What is Cardano (ADA)?

ardano ADA was created by Ethereum’s co-founder Charles Hoskinson. It began development in 2015 and later launched in 2017. Since its release, it has remained in the Top 10 largest Crypto market caps.

Cardano is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain that is designed to be sustainable, scalable and guarantees the most environmentally friendly network, which other competing blockchains were not offering.

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How does Cardano work?

Unlike Proof-of-work networks, PoS networks are much more eco-friendly and require the use of less energy. The ADA network ensures it has the capabilities to secure and protect the data of all its users!

ADA allows developers to build smart contracts, DApps and protocols that are looking to help build a regulated blockchain that will change the future of the financial industry.

Cardano Ecosystem

Cardano is currently home to over 1,000 DApps, ranging from NFTs & Marketplaces, Meme tokens, DEXs, DeFi and many other sectors. In total, Cardano has facilitated over 51 million transactions throughout the ecosystem.

Let’s go through some of the leading protocols within the Cardano Ecosystem:

MinSwap

This is the leading Decentralised Exchange (DEX) within the Cardano ecosystem and is used to trade/swap, provide liquidity, farm, stake and participate in launchpads!

MinSwap Website

MinSwap Tutorial

Tokhun

Looking to find NFTs within the Cardano ecosystem? Tokhun is the preferred NFT Marketplace on the blockchain and is very easy to use!

Tokhun Website

Liqwid (LQ)

Want to start making some extra yield? Liqwid is the number 1 decentralised lending and borrowing protocol in the ecosystem.

Liqwid Website

What makes Cardano so special?

The ADA network is made up of two important layers that were scientifically and mathematically created. Cardano’s two important layers include the:

Computational Layer

This layer is a group of protocols that form the core of the entire network, providing security, running smart contracts and so on. The Computational layer serves to scale the protocols within the ecosystem.

Settlement Layer

Two layers you say? The settlement layer is the destination for users to make transactions, e.g. swaps/trades and is separated from the computational layer to ensure a smoother and more secure experience.

Together, the two layers create a harmonious blockchain network that is extremely secure, reliable and faster than the leading blockchain, Bitcoin!

Ouroboros

Cardano is a unique blockchain that uses a PoS Ledger protocol, Ouroboros which provides security and enables users to send/receive the $ADA token efficiently.

Cardano ADA Staking Pools

Users who stake ADA tokens to the Cardano network, in staking pools will receive rewards of ADA per epoch.

A staking pool is a server node that prioritises ledger maintenance. Users can either create or delegate to a staking pool.

Whilst it can be expensive for users to stake with a small balance, it can be profitable and especially in the next bull run. Possibly even when or if Cardano becomes the globally adopted blockchain.

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Cardano EVM Sidechain

The Cardano EVM Sidechain is about to rock the whole world of Web 3. Currently, the sidechain is in public testnet, however later this year (2023) we should see the mainnet make an appearance!

With the update rolling out, it will introduce the entire Cardano blockchain and the $ADA token to the most popular decentralised applications and blockchains such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon and so many more.

It’s inevitable that we will see an incremental rise in Cardano users, which we can already see. The mainnet isn’t even live yet. Imagine what will happen to the ADA token when it becomes easily obtainable to the largest whales in the crypto space…

If you’re not ready for the upcoming EVM Sidechain, then you can follow the steps below which will show you how to buy $ADA and interact with the Cardano network!

How To Buy Cardano ADA

There are three main ways to buy or hold ADA, but either way, you will always go through a centralised exchange (CEX). Here are the options:

Option 1- Centralised Exchange

The ADA token is available on 99.99% of the largest centralised exchanges if not all of them.

Here are some Centralised Exchanges we recommend:

Binance - The most popular CEX in the world
ByBit - EARN UP TO $30K in DEPOSIT BONUSES
BitGet - Trade on BitGet and receive 0% Deposit Cashback + $5,000 DEPOSIT BONUSES
Coinbase - Spend $100 and Get $10 back!
Cryptocom - Official Fifa 2022 World Cup Sponsor

Option 2 - DeFi Wallet & Decentralised Exchange

Firstly, you will need the Binance Smart Chain (BNB Chain) connected to your DeFi wallet like Metamask.

You can watch our step-by-step tutorials on Youtube, using these links:

You can swap ADA tokens on the Binance Smart Chain (BNB Chain) using the PancakeSwap decentralised exchange (DEX) to perform the swap of either BNB/ADA or BUSD/ADA for example.

PancakeSwap Tutorial

It is however better to use a Cardano Wallet if you’re planning to explore the ecosystem, so Option 3 may be best for you!

Option 3 - Exclusive Cardano ADA Wallet

If you are interested, you can use native Cardano wallets that are exclusive to the blockchain. You can hold, swap and earn using a Cardano wallet, some of which are Web extension wallets and some of which are Software wallets that require being downloaded.

To save you the hassle, we have an easy tutorial video on setting up Cardano’s most popular Web Wallet, Typhon. You will also need to learn how to interact on the network, so we have a tutorial on how to use the MinSwap Decentralised exchange. Check out the links below!

Typhon Wallet Website

Typhon Wallet YouTube Tutorial

MinSwap Youtube Tutorial

Conclusion

Cardano ADA is one of the many cryptos foreseen to explode in the future. Many financial individuals/institutions are heavily invested in the future of Cardano, so there must be a reason…

At the time of writing, the ADA token is priced at $0.24 with an incredible market cap of over $8.6B, which makes it the 8th largest crypto according to CoinMarketCap. ADA has seen an ATH of $3.10 back in September 2021, when the market cap peaked at over $95B!