The world’s largest social investing platform eToro has heralded the public blockchain Cardano as the potential “next phase” of Ethereum.
The assertion by eToro’s senior analyst Mati Greenspan came as part of a market research report on the network created by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, which concludes that Cardano is a “highly-advanced and extremely scalable” network, offering the infrastructure for decentralised applications (dapps) to run quickly and securely.
“Cardano is developing a smart contract platform and leading the charge in what some are calling ‘Blockchain 3.0’, with a more scalable and flexible network than some of the older projects like Bitcoin and Ethereum,” said Greenspan.
“Even though Cardano is still in its early stages, the complexity of the technology and the pace at which it is progressing is extremely impressive.”
Founded by Hoskinson and Michael Parson, an early Bitcoin adopter with 25 years of banking experience, the network has been created specifically for improved global access to the financial system, while use cases could span official record keeping, supply-chain optimisation and accounting.
According to the report and citing the network’s ability to handle high transaction volumes, several pharmaceutical companies are already made a switch from Ethereum to Cardano with other dapps likely to follow suit as scalability remains a chief barrier for the former.
Proof-of-stake
One of Cardano’s key differentiators from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as Greenspan points out, is its proof-of-stake model Ouroboros, which contrary to a more traditional and costly proof-of-work algorithm, doesn’t require any mining.
Instead, Ouroboros rewards users with a certain number of tokens, potentially increasing their value by limiting the supply of coins in circulation, which could make it more likely for investors to view its the network’s ADA token as a store value, while it will be impossible to predict the token price until the network’s live and functioning.
When that happens, upcoming projects include its first Initial Coin Offering (ICO) with Traxia this year, following its migration from Ethereum, as well as a deal with the Ethiopian government to develop blockchain-based solutions for the country’s agricultural industry.
Greenspan said that early investors are backing “a highly-respected and experienced team with some very big ideas”, which gives Cardano the potential to become a “very successful project as it progresses through a long and ambitious roadmap”.
The Block had the chance to catch up face-to-face with Greenspan himself last month at Blockchain Expo Europe. Catch the full interview here, where we discuss the platform’s extensive history, most significant developments and cryptocurrency industry trends.
Interested in hearing leading global brands discuss subjects like this in person? Find out more at the Blockchain Expo World Series, Global, Europe and North America.
