Cardano raised approximately $63 million in its token sale, issuing 26 billion initial ADA called ‘vouchers,’ and the total supply is capped at 45 billion ADA.
The Cardano network is based on an academically-conceived proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism called ‘Ouroboros’ that has been peer-reviewed, and the native currency of the network, ADA, can be stored and transferred using the Daedalus wallet.
The Cardano network is currently in its Shelley Development Phase, which follows the Cardano 1.5 release on the mainnet in March. The Ouroboros BFT consensus mechanism is subsequently transitioning to the Ouroboros Genesis stage, which will operate as the protocol for the Shelley era of development.
Shelley and Upcoming Plans
Shelley marks the beginning of the path to what Cardano references as ‘full decentralization’ of its network. Cardano has undergone meticulous development over the last few years, and the pending launch of the network is pegged for 2019. The Shelley testnet will come first, enabling third-party developers to test out applications and identify bugs before the full-scale mainnet launch of Shelley.
Importantly, Shelley represents the transition from federated centralized nodes in the Cardano early test networks to staking enabled for all ADA holders in the coming months.
Cardano is written in the programming language Haskell and is built in a multi-layered architecture. The base layer is the settlement layer of the network with the unit of account for ADA, which is linked to the ‘control layer’ that handles the smart contracts running on the network.
Token holders (i.e., ADA) can either directly stake, while online, or delegate their ADA to participate in the validation process of the network using the Daedalus or Yoroi wallets. Stake pool operators control delegated ADA corresponding to an on-chain certificate, but delegators still retain the monetary rights, and revenue generated, from their delegated ADA.
Cardano cites their Ouroboros PoS consensus mechanism as the first mathematically secure and peer-reviewed -- by academics -- PoS consensus algorithm.
Cardano Teams and Monetary Policy
Three primary teams are working on Cardano’s development:
1. Cardano Foundation
2. IOHK
3. Emurgo
Cardano’s primary development team, IOHK, is also one of the leading development teams for Ethereum Classic. IOHK is also contracted to build Emurgo, the for-profit/commercial arm of the ecosystem’s development. Emurgo provides educational resources, incubation accelerators, systems development, and advisory services about blockchain technology.
The Cardano Foundation is a Swiss-based organization whose mission is to drive adoption of the platform, shape legislation and commercial standards, grow the community, ensure stakeholder accountability, and forge partnerships. According to the foundation:
“Cardano Foundation is an independent body based in Switzerland with core responsibilities to help oversee and supervise the development of Cardano and its ecosystem. We are committed to protecting and promoting Cardano and advocating on behalf of the users and community of the protocol.”
Of the original 26 billion ADA tokens created, roughly 5.1 billion were allocated to the three teams working on Cardano’s development. The total supply is capped at 45 billion tokens, and the additional tokens leading up to the cap will be issued via the PoS validation process (i.e., block rewards) over the next 24 years.
