Cardano vs Ethereum 2022 Comparison - Which Is Better?
The market for cryptocurrencies has been growing steadily, but the growth of the crypto-market in 2017/2018 was nothing short of meteoric — In early 2017 Bitcoin was the only game in town that mattered, but since then there’s been hundreds of decent cryptocurrencies released, two of the biggest and most legitimate being Ethereum and Cardano.
Cardano was founded in 2015 by Charles Hoskinson, who previously worked at IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong), where he helped develop the Cardano protocol. The project aims to create a new form of distributed computing, called Proof of Stake consensus algorithm.
Ethereum is a smart contract platform that enables developers to build decentralized applications. It uses proof-of-work mining to secure the network. Ethereum’s blockchain is public and live. Anyone can join it and start developing Dapps. It also offers a Turing complete virtual machine for writing smart contracts. The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) allows users to run any program on the network using Solidity programming language. This provides security as well as privacy since all transactions are recorded publicly. Ethereum is often described as “the world computer” because of its ability to host decentralized apps and programs or Dapps.
Like Ethereum, Cardano is a decentralized, open-source blockchain network that launched in September 2017.
It has capabilities to support smart contracts but has promised better speeds vs Ethereum and so will be more accessible than Ethereum smart contracts.
Cardano is trying to out compete Ethereum as it is wanting to improve on Ethereum cryptocurrency’s current infrastructure by offering better fees, transaction throughput and speed as well as better scalability.
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What Is The Difference- Ethereum vs Cardano?
Both Ethereum and Cardano use blockchain technology. However, they differ in their approach to this technology. Ethereum is an open source software project with a focus on decentralization, with no real central team or leadership.
Cardano is a bit less decentralised but still very decentralised, but they have a head team that has a heavy focus on scientific philosophy and research, which makes it one of the most secure blockchains out there in terms of code quality. Cardano is designed to be scalable, flexible and highly secure.
Ethereum is more popular than Cardano right now. But if you want to invest in a promising project, then Cardano is definitely your best bet.
How Does Ethereum Work?
Understanding how Ethereum works is almost impossible if you don’t know what a block is. So, let’s begin by taking a look at what a block is. In short, a block is a collection of information. A block will include lots of different information, including data and transactions.
When you want to add a transaction to an existing block, a small fee will be charged. When a miner finds the block that satisfies all the conditions they are looking for, then this block will be added to a blockchain, and sent to the person who first started the block.
It can be a little complex to understand, but every block that has been created will continue to exist until each block reaches a set number of transactions. After this occurs, it will become part of the blockchain, and will no longer be stored.
This chain will continue, and with each new block that is added, a block at the start of the chain will be deleted. This cycle continues, ensuring that no chain becomes too big to store.
Things will only continue to run smoothly when a miner is in control of what is going on, and ensuring that a set number of transactions occurs for each block before it is added to the chain. Miners are very important, and they are at the heart of ensuring that Ethereum runs smoothly.
Ethereum, and its blockchain system, operates on a decentralized computer network. The computer manages the system, tracks the currency and the blockchain provides a running receipt of each transaction.
While the decentralized computer network can be a little tricky to understand, it is actually this system that makes Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, attractive to users. Through this system, money can be exchanged without the need for a bank.
It essentially makes Ethereum almost autonomous as transactions can almost be made anonymously (aside from the information publically available in the blockchain).
Essentially, Ethereum works because its cryptocurrency works as a token. Money is sent to the Ethereum platform, and a token is received in return. This token can then be used for specific purposes/functions that the Ethereum platform allows.
As a cryptocurrency, Ethereum allows a number of functions. These include smart contracts, decentralized apps, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), decentralized finance, and currency. But, let’s take a further look at this by looking at the functions of Ethereum.
Ethereum Features
Ethereum currently operates on a PoW (Proof of Work) system. This is the system that we spoke about earlier, that uses miners to manage the blockchain. This system isn’t entirely unique to Ethereum, and it is actually the same system that is used by Bitcoin’s Blockchain. Ethereum plans to switch to a Cardano-style Proof of Stake system in the coming years.
One of the most attractive features of Ethereum for many people is the smart contracts that they offer. The system that Ethereum is run on allows smart contracts to be developed and deployed. Smart contracts are really what has caused the popularity of Ethereum to boom as well as its decentralization. Ethereum allows decentralized applications and decentralized autonomous organizations, and they were the first project to really offer them.
Decentralized applications (Dapps) are consolidated applications, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) can be created by users for democratic decision-making. These features were pioneered by Ethereum, and they are one of the main attractions to this cryptocurrency.
