions are multiple times cheaper than Ethereum
While Ethereum has taken steps to try and reign in on gas prices, they remain relatively high. So high that it does not make much sense to transact small amounts of Ethereum.
Cardano does not have this problem, and sending ADA is almost free. The reason Cardano maintains its affordability is its architecture. Cardano has two layers: the computational layer and the transaction settlements layer. This gets around the problem of network congestion, which is the primary reason behind the high gas fees on Ethereum.
All this points to Cardano as crypto that investors will find interesting going forward.
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Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.
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