ADA vs. ETH

If you consider this article as TLDR, you could jump right to ‘The future of both platforms’ at the bottom of the page. Also, I have made two assumptions here. One, you are a new member of the cryptocurrency club, and you want to learn about the differences between Cardano (ADA crypto) and Ethereum blockchains. Two, or you have been in the crypto game long enough to discern for yourself which is better; well, I’ll simply spice it up for you.

RIGHT! Down to the basics…

Some questions probably running through your mind right now might include: what’s so special about Cardano (‘ADA’), and why would it have such an advantage over Ethereum? Aren’t they just decentralized ledger platforms for holding cryptocurrencies? Isn’t Ethereum preferred because it is more frequently used during token generation events – i.e. for running ICOs? Moreover, doesn’t Ethereum have the advantage of being in the system longer than Cardano?

Today, there’s almost a blockchain for every type of venture: finance, technology, infrastructure, commerce, gambling, social media; you name it, it probably exists. A more confusing picture would be seeing how they are rapidly unfolding, and that they simply are in pursuit of an ideal decentralized ecosystem.

ADA is Cardano’s internal currency just as Ether is to Ethereum. They are indeed decentralized networks striving to meet the optimal expectations of the blockchain enterprise. To explain the differences between them, we must first understand that the blockchain itself, which is a distributed public ledger is evolving and adapting to our real world. On the other hand, we are simply playing catchup by creating more case-by-case parameters.

The entire virtual space is gradually becoming so real it can almost be felt with the palms. This development path proves that each new blockchain product has the opportunity to advance the technology a bit further than its predecessor with the advantage of hindsight to build on. But in the end, it’s not a question of whose product is superior, rather, it’s that of preference due to relevance, features/functions, and usability of the blockchain product(s) or services which is ultimately determined by the end user.

The simplest analogy would be to consider the evolution of computers. At some point in history, we had large vacuum tube computers which were complex to set-up, complicated and could fill an entire laboratory space, extremely immobile making it difficult or impossible to carry about, especial once installed. Oftentimes, they could do little work, as the heat generated during computation caused them to malfunction in the process. Even though they were referred to as the first generation of computers, they represented the ideology of computer functions very poorly.

Fast-forward down the timeline, we see computer systems become tiny like GPS trackers and microchips that power them being less bulky, and come equipped with robust AI functions and yet, far more efficient in service delivery. You see, the complexity was bogus in the first generation, as it didn’t give the desired results and would require so much input for less output.

Nowadays we have more portable devices that run more complex computations with less power and more output – giving us information at a speedy rate. From this example, we can define computer systems at all stages of the evolution and compare those definitions and have the same results. But the distinct feature would be in their efficient output – in data processing speed, quality, and function.

Another way to look at this is by remembering the first time smartphones came out. People would almost give an arm and a leg to own one, just to upgrade from the boring monotonic cellular phones to hop on the train of new tech mobile phones and PDAs which could take pictures in coloured formats and file sharing via infrared. As nice as that sounded at the time, compared to the multimedia, and social media functions our mobile devices have today, all the predecessors were but small fries. It is still interesting to note that the basic functionalities in the phones from various in the various generations were maintained, i.e. to make and receive phone calls and send or receive text messages. But you would agree with me now, that you would settle for an iPhone 8 if presented the choice between one of an earlier generation to the latter.

The blockchain has such a similarity, as we do not see much of the mainframe computers, or outdated mobile phones, other than in museums and colleges who teach the basics of computing. This is largely due to several upgrades that have occurred which limits their mainstream usage in this tech era. So also, many decentralized platforms have evolved to improve on the limitations of the original blockchain protocol. A more informal way to describe the transition would be ‘out with the old, and in with the new’.

Having established that fact - change is constant and inevitable, the reason why the blockchain industry is gaining so much in evolutionary trend within a short period of time is that of the inherent qualities of the decentralized public ledger. The dynamics of blockchain enterprise has made provision for regular updates because of the open source nature of the program. The era we live in has made that possible through information exchange mechanisms.