Ethereum also features NFTs, Non-Fungible Tokens — The First NFTs were produced on the Ethereum Blockchain, and most still ‘live’ on top of the ethereum blockchain. As you can see, Ethereum boasts a lot of features. These features alone make up for the drawbacks that Ethereum faces.
It might not be the fastest blockchain that exists, as it only allows 15 transactions per second, but it does support a huge variation in programming which is vital when it comes to smart contracts.
Now that we have taken a look at the features of Ethereum, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of it, before we move onto Cardano.
Pros And Cons Of Ethereum
Pros
- Supports a variety of code languages and application types (via smart contracts)
- Relatively User-Friendly to Use
- Easier to mine than alternatives, such as bitcoin.
- Ethereum has a strong development community, meaning that the functionality of this system is always being improved.
- It allows for global transactions without needing an intermediary, so it is an efficient and low-cost option.
Cons
- Ethereum is only able to process 15 transactions per second currently, so it struggles when a lot of people try to complete transactions simultaneously.
- Transactions are not free, and you will need to pay a fee to the miners for your transaction.
- Ethereum is very volatile as many people use it as an investment, rather than as a currency.
- Due to Ethereum’s size it often takes a long time to push an update to the mainnet
How Does Cardano Work?
Cardano is based on peer review and scientific philosophy. It is a hybrid blockchain system that combines elements of both centralized and decentralized systems. There are two types of nodes in the cardano ecosystem: the validator nodes and the staking nodes. Validator nodes hold ADA coins, and stake pool nodes generate blocks. Validators are rewarded with ADA tokens for being part of the network.
They validate transactions and produce blocks. Stake pool nodes are given rewards for generating blocks. These rewards come in the form of ADA tokens. These nodes are responsible for maintaining the ledger and ensuring the integrity of the network. Stake pool nodes need to be online 24/7 to ensure that the network runs smoothly.
Cardano Features
Some of the most notable features Cardano offers are its consensus mechanism, its architecture and its approach. In terms of its consensus mechanism is that it uses Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithms. This means that the mechanism can determine how transactions are agreed on and then are added to the blockchain.
This algorithm is called Ouroboros and is a lot more scalable and efficient than PoW type systems. Additionally, it is also quite secure. With this type of network, the users do not mine tokens or coins but instead go through a block-validation process by staking the native tokens. The tokens are locked up or deposited into a smart contract in order to have the opportunity of being selected to add new blocks to the chain.
POS systems are weighted, the more coins a validator locks up the higher the probability of that specific validator being selected to add new transaction data to the next block. This process is much more energy efficient and cost-effective compared to Proof of Work.
Additionally, Cardano’s network has two layers, its Cardano Settlement Layer (CSL) and its Cardano Computation Layer (CCL). CSL is used for ADA transfers and the CCL is used to support the creation of smart contacts. This also allows for higher efficiency of the system. By contrast Ethereum does these functionalities on the same layer leading to greater congestion and high fees.
Uniquely, Cardano uses a scientific, peer-review process before any product, service, or update is released. This means that there is a high amount of quality assurance and confidence offered in comparison to other cryptocurrency platforms.
Furthermore, Cardano is wanting to solve scalability issues experienced across other platforms, interoperability amongst blockchains (the ability of computer systems or software to exchange and make use of information)- therefore making it easier to communicate between blockchains, no matter what coding language or architecture was used to create the blockchain.
Cardano also wants to become more sustainable by including a treasury to fund developers to work on upgrades to the platform. When a block is mined, some of the ADA rewards will go into a separate wallet and then ADA holders will vote to decide who gets the money.
These stakeholders will also govern the future of technical and software upgrades and any other funding or monetary decisions.
Pros And Cons Of Cardano
Pros
- Multiple layers- quick and efficient communication between blockchains
- Entirely Open Source
- POS quicker and more energy efficient than PoW
- Scientific, peer-reviewed
Cons
- Still in development and lacks mass-adoption
- Voting system to be implemented
- Higher risk than Ethereum
The Bottom Line
In conclusion, Cardano is still in its early stages of development and has a long way to go before becoming a fully functioning platform — however it is already proving itself as an alternative to Ethereum. It is a highly scalable platform with a unique consensus mechanism which could potentially revolutionize the world of cryptocurrencies.
The team behind Cardano has been working very hard over the past few years to get their project off the ground. They have made great progress so far and will continue to improve their platform and develop it further — as will the team behind Ethereum, and ultimately we’d say both are likely to succeed in the long-term.