$ADA

Cardano (ADA) is a decentralized blockchain platform designed to provide a more balanced and sustainable ecosystem for cryptocurrencies. Launched in 2017 by Charles Hoskinson, a co-founder of Ethereum, Cardano uses a unique proof-of-stake consensus mechanism called Ouroboros. This system is energy-efficient and highly secure. Cardano focuses on academic research, peer-reviewed development, and scalability. Its native cryptocurrency, ADA, is used for transactions, staking, and governance on the network. With a layered architecture separating the settlement and computation layers, Cardano aims to support smart contracts, decentralized applications (dApps), and real-world use cases, especially in education, healthcare, and finance across developing countries.