Cardano Blockchain and its ADA Token: Major cryptocurrencies started off the first trading day of the year on a positive note. Ripple surged to the second position regarding cryptocurrency market cap, right after Bitcoin.
However, today I’d like to take a look at the Cardano blockchain which goes by the name ADA on the cryptocurrency trading platforms.
What is Cardano Blockchain?
Cardano is now the fifth largest crypto by market cap. Just like Ripple, Cardano can't be mined. But it can be staked. Cardano is pitched as the third generation cryptocurrency and is the first blockchain platform to evolve out of a scientific philosophy and a research-first driven approach.
Cardano blockchain development team consists of a large global collective of expert engineers and researchers.
Cardano's Multiple Layers
Unlike Bitcoin, Cardano has two layers.
The first one is called the Cardano Settlement Layer(CSL). CSL works as a more efficient bitcoin, handling the balance ledger and basic transaction side of things.
The second layer is called the Cardano Computation Layer. This is where decentralized apps and smart contracts built on Cardano will be based and can operate separately on the CSL layer.
These multiple layers mean that you can make changes to the platform without a fork.
What the Heck is Being Staked?
As mentioned before, you can't mine Cardano. But you can use an approach called proof of stake.
The core idea of proof of stake is that instead of wasting electricity on cracking computationally heavy problems, a node is selected to mint a new block, with a probability proportional to the number of coins this node has. If a node has positive (> 0) stake, it is called a stakeholder. If a node eventually becomes chosen to mint a block, it is called a slot leader. What About Cardano's Token, ADA?
Cardano's token, Ada, reached new highs on Tuesday, approaching $0.80. The reason for the surge (other than general bullish cryptocurrency market sentiment) could be the anticipation of the next major update for the platform being due for release next week.
Miners and crypto enthusiasts alike are hoping for it to become the next Ethereum. Especially as Bitcoin is losing its luster with some of its earliest and most avid fans, the criminals.
ADA Price Action
At the time of writing, ADA is seeing a pullback versus Bitcoin. It formed a Doji candlestick pattern after reaching new highs early Tuesday.
On the speculative volatility coming up, we could see a buying opportunity for ADA/BTC at the 50% Fibonacci retracement level 0.000031.
The young token remains above the Ichimoku cloud.
* This article was originally published here