Smart Contract Platform
Cardano is a decentralized public blockchain and cryptocurrency project and is a fully open source. Cardano is developing a smart contract platform that seeks to deliver more advanced features than any protocol previously developed.
Aged
The Cardano project began in 2015 as an effort to change the way cryptocurrencies are designed and developed. The overall focus beyond a particular set of innovations is to provide a more balanced and sustainable ecosystem that better accounts for the needs of its users as well as other systems seeking integration.
No Whitepaper
Unlike many other projects, Cardano did not begin with a defined whitepaper or a comprehensive roadmap. Instead, it embraced a collection of design principles, engineering practices and avenues for exploration.
Cardano SL (or Cardano Settlement Layer) is a cryptographic currency designed and developed by IOHK in conjunction with the University of Edinburgh. While there are similarities between Bitcoin and Cardano SL, there are also many differences between these two cryptocurrencies. The most significant difference is that Bitcoin is a proof of work type cryptocurrency, while Cardano SL makes use of a proof of stake approach to reach consensus. This encourages honesty and long term participation.Cardano SL is called “Layer” for a reason. It is the first component of the Cardano Platform. Eventually, it will be expanded with a Control Layer, serving as a trusted computation framework to evaluate a special kind of proofs to ensure that a certain computation was carried out correctly. In gaming and gambling, such systems are used for verifying honesty of random number generation and game outcomes. Accompanied with side chains, it will make possible to accomplish such tasks as provably fair distribution of winnings in games.
Cardano is home to the Ada cryptocurrency, which can be used to send and receive digital funds. This digital cash represents the future of money, making possible fast, direct transfers that are guaranteed to be secure through the use of cryptography.
Cardano's source code is a fully open-source so any developers can build their projects on this excellent blockchain - Cardano utilizes Proof of Stake, which is more advanced than Proof of Work, as their consensus algorithm for validation. Their network is a two-layered system. The first layer is for recording transactions and the second is for deploying smart contracts.
Cardano’s algorithm called Ouroboros.
Ouroboros utilizes a Proof of Stake (PoS) approach to save on energy costs and enable faster transaction processing. Instead of having a copy of individual blockchains on each node (as is common in bitcoin), Cardano’s blockchain streamlines the number of nodes in a network by appointing leaders responsible for verifying and validating transactions from a collection of nodes. Subsequently, the leader node pushes transactions to the main network.
Twin Layers
The way they separate their layer into 2 different layers helps them solve problems independently. - The project has been built from scratch by great minds making it evolves day by day. Cardano is the first project to be peer-reviewed by people with excellent academic profiles
ADA Cardano Platform
ADA is the cryptocurrency of the Cardano platform, which can be used to send and receive digital funds. This digital cash aims to represent the future of money, making possible fast, direct transfers that are guaranteed to be secure through the use of cryptography.
Unique Project
The project is quite unique in the fact that it was the first project in the space to be built on peer-reviewed academic research. It is also one of the pioneers of the proof-of-stake consensus protocol and promises a number of advanced architectural solutions, including a multi-layered network, HD wallet, and a community-governed treasury.
Summary
Cardano is a general purpose smart contract platform and cryptocurrency. The project has some interesting features which we will cover in the following section.
As for hardware wallet support, both Trezor and Ledger offer such for ADA. Though do keep in mind that the devices are costly and new users might find it hard to figure them out.
Ledger
As for using the Nano Ledger S, the first step towards setting up your device is unboxing your device and checking if you have received all the accessories with the device. Once you have unboxed your device, you need to configure it and initialize it before being able to use it. The process is quite simple and will hardly take about 20-30 minutes post which you will be set to use your Ledger Nano S device. This video does a pretty good job of explaining how the setup works.
Ledger has specific instructions for Cardano which go as follows:
Trezor
As for Trezor, installing is really simple. To properly install it users should attach the unit to the computer. After that continue with installing the bridge which allows the Trezor to join with the computer. The first step is to connect the Trezor to device’s USB slot with the cable given in the box. After that, go to myTrezor.com and proceed with installing the browser extension. Trezor can also be used on Android or an iPhone, or on a Windows or Mac computer. Now, initiate the extension and myTrezor will direct you to pick a PIN. After this, you will notice nine buttons but the numbers are hidden. After this, users should check the Trezor’s screen to recognize which numbers are in which place because it switches every time. Now set the PIN. Shortly after, Trezor should present a 24-word wallet “seed”. In short, one word at a time. Note down this seed and save it carefully. If your Trezor device malfunctions or is lost, you can utilize the seed to reconstruct the complete wallet. This video explains how to set up your trezor quite well.
Always make sure you’re purchasing your device from an official site as there are quite a lot of fakes out there which don’t provide the level of security of those devices and may even result in losing your coins.
Atomic Wallet
Atomic wallet is our choice for those looking to get a desktop wallet to store their ADA in. In addition to being decentralized, it has a mobile wallet for both Android and IOS. It should be noted that the wallet also allows you to purchase the supported currencies with a credit card, just keep in mind that you’ll be charged significant fees for doing so. With Atomic Wallet, you hold your own keys, which are encrypted and kept only on your own device, you control your own funds and can efficiently swap tokens on the Atomic Wallet DEX without needing to go through a centralized exchange.
Our choice for a web wallet is AdaLite
Adalite
Some of the older Cardano holders may remember it by its previous name-CardanoLite. AdaLite is lightweight web wallet for storing your Cardano safely and securely, while also offering a user friendly interface. Being a web wallet, it means you don’t have to download or install any software, also, a registration isn’t needed, offering further convenience. Instead, you can directly access the wallet at AdaLite.io. When you make a new wallet using AdaLite, you generate a 12-word mnemonic phrase which is like the key to your Cardano wallet. Losing this key means you will lose your all funds, so keep it very safely.
As with every other cryptocurrency, we recommend that you don’t store excessive amounts in an online wallet due to the fact that many online wallets are targets of hacks or phishing scams.
Unfortunately we don’t have many options for buying with Fiat, the only reputable one being Kraken.Fees are relatively small and the exchange has an intuitive design, making it quite easy to use.
Also, if you want to buy ADA with BTC, there are a plethora of exchanges you can opt for. HitBTC or Binance are both great choices. Both of those offer ETH pairs for additional convenience.
