Cardano is a blockchain platform that aims to provide a secure and scalable infrastructure for the development of decentralized applications (DApps) and smart contracts. It was founded by Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, and development started in 2015.

**Here are the key components and features of Cardano:**

**Layered Architecture:**
   - Cardano employs a layered architecture, consisting of two main layers: the Cardano Settlement Layer (CSL) and the Cardano Computation Layer (CCL).
   - The Settlement Layer is responsible for handling ADA transactions, the native cryptocurrency of Cardano.
   - The Computation Layer is designed to support smart contracts and decentralized applications.

**Consensus Mechanism:**
   - Cardano uses a unique consensus algorithm called Ouroboros. It is a proof-of-stake (PoS) algorithm designed to be scalable, sustainable, and secure.
   - Ouroboros divides time into epochs and uses a slot leader election process to select a node to create a new block in each slot.

**Ada (ADA) Cryptocurrency:**
   - ADA is the native cryptocurrency of the Cardano platform.
   - It is used for transactions, staking, and participating in the network's governance.

**Staking and Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS):**
   - Cardano allows ADA holders to participate in the network by staking their tokens. Staking involves locking up ADA to support the network's operations and earn rewards.
   - Cardano uses a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) system, where ADA holders can delegate their stake to a stake pool, and the pool, in turn, produces blocks on behalf of the delegators.

**Smart Contracts:**
   - The Cardano Computation Layer supports smart contracts, allowing developers to create decentralized applications and execute programmable agreements.
   - Cardano's approach to smart contracts emphasizes security and formal verification to ensure the reliability of code.

**Formal Verification:**
   - Cardano places a strong emphasis on formal verification, a process that uses mathematical methods to prove the correctness of smart contracts.
   - This approach is intended to enhance security and reduce the risk of vulnerabilities in the code.

**Governance:**
   - Cardano has a decentralized governance model that allows ADA holders to participate in the decision-making process.
   - ADA holders can propose and vote on protocol upgrades and changes, making the platform more democratic.

**Sustainability and Research-Driven Approach:**
   - Cardano places a significant emphasis on academic research and peer-reviewed papers.
   - The platform aims for long-term sustainability by considering environmental and economic factors.

Overall, Cardano strives to offer a robust and scalable blockchain platform that prioritizes security, sustainability, and decentralization in its design and implementation.

What is Cardano?

Cardano's native cryptocurrency is called ADA. ADA is a digital asset that plays a crucial role within the Cardano blockchain. Here are some key points about the ADA token:

**Utility:**
   - ADA serves as the native currency for transactions within the Cardano network.
   - It is used to pay for transaction fees, participate in the staking system, and engage in various activities on the platform.

**Staking and Rewards:**
   - ADA holders can participate in the network's staking mechanism by delegating their tokens to a stake pool or operating a stake pool.
   - Staking involves locking up ADA to support the network's operations and secure the blockchain.
   - ADA holders who stake their tokens may receive rewards in the form of additional ADA.

**Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS):**
   - Cardano uses a DPoS consensus mechanism, where ADA holders can delegate their stake to a stake pool.
   - The stake pool, chosen as a slot leader through the Ouroboros consensus algorithm, produces blocks on behalf of the delegators.

**Governance Participation:**
   - ADA holders have the opportunity to participate in the governance of the Cardano network.
   - They can propose and vote on protocol upgrades and changes, influencing the development and direction of the platform.

**Smart Contracts and DApps:**
   - ADA is used to execute smart contracts and interact with decentralized applications (DApps) on the Cardano Computation Layer.
   - Developers may require ADA to deploy and execute smart contracts, and users might need ADA to access services within these applications.

**Decentralized Exchanges (DEX):**
   - ADA can be traded on various cryptocurrency exchanges.
   - With the advent of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on Cardano, ADA may also be used as a trading pair on decentralized exchanges built on the platform.

**Limited Supply:**
   - The total maximum supply of ADA is capped at 45 billion tokens.
   - This limited supply is designed to prevent inflation and create scarcity over time.

**Environmental Considerations:**
   - Cardano has been designed with a focus on sustainability and energy efficiency, addressing concerns related to the environmental impact of blockchain networks.

It's important to note that ADA is not just a means of transferring value; it plays a multifaceted role in securing the network, participating in governance, and facilitating various activities within the Cardano ecosystem. Users and investors can hold ADA for various purposes, including long-term investment, staking, and participating in the development and governance of the Cardano blockchain.

Cardano token (ADA)

Cardano aims to be more efficient than Bitcoin in several aspects, primarily focusing on scalability, sustainability, and environmental impact. Here are some ways in which Cardano is designed to be more efficient than Bitcoin:

**Consensus Mechanism:**
   - Cardano uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm called Ouroboros, which is designed to be more energy-efficient than Bitcoin's proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism.
   - PoW requires miners to solve complex mathematical puzzles, consuming significant computational power. In contrast, PoS in Cardano allows participants to create new blocks and validate transactions based on the amount of cryptocurrency they hold and are willing to "stake."