Blockchain evolution concepts…

Two ways through which cryptocurrencies can exist is either by a forked version of an already existing blockchain or through the tokenization of a digital asset which may or may not involve the development of a blockchain. The changes in the blockchain systems are seen in the soft and hard fork experiences, summed up as updates and compatibility issues within the system. With a soft fork, systems can do minor internal network updates that would not lead to complications, while a hard fork will bring about compatibility issues, thereby leading to a new blockchain as the new blocks will not be able to correspond with the old.

When blockchain industry started in 2009, – with the Bitcoin cryptocurrency as the first born, most people thought it was ‘a joke’ (some still do), others felt it was one of the highest and riskiest ventures ever conjured in humankind. People likened it to the dot.com bubble, allegedly stating that it would blow-up in peoples face someday. Sadly, I don't think any of these accusations are going away anytime soon. Well, I guess we didn’t understand the dot.com well enough at the time and didn’t give it enough time to develop on its own.

This much we know now, having learned from that experience that rather than blindly throwing weights behind a particular system we could learn by studying it first; which is probably why blockchain industry as a whole may be gaining traction in just a few sectors and really slow in mass adoption. However, even with its rudimentary system, Bitcoin remains the highest shareholder in the cryptocurrency market with a dominance of 39.5% and market cap up north of $285 billion USD (at the time of this writing).

On the other hand, Ethereum appears all glossy since its existence was derived from mere looking at the Bitcoin network protocol and considered it as being too rigid and among other things, technically difficult for other developers to manipulate with ease. In my opinion, shiny stuffs have more stories than the glare. Ethereum must have thought that with bitcoin, blockchain adoption would take a little longer than expected or would ultimately confuse people about blockchain itself. Well, they were half right, because bitcoin blockchain is indeed rigid and the technology behind it is quite complicated as is with its algorithmic consensus; the proof-of-work which is also power demanding and further down the road lacks the proper incentive to motivate supporters to hold the currency. Also, at a point, it was difficult to get blockchain programmers to explain how the blockchain actually functions. Notwithstanding, Ethereum only tackled one aspect of the problem, the complexity. It may have made it possible for other programmers to dive-in head first into the blockchain industry. In other words, lowering the entry barriers. However, other problems still existed, such as centralization; how will decentralization and centralization coexist in the same sphere, and privacy – the blockchain essentially is a public ledger which exposes individuals to public scrutiny and deprives them their rights to privacy, the two very important features that are observable in the Cardano blockchain. In one simple sense, we can say that Cardano made a giant stride next to Ethereum’s smart contract, making it the (r)evolutionary successor to Ethereum platform. Some have gone as far as describing Cardano as the third generation in the evolution of the blockchain systems. Putting it on par with – Bitcoin, and Ethereum, NEO, and QTUM.

Ethereum began as a project to provide developers with a turnkey to develop their own projects. We can say it was like when android – an open source operating system made it easy for programmers to dive into the world of mobile application development. The exclusive feature for Ethereum was the development of smart contracts – virtual, programmable codes that act just like real-world contracts – remarkable too because in some circles these programs have been referred to the automatons of trust. So basically, Ethereum came and outshined Bitcoin with a faster network, a springboard for other ICO startups to generate their own tokens without owning a blockchain and a unique feature of smart contract protocols. But it’s a given since Bitcoin was plainly built as a store of value and operates on a proof-of-work consensus (which involves intense computation and solving of cryptographic challenges), the limits were since set. On the other hand, Ethereum created something of value too, undeniably, if the real world had smart contracts that governed most of our business transactions, the idea of trust would have been simplified well enough. However, this model of trust is embodied in the virtual world, through the use of computer program codes and it serves to eliminate human deterrents in business transactions.

