The cryptocurrency Cardano was released in 2017. Even though it is a relatively young crypto, Cardano has garnered quite a lot of attention both from investors and from the general public. As it gains popularity, more and more people are trying to find out about Cardano Mining.
In this tutorial, we’ll cover all things, what it is, where it comes from, why it’s worth paying attention to, and most importantly how to mine Cardano (no, CAN you mine Cardano?).
Keep in mind that if you decide to invest in Cardano, choose a reliable cryptocurrency exchange platform, such as Coinbase and Binance. Also, make sure to get a secure hardware wallet for your assets!
What is Cardano?
First of all, it is worth mentioning that people often confuse the terms Cardano and ADA.
If you are talking about cryptocurrencies themselves, then you should be referring to the ADA. Cardano is a platform that hosts crypto coins – in other words, Cardano is the ADA blockchain.
For the sake of simplicity, and since people are used to saying “Cardano” when they talk about coins, in this “Cardano Mining” tutorial I will also refer to cryptocurrency as “Cardano”.
Cardano is made by a company called Input Output Hong Kong. Development of the platform began in 2015 but was released to the general public in 2017.
One of the leaders of the Cardano cryptocurrency project is IOHK co-founder Charles Hoskinson. His name is well known in the cryptocurrency world as he is also the co-founder of Ethereum (one of the most famous cryptocurrencies out there) and a company called BitShare.
Charles has become very popular and well-respected in the cryptocurrency world due to his involvement with the aforementioned projects – all of which appear to be very successful.
Cardano is similar to many other established cryptocurrencies in that it is decentralized (it doesn’t have a single owner – instead, almost anyone can contribute to the coin’s well-being). In terms of structure, the coin is closest to Ethereum.
Even with all its resemblance to other cryptos on the market, Cardano aims to revolutionize the cryptocurrency world. One way is to use the “Proof of Stake” system.
PoS
In most cases, cryptocurrencies use one of two systems – “Proof of Stake” and “Proof of Work”. When it comes to mining crypto coins, the latter is more common.
The way the PoW system works is that your mining system solves difficult math problems, thereby participating in the mining process.
When a block is mined, the PoW system sees your contribution, and you are rewarded for your work – you receive a certain amount of that cryptocurrency.
However, when it comes to PoS, the process is quite different. In the PoS system, coin holders generate new blocks and verify payments (transactions). Whoever holds the cryptocurrency coin (in this case, Cardano (ADA)) can be the leader of this process.
The PoS system is considered advantageous as it eliminates forced and abusive coin hashing (which is most commonly referred to as mining) and ensures a smoother and more stable blockchain development process.
Most (if not all) cryptos currently on the market struggle with balancing security, decentralization, and speed. With today’s technology, it seems almost impossible to have all three of the factors mentioned above work well together.
Cardano aims to be that exception. With the help of the PoS system, this platform continues to be developed to be faster without sacrificing security features or freedom (decentralization). The PoS method of mining Cardano aims to take advantage of it.
ICO
The Cardano ICO (Initial Coin Offering) happened a few years ago. During the initial offering, the ADA token raised approximately US$60 million. The price per token is US$0.02.
In retrospect, the Cardano ICO has generated quite a bit of hype around it. There are several main reasons why this happens.
One of the biggest reasons for this is the influence one founder has on potential customers. The name C. Hoskinson is already very well known in the cryptocurrency world because of Ethereum and other projects.
Many people see him as a very goal-oriented mathematician who aims to revolutionize the way blockchain technology operates.
In addition, Mr. Hoskinson emphasized the word “research” throughout Cardano’s development and advertising process. Everyone knows that this platform (and the coins it owns) will be completely research-based – it will be the first of its kind on the market.
Another big reason is the promise that comes with the platform. And I’m not even talking about Cardano mining – rather, the features the coin will bring to the crypto world.
From the start, Cardano was advertised as revolutionary in the way transactions were handled. The fact that it will manage to balance security, speed and still be completely decentralized is the main point of all the discussions around it.
Usually, people would be very skeptical about such a claim. There are noteworthy examples of developers advertising and promising breakthrough technological advances before and during an ICO, and their product flipping and completely failing after.
In such cases, talk of majesty is used to build hype around the product, but little or no attention is paid to the actual state of affairs.
However, with Cardano, the situation is slightly different. Again, this is largely due to Mr. Hoskinson – his name gave Cardano many benefits.