**Scalability:**
   - Cardano is designed with scalability in mind, aiming to handle a higher number of transactions per second (TPS) compared to Bitcoin.
   - The layered architecture of Cardano separates the settlement and computation layers, which can allow for more efficient scaling and better performance.

**Formal Verification:**
   - Cardano emphasizes formal verification, a method of mathematically proving the correctness of software code.
   - Formal verification can lead to more secure and bug-free smart contracts, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities and potential issues that might arise on the network.

**Sustainability:**
   - Cardano has a focus on long-term sustainability both in terms of its development and environmental impact.
   - The platform aims to use less energy compared to Bitcoin, which has faced criticism for its high energy consumption due to the PoW consensus mechanism.

**Governance Mechanism:**
   - Cardano has a decentralized governance mechanism that allows ADA holders to participate in decision-making processes.
   - This can lead to more efficient decision-making and updates to the protocol, potentially avoiding some of the challenges associated with centralized decision-making.

**Environmental Considerations:**
   - Cardano's PoS consensus algorithm is considered more environmentally friendly than Bitcoin's PoW mechanism.
   - PoS does not require the same level of computational power and energy consumption as PoW, making it a more energy-efficient alternative.

It's important to note that efficiency is often subjective and depends on specific criteria or use cases. While Cardano is designed with certain efficiency goals in mind, both Bitcoin and Cardano have different priorities, use cases, and design philosophies. Bitcoin's primary focus is as a decentralized digital currency, whereas Cardano aims to be a comprehensive blockchain platform supporting smart contracts and decentralized applications. Efficiency comparisons should consider the specific goals and context of each blockchain.

Cardano & Bitcoin

Cardano Blockchain

Cardano has so much dapps available and as I cannot show them all here I will highlight the main and most used ones at the moment.

But you can check all available dapps at: 
[Cardano Cube](https://www.cardanocube.com/cardano-ecosystem-interactive-map)

For information such as total transactions, volume and number of users: [Dapps On Cardano](https://dappsoncardano.com/)

All available dapps

Cardano has several wallets available for both desktop and mobile

**Desktop wallets**

[Nami Wallet](https://namiwallet.io/) - It was the first and it is very easy to use
[How to create a Nami Wallet?](https://help.vent.finance/en/articles/5959246-how-to-create-a-nami-wallet)

[Eternl](https://eternl.io/) - More complex but with many features

[Typhon Wallet](https://typhonwallet.io/#/) - Simple and easy to use


**Mobile wallets**

[VESPR](https://vespr.xyz/) - Elegant and easy to use

[Eternl](https://eternl.io/) - More complex but with many features

[Flint Wallet](https://flint-wallet.com/) - Simple and easy to use

*To interact with dapps you must set up collateral. [Learn about what collateral is in the Cardano ecosystem and how you should set it up.](https://help.sundaeswap.finance/en/articles/5852169-what-is-collateral-and-how-do-i-set-it)

Wallets

**The most used DEX are:**

[Minswap](https://minswap.org/)

[Spectrum Finance](https://spectrum.fi/)

[SundaeSwap](https://sundae.fi/)

At first the most popular was SundaeSwap, but it was surpassed by Minswap. Both are working on a new version with new features and UI.

Honorable mention: [Axo](https://www.axo.trade/)
A Revolutionary DEX created by experienced people from Quantitative Finance & Programming field. Axo will be one of the most advanced DEX in the crypto world.

Get the best value for your tokens with DEX aggregation.

[DexHunter](https://www.dexhunter.io/) - Biggest Cardano DEX Aggregator, more than 50% of all trades are made through DexHunter. 
They offer Stop-Loss, DCA, CrossChain Swap and is working on a Perpetual protocol

[ADA Markets](https://ada.markets/) - Alternative DEX Aggregator

DEX Aggregator

[Ada Handle](https://adahandle.com/) - Replace that huge wallet address with something simpler like your name or any other word/number you want, most dapps are compatible with it

[ADAmail](https://www.adamail.me/) - Send & Receive emails directly from your wallet

[ENCOINS](https://encoins.io/) - Provides private transaction

Honorable mention: [Midnight ](https://midnight.iohk.io/)- A data protection-based blockchain that safeguards sensitive commercial and personal data. It will be a Cardano partner chain but it is still in development. In the future, users who stake ADA will receive rewards in ADA and Midnight token (DUST)

Infrastructure dapps

[Indigo Protocol](https://indigoprotocol.io/) - Synthetics protocol for on-chain price exposure to real-world assets. Assets available iBTC (Bitcoin), iETH (Ethereum) and iUSD (Dollar)