Since the emergence of blockchain with much acquaintance with Bitcoin and how it became the no.1 investment choice in the early days of development of decentralized ecosystems, many cryptocurrency projects have emerged, faithfully competing to be the next no.1 and not next to. However, they either took the challenge of building a blockchain network from the ground up mirroring Bitcoin blockchain design to simply hold a cryptocurrency coin and be tradeable on an exchange or had to host their programme source codes on Ethereum or other blockchains that supported the issuance of tokens.

What then is the Cardano tech?

I believe the approach that led to the development of Cardano – the blockchain powered by the ADA cryptocurrency, is rather deliberate and full of well-refined thought processes rather than an instinctive development.
Needless to say, it isn’t that hard to figure out what a particular project isn’t doing right and mimic the entire product while inserting an edited clause (a fix) as a signature to one’s own solution. With Cardano, the process was much more different. The development team considered the fundamentals of blockchain technology and broke down the concept to its building blocks: decentralization, privacy, and integration, which accounts for the interests of all players within and outside the ecosystem.

At a glance, the project is headed by a team of scientists who took into account, the importance of scientific procedures in developing any worthwhile venture. They use a system called ‘peer review’ common in the academic environment, which happens to be the edge they have over their predecessor – the ability to review and cross-examine at every stage of the development process. This singular factor puts Cardano way ahead of other blockchain enterprises as they have on their side the advantage of a global pool of researchers and scientist who are at their beck and call. Their view is that a code that must handle global economy and complex computation must go through thorough examinations to ensure its integrity once it is out there, so there won’t be a need for huge adjustments once they discover a flaw in their design – in fact, their methodology (peer-review system) prevents any sense of flaw, but since the blockchain itself is still in its infancy, we only know so much that has already been revealed through research and users feedback from already designed systems.

Cardano is now a full-fledged interoperable, adaptive blockchain technology which presents users with more enhanced decentralized features than earlier versions and the option of building decentralized applications that are scalable.
Two very distinct features of the Cardano platform are: firstly, they offer smart contract applications that are beyond the current working designs of Ethereum blockchain. Comparatively, it’s quite expensive to run very complex programs off Ethereum platform, as it doesn’t have the required build for such operations (in terms of computation power). And also, the amount of transaction per seconds on the Ethereum blockchain is low; this is most observable when ICOs are running their token sale event and investors want in on the action, the network gets clogged as many people want to participate in numerous ICOs simultaneously; this invariably creates a queue of transactions to be processed, which ought not to be so as with the concept of blockchain itself. Think of it as the first model of Nokia 3310 and compare it to an iPhone 8 – quite a margin of difference there. Anyway, the point here is, the memory and processor speed are at different levels and as such, expectations differ when it comes down to multitasking functions. They may both receive and send text messages and handle call functions, however other tasking features are limited in the earlier generations of mobile phones.

Secondly, Cardano has a provably secure proof-of-stake blockchain model as a way to achieve consensus. Which to a very large degree reduces the amount of computation power. You know, the earliest blockchain models, the Bitcoin blockchain, Ethereum blockchain and many others, use proof-of-work to achieve consensus, which requires so much power to execute. With Cardano’s proof-of-stake model, the problem of computation power is avoided, granting the platform the ability to handle more transactions per time.

Their proof-of-stake algorithm – Ouroboros, simple lays a new block to the blockchain by assigning the tasks to nodes (block minting computer i.e. one with ADA stakes) on its network based on the number of coins the node has and it determines how much of it should be laid. That’s like telling a person with 100 bucks he can only put that amount in his chest pocket, while another individual with over 10,000 bucks can do so with a deposit box. This new system of block formation replaces the tedious amount of time and resources vested in the proof-of-work concept. Here, the highest stakeholder on the network gets the privilege of being a slot leader (a miner) and this is determined by the system through the relative amount of stakes he has in his wallet to the total value in the Cardano system. This alone can make a lot of people switch from the power-bingeing proof of work consensus – a huge breakthrough indeed.

