Can Cardano displace Ethereum?

]

Cardano is one of the preferred cryptocurrencies with long-lasting staying power. Its ADA coin sits comfortably in the top ten cryptocurrencies ranked by market capitalisation. It’s actually been in this top ten ranking since its launch in 2015. Today it’s in sixth place after Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, XRP and Tether. But the landscape is volatile, and only a few weeks ago it was in third place. So things change rapidly.

Cardano blockchain – Photographer: fabio | Source: Unsplash

What is Cardano?

Cardano certainly has several good things going for it. Its technology is superior to many of its peers, and it has strong community backing.

ADA is the digital currency associated with the Cardano platform. It’s named after Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer.

IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong) is the research lab behind Cardano. Its focus is on decentralization and the challenges it poses to existing global financial systems. The Cardano development team are academics and scientists, and they work closely with academia to have everything peer-reviewed and transparently shared. The Cardano Foundation and EMURGO, along with IOHK govern Cardano.

Is ADA a coin or a token?

ADA coin is the name of the cryptocurrency that’s used on the Cardano platform. But ADA tokens can be used to vote or for staking in the Cardano ecosystem.

Within digital currency wallets, such as Exodus or Daedalus, you can easily stake Cardano ADA for rewards. Once you stake your ADA coin, it becomes an ADA token, which is then used to mine for ADA. If you find some, you’re rewarded with a stake.

Staking is a popular practice among altcoin owners. It is the proof-of-stake (PoS) part of the blockchain network that Cardano is striving for. And this is being developed into a decentralised application (DApp) development platform, complete with multi-asset ledger and verifiable smart contracts.

Last month Graph Blockchain Inc. (CSE: GBLC) invested $300,000 into Cardano for the purpose of staking the ADA coin.

Meanwhile, over half a billion US dollars worth of ADA is currently being delegated to charity-focused initiatives on Cardano through mission-driven stake pools.

Cardano is for the greater good! We are delighted to share that over US$500,000,000, yes, half a billion U.S. dollar worth of ada is currently being delegated to charity-focused initiatives on Cardano through mission-driven stake pools.

Read more https://t.co/9l55kBRGtv — Cardano Foundation (@CardanoStiftung) March 31, 2021 Cardano’s charitable focus – Staking ADA for charity

Why Cardano could replace Ethereum

Cardano is a smart contract platform, as is Ethereum and Polkadot. Many die-hard Cardano fans believe it will eventually displace Ethereum thanks to its high-speed tech and fee free transaction setup.

Ethereum’s value has soared this past year as more high-profile clients jump aboard. Ethereum is also the backbone of the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, which has been subject to NFT mania this year, further boosting the Ethereum price.

And Ethereum is also profiting from notable decentralized finance (DeFi) projects which are built on its blockchain. However, Ethereum is expensive to use, and its transaction times suffer from lag. Cardano intends to beat it on both these counts, due to its lightweight design.

Cardano recently undertook a major update called ‘Mary’ which took it a step closer to emulating Ethereum. The Mary upgrade is a hard fork, transitioning the Cardano ledger. This changes its capabilities from simply holding ADA on its blockchain to allowing multiple tokens to be created and exchanged.

WE’RE ON!! We can today confirm that the ‘Mary’ #Cardano protocol update is now fully confirmed for March 1st.

Another key milestone in the #Goguen rollout, the update introduces native tokens & multi-asset support, bringing exciting new use cases for #Cardano 1/3 pic.twitter.com/FFK0cGNbmD — Input Output (@InputOutputHK) February 24, 2021 Cardano’s Mary hard-fork Goguen rollout

This allows it to support stablecoins and users to create NFTs.

Who founded Cardano?

Cardano was in fact founded by none other than one of Ethereum’s original co-founders. Charles Hoskinson stepped out on his own a year after Ethereum was launched in 2013.

He believes Cardano has the potential to help billions of people thanks to its laser focus on the vision of helping people achieve a better quality of life. By building Cardano on DeFi, it’s targeting some of the poorest, hardest hit regions of the world. Hoskinson believes that proving the technology works in places that are close to being deemed a lost cause, will allow its success to speak for itself. This should naturally bring mass adoption elsewhere.

Access to fair and transparent banking has the power to lift millions of people out of poverty to a sustainable level of living. However, with no access to electricity or smart phones then using crypto is impossible. That said, there are many areas of the world where it could make a real difference. So, the kind of customer Cardano is targeting may be a farmer in Ethiopia looking for a way to pay for fertiliser. Or on a larger scale, implementing a fair election process in Senegal. The company has people in these African countries working with the locals to move forward with its vision.

ADA’s price fluctuations

ADA’s price is up 16% in a month and an eye-popping 3,557% in a year.

So what makes its popularity stick? There are three principal reasons. Being widely available to trade is a big one. Coinbase began supporting Cardano (ADA) in mid-March and around the same time, it appeared on the Bloomberg Terminal. This has certainly helped boost its popularity. With a market cap above £40m, it’s also a highly liquid market and institutional investor interest is readily growing.

Ethereum is up 115% year-to-date. Meanwhile, ADA is up 517% year-to-date.

