Cardano is considered a 3rd generation cryptocurrency, and ranks as of January 10 2018, at Coinmarketcap.com among the top 10 traded values, with a market cap of $19,726,196,786. The BitMex, Bittrex, Upbit, Binance and Coinnest currency exchanges list Cardano ADA futures. Cardano was launched by blockchain development firm Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), lead by Charles Hoskinson, former CEO of Ethereum. Daedalus is a cryptocurrency wallet that supports Cardano.
General
Cardano develops their currency around a Recursive InterNetwork Architecture (RINA). The national research and education network of Greece plans the first Cardano pilot project by verifying student diplomas via Cardano's blockchain. Cardano, backed by the Zug, Switzerland-based Cardano Foundation, is a decentralized public blockchain that aims to protect user privacy, while also allowing for regulation. Cardano is a multi-layer protocol; the settlement layer will have a unit of account, while the control layer will run smart contracts and will be programmed to recognize identity, assisting compliance, according to its website. The system is designed to be upgraded so that it can evolve quickly.
Scalability
Cardano facilitates the Ouroboros algorithm which is Provably Secure Proof of Stake, enabling multiple blockchain creation at any given time running parallel, and with the ability to handle humongous transactions. Cardano is pitched as the third generation cryptocurrency. It wants to solve the three biggest issues with current coins - sustainability, scalability and interoperability. The biggest advantage of Cardano is that unlike Bitcoin, it's built with two layers.[9] You have the first layer called the Cardano Settlement Layer which works as a more efficient bitcoin, handling the balance ledger and basic transaction side of things. It has a second layer though, called the Cardano Computation Layer. This is where decentralised apps and smart contracts built on Cardano will be based and can operate separately to the CSL layer. These multiple layers also mean that changes can be made to the platform without a fork. Cardano itself was developed through peer reviewed academic research and is based on the Haskell programming language, which is viewed as extremely secure and uses mathematical proof of correctness to verify code.
Ouroboros concept
Currently, ADA is the main cryptocurrency featuring in the Cardano blockchain. As the first crypto to incorporate Ouroboros, it relies on peer-reviewed academic research to build it from grassroots level. The protocol aims at protecting user privacy and addressing their needs as well. In addition, it has developed its first virtual machine (VM) thanks to strategies surrounding Ethereum. Hoskinson believes that the VM will start functioning effectively as at 2018.
In one word: REVOLUTIONARY.