When Cardano came up, it did so with an extensive body of research work on the weaknesses of the current decentralized ledger systems. Then on, they revised the development by building their own blockchain from scratch while subjecting every phase of the development to complex examination. This led them to eventually split the platform into layers: the settlement layer and the control layer providing more efficient data-command distribution and function. Simply put, they compartmentalized the system, enabling different functions of the blockchain such as areas responsible for cryptocurrency administration (Cardano Settlement Layer) and the layer responsible for smart contracts, data block function plus organization (Cardano Control Layer). This shows efficiency in their ability to properly organize the blockchain into its proper functionalities and maintaining the order throughout the system.

Beyond the blockchain network they’ve developed, they are currently contemplating the issuance of debit cards down the road of their service expansion, which will enhance the adoption of ADA cryptocurrency as use for expenditure around the globe. (High optimism, you might say)

Recently, Cardano listed ADA Futures Contract on BitMex, a feat Bitcoin recently achieved. Which means Cardano no longer competes with Ethereum and is headed for Bitcoin’s Crown.
If all that still doesn’t put them in your favorite spot, take a look at their backers. The project development team is sponsored by one of the co-founders of Ethereum blockchain, and engineering experts from the canopy of IOHK – Input Output Hong-Kong, a blockchain engineering company reputable for developing blockchain products and services for many institutions and financial corporations. In fact, they have a 3-split corporation pushing the project to its ultimate preeminence: The Cardano Foundation, holding the forte as they help to standardize and spread information about their product, they do so through mass publicity and mass adoption model; the IOHK company focuses on the development of the blockchain parameters ensuring its usability; while the third support comes from Emurgo which is responsible for the business integration model. Through the trio, a more legalistic view of cryptocurrencies and a more refined morale for blockchain systems can be achieved.
All this reminds me of Microsoft, Apple, Linux and Android development all over again. From a mobile perspective, each of these had a common center. To develop the next generation mobile operating system that served the masses with the unique experience of a satisfactory product.
The blockchain still is under development and would continue to evolve as more challenges and currently unexplored territories are encountered. The Cardano system will continue to self-adjust to the consequential results of the blockchain evolution through inbuilt mechanisms that enable blockchain editing possible while maintaining its integrity through soft forks – yep, no hard forks to expected from a system such as this. Therefore, clients wouldn’t have to worry about their funds and migration from one platform to the other.

The future of both platforms

Ethereum may have had the advantage of building its ideology from rudimentary Bitcoin’s blockchain system, it still has a rudimentary outlook in design. More so, the Ethereum developers are currently aware and understand the problems facing their network, however, even if they wanted to add upgrades to the system at any point, it would be challenging as it may result to a hard fork. This is because the Ethereum blockchain is currently running, it would be like trying to change the parts of a moving vehicle. But that hasn’t stopped them from considering the possibility and working tirelessly to achieve efficient results - Ethereum is also working on how to implement important updates on their network that will solve the problem of scalability for the decentralized app and the entire network as a whole.

Conclusion

However, despite how much hype the Ethereum blockchain currently has, it’s only a matter of time, before people begin to consider ADA as their alternative or most preferred choice of cryptocurrency and blockchain service. This is because, Cardano may have adopted a futuristic approach in solving blockchain problems, through anticipation (in its scalability functions), peer-reviewed blockchain mechanics (credible resource partners) and compartmentalization of blockchain resources.

Saving the best for last, Cardano may have finally paved the way for regulatory and standardization of the blockchain industry.

So it’s really up to you to decide if this new blockchain system is worth the trouble, I’ll say it is because of what they are offering, which the earlier generations must have omitted in their designs.

I would say in the end it's really not about 'cents' or current market value. It's more about what the industry can offer and how they intend to deliver on the promises, then the cents apply.