[Optim Finance](https://optim.finance/) - Staking your ADA offers rewards of approximately 3%, improve your staking rewards by renting ADA staking rights.
[More detailed information](https://optim-finance.gitbook.io/optim-finance/products/liquidity-bonds)

[AnetaBTC](http://anetabtc.io/) - On-chain Wrapped BTC on Cardano

DeFi

[Liqwid](https://www.liqwid.finance/) - Algorithmic and non-custodial interest rate protocol built for lenders and borrowers
[How to use it?](https://liqwid.notion.site/Tutorial-Lending-and-Borrowing-7232a4acf9ac40f3b0d95ea29a1966e6)

[Levvy](https://levvy.fi/) - Lend & Borrow NFTs
[How to use it?](https://the-ape-society.gitbook.io/levvy-effortless-lending/how-does-levvy-work)

[Fluidtokens](https://fluidtokens.com/) - A complete protocol with Lend, Borrow, Rent and Boosted Stake
[How to use it?](https://docs.fluidtokens.com/)

Lending and Borrowing

[Book.io](https://www.book.io/) - The BOOK token platform and exchange is the first of its kind by using reading to “mine” for tokens

[NEWM](https://newm.io/) - The music streaming marketplace for artists and music lovers

Marketplaces

[Iagon](https://www.iagon.com/) - Decentralized cloud platform, store data and host your website

[How to use it?](https://work.courses/courses/how-to-use-decentralized-cloud-storage-on-cardano)

Identity and Data

[Djed](https://djed.xyz/) - Algorithmic stablecoin

DJED and iUSD are the biggest stablecoins on Cardano But DJED has been keep its peg better than iUSD

[Mehen](https://www.mehen.io/) - Fiat-backed stablecoin (TESTNET)

Payments and Stablecoins

[CardanoScan](https://cardanoscan.io/) - The leading transaction explorer on Cardano

[Cardano Assets](https://cardanoassets.com/) - Asset explorer, including NTFs

[Pool.pm](https://pool.pm/) - Shows all transactions in realtime

[Poki](https://www.getpoki.com/) - Mobile Portfolio Tracker

[EUTXO](https://eutxo.org/) - Visual Blockchain Explorer

Tools and Explorers

Before, some people said it was difficult to develop on Cardano, not anymore because there are many tools available.

[Javascript, Haskell, Python...](https://builtoncardano.com/ecosystem/developer-tools)

[List of available tools](https://x.com/InputOutputHK/status/1584536075430596608?s=20)

Developer Tools

[Cornucopias](https://www.cornucopias.io/) - MMORPG Metaverse game (IN DEVELOPMENT)

[Pavia](https://www.pavia.io/) - Create, explore and trade in the first-ever Cardano virtual world owned by its users (IN DEVELOPMENT)

Metaverse

**Marketplaces**

[jpg.store](https://www.jpg.store/) - Leading nft marketplace on Cardano, Buy, Sell or mint your NFT

[Kreate](https://kreate.art/) - Exclusive arts are here


**Tools**

[NMKR](http://www.nmkr.io/) - Mint a large collection and much more

[TapTools](https://www.taptools.io/market-overview) - Tokens and NFT analytics platform

NFTs

Cardano has a lot of meme coins, but I will only highlight the biggest one

[Snek](https://www.snek.com/) - The biggest one

Fair launch, 0% to Founder and 100% of the tokens already in circulation.

They have available a raffle, Snek game and the longest collaborative art in web3.

[Snek Game](https://gaming-snek.com/snek-game)

[World Record Snek](https://gaming-snek.com/world-record-snek)

Memecoins

**Project Catalyst**

ADA holders vote on projects to be funded by Cardano treasury

Project Catalyst in Cardano is like a big program that helps people with cool ideas get money for their projects. The community decides which ideas get funded by voting. This way, Cardano can grow with new and innovative projects. People can join by suggesting ideas, giving opinions, setting challenges, or voting for the best projects. It's all about working together and letting the community decide what's best for Cardano.

[Project Catalyst Link](https://projectcatalyst.io/)

[How to vote](https://docs.projectcatalyst.io/fund-documentation/fund11-docs/voting/how-to-vote)

Community

Cardano has a huge ecosystem and it is growing every day, so other good dapps I will add later.

Thank you for learning a little more about Cardano, our huge community is eager for you to be a part of it.


Be a part of Cardano

Dapps on Cardano

Some people may get a little confused when entering a new blockchain ecosystem, so here I will leave a very complete guide to the Cardano ecosystem and how to use it.
It should have been a paid course as it was a lot of work to do but to help new users I left it free. So enjoy and share.

Ultimate Cardano Guide

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