Cardano is operating a low fee, secure, trusted, blockchain system. It aims to provide a balanced and sustainable ecosystem. So, while this continues, Cardano’s ADA is likely to remain a popular cryptocurrency easily rivaling Ethereum and Polkadot.

Ethereum (ETH): What It Is, What It’s Worth and Should You Be Investing?

]

BackyardProduction / iStock.com

Cryptocurrencies have skyrocketed in popularity recently and this trend shows no signs of slowing. Given all the talk around these digital assets, you might be wondering whether now is the time to invest. But before pulling the trigger, it’s always a good idea to have an understanding of the underlying asset. Cryptocurrency is no exception and it is quite different than investing in stocks or bonds.

Read: What Is a Non-Fungible Token and Why Are They Booming?

Therefore, we will cover a popular blockchain technology called Ethereum. Like many blockchains, Ethereum has a native coin called ether. Let’s take a closer look at what Ethereum is and whether you should consider investing.

What Is Ethereum?

Ethereum is an open-source, decentralized blockchain technology. Ethereum’s native coin is called ether. This coin is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, second only to Bitcoin (BTC). Although ether has a smaller market cap than Bitcoin, Ethereum is the most widely-used blockchain.

See: What Is Chainlink and Why Is It Important in the World of Cryptocurrency?

One thing that is important to understand about Ethereum is that it is not the same as Bitcoin. Whereas Bitcoin’s purpose is primarily to be a digital currency, Ethereum is much broader. In fact, Ethereum is an open-source operating system and computing platform. It also supports distributed applications (dApps) and smart contracts.

Another key aspect of Ethereum is that it enables decentralized finance, which is an important part of how the system works. Because the system is inherently decentralized, there is not a single entity controlling it or the value of ether.

More: How the IRS Taxes Cryptocurrency – and the Loophole That Can Lower Your Tax Bill

What Is Ethereum Worth?

Like many cryptocurrencies, the price of ether has fluctuated greatly since it launched in 2015. Back then, its price was around $1 and stayed there for several months. The price reached $1,358 in January 2018, its highest price ever at the time. The price began to fall, as did the price of many cryptocurrencies; ether bottomed out at $83 in December 2018.

Story continues

The price has ebbed and flowed since then but has risen overall. At the beginning of April 2020, the price was around $140; now, it is almost $2,100. In other words, the price increased by 1,400% in just one year.

Read: Breaking Down the Basics of Cryptocurrency

Should You Invest In Ethereum?

If you decide to invest in ether (and therefore, in Ethereum), you should first ask yourself why you are investing. Although the price of the coin has risen substantially over the past year, it can be extremely volatile. Thus, if you buy ether simply hoping the price will rise, you may end up frustrated.

On the other hand, the Etherum blockchain can be used for many different applications, said Tally Greenberg, head of business development at Allnodes. “Ether is the cryptocurrency required for any transaction made on Ethereum, a blockchain network of applications. A blockchain, on the other hand, is a technology with limitless potential. It doesn’t rest on Ethereum alone and can be used to make a difference in our future with or without cryptocurrencies.”

See: 10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest in for 2021

Sam Bretzmann, the owner of Blocklink, agrees with this sentiment. “The difference here is that instead of investing in individual projects which may or may not make it, you can invest in the infrastructure. You can think about it like this, go back to 1999, and instead of having to try and pick which up and coming businesses will survive, you get to just pick ‘the internet’ and invest in that.”

This article is part of GOBankingRates’ ‘Economy Explained’ series to help readers navigate the complexities of our financial system.

Intelligence dossier finds Bitcoin is outperforming gold, but Ethereum is outshining Bitcoin - CityAM

]

Kraken’s highly-anticipated March Market Report has revealed the correlation between gold and Bitcoin has fallen to levels not seen since late 2016.

Released within the last couple of hours, the exchange’s data shows gold suffered its worst first quarter in 39 years, while Bitcoin (BTC) enjoyed its sixth consecutive month of double-digit growth – its longest monthly upward streak since 2013.

Kraken’s intelligence manager – Pete Humiston – explained that while both gold and Bitcoin are generally considered inflation hedges, institutions may now be regarding BTC as a better store of value.

“In the past, market participants were reluctant to own BTC over gold because few understood its asymmetric upside and its utility as a superior store of value,” he said.

“While neither offer yield, BTC’s total addressable market extends far beyond gold’s $11T market cap, giving it greater utility in today’s day and age where virtually every aspect of our lives is shifting from analogue to digital.”

Huge prospects

He also claimed that many market participants may also be realising that BTC has huge prospects as an emerging inflation hedge with upside potential, utility, and relevance in both traditional financial markets and crypto markets.

“As more become familiar and comfortable with digital assets, we can expect BTC to capture market share from risky assets, such as junk bonds and stocks, as well as risk-off assets, like gold,” he added.

“This rotation is already taking place. Last month, BTC’s correlation with gold slumped to a 52-month low as BTC posted its third best 1Q in history and gold posted its worst 1Q in 39 years.”

The intelligence dossier also found that…

follow us