Cardano price
The current price of the ADA coin is $1.78 (Nov 2021). Cardano’s price peaked at $1.15 and then started to decline in early 2018. However, this is not tied to anything around Cardano mining or IOHK.
In late 2017 and early 2018, the cryptocurrency market experienced a major crash. This is for several reasons, with the main one being that several governments around the world are sanctioning cryptos.
Cardano is somewhat in the middle – after the coin’s initial collapse, the ADA cryptocurrency has stabilized. Neither the government nor the Cardano mining has anything to do with this stabilization.
It is generally accepted that Cardano has stabilized and will probably start growing again due to his overall strength. The platform is constantly evolving with the support of large and influential companies behind it, people seem to actually use the coin and believe in the promise of the co-founders.
These and several other details are considered to be the main factors influencing Cardano’s rehabilitation.
Cardano Mining
So, now that we’ve covered what Cardano is, we can start analyzing how Cardano Mining works. Although, as you probably already understand, the question is CAN you mine Cardano?
The short answer to that question is no. Cardano Mining is not possible because it is not part of the “Proof of Work” consensus. However, Cardano could be at stake.
What does this mean? Well, you simply keep your Cardano wallet (the main one to use is called Daedalus Wallet) online, and in turn receive a certain percentage of the ADA coins you already have as payment.
This method is used by the “Proof of Stake” system, which confirms transactions via existing ADA coins, rather than using hardware (as is the case with mining Cardano).
In terms of “Cardano mining”, this is very useful for several reasons.
First of all, you don’t have to worry about mining methods. No cloud mining, GPU mining, or CPU – none of that. You save a lot of money on mining equipment, cooling, and electricity, which you can then invest in the ADA coin itself.
Moreover, the process is much easier – all you need to do is save your wallet online and that’s it – the distribution of income will be handled by itself. The more Cardano coins you have and bet, the more you will receive.
The developers also promise that during the “Era of Gifts” they will release continuous updates and features regarding Cardano.
During this time, pools of shares (same as pools of mining, only with a “Proof of Stake” system) will appear and people who own a small amount of Cardano but participate in the transaction process will be able to receive larger rewards.
Overall, the “Proof of Stake” system appears to be a set of stakes.
The coin development team is professional and experienced in their respective fields, so this cryptocurrency has great support and can continue to grow and advance, both in price AND in technological terms, without having a true Cardano mining option.
Summary
Now that we’ve covered most of what we’re about to cover, let’s have a quick overview of what Cardano is all about.
The platform (along with cryptocurrency) was developed and released a year ago, in 2017. It was created by a company called “Input-Output Honk Kong”, with the company CEO Charles Hoskinson leading the project.
The Cardano cryptocurrency is special because it is completely research-based and aims to balance security, speed, and still be completely decentralized.
The project’s ICO was quite successful and garnered a lot of hype – it’s no surprise when you look at the achievements of the team and Mr. Hoskinson before.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a cryptocurrency that will be quite popular and useful to me, you will probably find tens or even hundreds of competitors. It can be very difficult to choose, especially if you have little or no prior knowledge of the topic of cryptocurrencies.
Cardano is a cryptocurrency. Apart from that – coin makers strive to make it the BEST of its kind. And while mining Cardano the old-fashioned way is impossible, IOHK offers a great alternative to the problem.
Due to the mainstream popularity of cryptocurrency mining, many people may not have heard of staking. This can often be disheartening – not everyone wants to participate in something they don’t know about, especially if there are familiar alternatives.
But Cardano’s “mining” method is useful in many ways imaginable – it’s (in a way) free, requires no constant effort, and is quite flexible.
On top of all that, the developers behind Cardano promise constant updates and updates. The team seems very adamant about producing the best product possible – they’ve been sticking to their plan since the coin’s inception.
So while Cardano mining is not a thing, you can earn it through other means, such as a cryptocurrency exchange. Some of the most popular include Coinbase and Binance.
If acquiring cryptocurrencies is your primary goal, and you don’t really care about the process of how to do it, you should check out Cardano.
Also, if you get Cardano in bulk, you should also keep a secure wallet. Some of the recommended options include the Ledger Nano X and Trezor Model T.
I hope this Cardano mining guide has been useful to you. Many people around the world believe in Cardano’s success and are willing to contribute to it.
There are dedicated online forums that you can visit and read to get a better understanding of the ADA’s goals and motivational factors if it’s still not clear to you.