In September 2017 Cardano was born, a new blockchain created starting from scratch, using the Haskell programming language (which is considered by experts as the top in terms of security), based on the Proof Of Stake algorithm (better known with the acronym PoS). In addition to safety, another strong point of this blockchain is flexibility, since it is created in layers capable of making it more malleable and suitable to be used by different types of smart contract.
Cardano hosts the Ada cryptocurrency, which can be used to send and receive digital funds. This digital money represents the future of money, making it possible to make fast and direct transfers guaranteed to be safe through the use of cryptography. It has already been renamed "the Ethereum of the Rising Sun". Ada is therefore eco-sustainable as it does not require electricity for its use, a problem that undermines the sustainability of cryptocurrencies based on PoW.
In fact, if you want to understand if this cryptocurrency can pass the test of time, you have to ask what is its usefulness and what makes it different from the incumbent cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The following factors could be considered an answer to this question:
Ouroboros: Cardano uses a new algorithm called Ouroboros for the proof of stake. This algorithm determines how individual nodes reach consensus on the network. Ouroboros overcomes the need for proof of work, which is used in many other cryptocurrencies, but which is very expensive from the point of view of the computing power needed to solve it.
Mathematical demonstration. Ouroboros is the first mathematically provable proof of stake algorithm. Unlike many others, Ouroboros carried out a peer review with its acceptance in Crypto 2017. After all, Ouroboros was designed by a team led by Professor Aggelos Kiayias who, being linked to the academic world, was able to bring some good practices with him.
Safety. Ouroboros has a level of security comparable to that of the Bitcoin blockchain, which has never been compromised. Although there have been several attempts by other cryptocurrencies to develop a proof of stake algorithm, they have proved to be fundamentally insecure. In the Ouroboros algorithm, the randomness of the stakeholder selection process is implemented through a secure and multi-party implementation of a coin-flipping protocol.
The authors of the paper Ouroboros: A Provably Secure Proof-of-Stake Blockchain Protocol state that Ouroboros is a proof of stake that offers several advantages in terms of efficiency compared to the proof of work blockchain. Aggelos Kiayias and his team also demonstrate a new reward mechanism to boost Proof of Stake protocols.
This system has its foundations in game theory and the paper's authors show that the reward mechanism promotes honest behavior since this is a Nash (approximate) equilibrium.
Another important feature of Cardano Blockchain is that, using a single Block Exporer, Cardano makes available to its users the possibility to see the date, time, amount and public addresses of the sender of each transaction. Finally, the security of transactions with Cardano ADA is guaranteed, as well as by the Kaskell programming language, on which the platform is based, also by the dedicated portfolio called Daedalus. This is a hierarchical, deterministic, secure, rapid and multi-platform digital portfolio.
So in conclusion, even if it is still early to make clear judgments, we believe that this system is able to grow well and to worry the model based on Ethereum, the current benchmark in terms of smart-contracts. We will monitor Cardano closely and keep you updated as soon as there will be important news.
In the meantime you can watch the latest news here: https://www.cardano.org/en/home/