Ethereum or Cardano: Which is the better crypto?
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization recently touched a whopping $2 trillion for the first time in its history. Interestingly, the surge in value was largely led by alternative coins or altcoins. While bitcoin tripled its value recently, altcoins have exploded 20, 30, or even 40x at times.
With bitcoin accounting for less than 50% of the crypto market value, down from 70% at the start of the year, it is safe to say the season of altcoins has indeed arrived.
Two specific altcoins — Ether (ETH) and Cardano (ADA) — have garnered much attention, not just from an investment perspective, but also for the winds of change they’ve brought about in the blockchain world.
But why the Ethereum vs Cardano debate?
Since the inception of bitcoin, the first digital currency, in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, the underlying crypto technology has undergone three generations of solid transformation.
The first generation: Bitcoin
Bitcoin (later litecoin and dogecoin) being the first generation of cryptocurrency relies on blockchain technology for secured digital payments.
The blockchain, a distributed ledger of transactions, uses a proof of work model to validate these transactions that entail solving complex mathematical equations backed by cryptography, a process popularly referred to as mining.
The second generation: Ethereum
Ethereum, founded by Vitalik Buterin, upped the game of cryptos from being a purely decentralized payment system to providing a platform for other technologies like decentralized applications (dApps) to be built on top of.
Smart contracts are a specific use case finding ample steam among businesses.
Despite the progress, the Ethereum blockchain largely works around the principles of mining and proof of work validation.
The third generation: Cardano
Founded by mathematician Charles Hoskinson, Cardano, the new generation crypto, revolutionized the validation process by introducing the proof of stake concept, successfully circumventing the dreadful mining process. This gave Cardano the edge Ethereum held as a smart contracts platform while also addressing some core issues of mining.
And of course, Cardano got famously referred to as the “Ethereum Killer”.
Advantages of Cardano over Ethereum
Who better than Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano and co-founder of Ethereum, to explain the difference between Ethereum and Cardano lucidly.
While both Ethereum and Cardano are racing towards becoming the reliable platform for developers to design future technologies based on dApps, the advantage Cardano holds as an upgrade to Ethereum is evident.
For one, all the buzz around huge amounts of electricity (largely coal-based) being consumed in the mining of cryptos is addressed by Cardano’s environment-friendly proof of stake validation blockchain.
The high gas fees act as a huge stumbling block by making transactions on the Ethereum network more and more expensive. Cardona’s relatively low fees and high efficiency make it attractive for investors and traders.
Besides, Cardona’s community outreach and the social goal to help the underdeveloped nations of Africa by banking the unbanked gives the crypto a noble twist.
The Verdict: Ethereum is here to stay
Despite all the setbacks, Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin and soared to a record high of $4000 in May, nearly a 500% increase from the start of the year.
As seen with bitcoin, trust is a valuable factor for the growth and stability of cryptocurrencies. Ethereum has earned the trust of the crypto community and investors, Cardano with all its benefits has a long way to go to outperform Ethereum.
