What is Cardano (ADA)?
Cardano (ADA) fact sheet with live price · reviewed November 4, 2026
Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain for smart contracts, founded by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson and launched in 2017. It's known for a research-first approach and, since 2025, for on-chain governance in which ADA holders vote. Its coin, ADA, pays fees and is staked.
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Key facts
| Launched | September 2017 |
|---|---|
| Created by | Charles Hoskinson (IOG), with the Cardano Foundation and EMURGO |
| How it's secured | Proof of stake (Ouroboros) |
| Maximum supply | 45 billion ADA |
| Smallest unit | 1 lovelace = 0.000001 ADA |
| Smart contracts | Since September 2021 |
| Governance | On-chain votes by ADA holders and elected representatives since 2025 |
Who runs it
About 3,000 independent stake pools produce blocks. Development was led by IOG (Hoskinson's company), the Cardano Foundation and EMURGO; since the Chang (2024) and Plomin (2025) upgrades, a treasury and protocol changes are decided by on-chain votes under a community-ratified constitution.
What it's used for
Staking (ADA holders can delegate to stake pools without locking their coins), smart contracts, and governance votes.
How it works
Time is split into five-day epochs. Stake pools are chosen to make blocks in proportion to the ADA delegated to them, and delegators share the rewards. Your ADA never leaves your wallet when you delegate.
Where things stand (November 2026)
On November 21, 2025 a malformed transaction exploited an old software bug and briefly split the network into two chains; stake pools upgraded their software and the chains reunited without loss of funds. Cardano's app ecosystem remains much smaller than Ethereum's or Solana's.
Risks to know
- Its app ecosystem is much smaller than Ethereum's or Solana's.
- Software bugs can still disrupt the network, as the November 2025 chain split showed.
- ADA's price is volatile.
Buying and storing it
If you decide to buy, use a regulated exchange you reach directly, check fees with the true cost calculator, and store long-term holdings in a wallet you control, with the seed phrase written down offline. Read how to buy crypto safely. This page isn't a recommendation to buy.
Questions
Can I stake ADA?
Yes. Delegating to a stake pool keeps the ADA in your own wallet.
Who created Cardano?
Charles Hoskinson, an Ethereum co-founder, through his company IOG.
Compare Cardano
See it side by side, with live data: Cardano vs. Solana, Ethereum vs. Cardano. Track it in the private portfolio tracker.
Where to next
Sources
- Cardano documentation
- Incident report: network partition (Intersect, November 2025)
- Cardano (Wikipedia)
Facts checked against the sources listed, as of November 4, 2026. Live price data by CoinGecko. Educational only; not financial advice. How we write and check pages.