Layer 1 blockchain
Cardano ticker ADA
Summary
Ouroboros Praos proof of stake: time is divided into slots and epochs, and stake pools are selected to produce blocks according to the stake they control. The ledger is an extended UTXO model whose outputs can carry data and be guarded by scripts. 1456
Design
- System
- Layer 1 blockchain
- Settlement family
- Its own design
- Scarce resource
- Stake (proof of stake)
- State model
- UTXO
- Finality
- Probabilistic
- Who makes blocks
- Stake pools elected per slot in proportion to delegated stake; ADA holders delegate without handing spending keys to the pool.
- Fork choice
- Chain selection under Ouroboros; settlement is probabilistic, with rollback probability falling exponentially as blocks are added. The security parameter is 2160 blocks (about 12 hours).
Qualifications
- State model · Partial. Extended UTXO: outputs can carry datums and sit at script addresses whose validators see the datum, redeemer and transaction. It is UTXO-derived and not an account model; Cardano's term is extended UTXO (eUTXO), recorded as utxo.
- Nakamoto style fork choice · Partial. Longest-chain probabilistic settlement under Ouroboros, with leaders chosen by stake lottery.
- Settlement family · Partial. Recorded as other: Cardano runs its own protocol, Ouroboros Praos proof of stake over an extended UTXO ledger with Plutus scripts.
Tradeoffs
- Emphasizes
- Security and Decentralization
- Gives up
- Base-layer throughput and settlement speed: settlement is probabilistic (the security parameter is 2160 blocks, about 12 hours; Kraken, for example, waits 15 blocks, about 10 minutes, and apps and exchanges vary widely, per CPS-0017), and the Leios throughput work was still in public testnet as of review.Stake-weighted leader selection means block-production influence tracks the distribution of delegated stake; that distribution is not measured here.
- Full node at home
- Practical at home 7The developer portal (May 2026) lists 2+ cores at 2GHz, 24 GB RAM with the in-memory backend (8 GB with the on-disk backend, pending confirmation), 250 GB storage (350 GB recommended) and about 1 GB of bandwidth per hour. These are stake-pool figures; a node that only follows the chain does the same validation work, so it should need no more (an inference). The 24 GB memory figure is above many laptops, and the on-disk backend would lower memory further once confirmed.
- Throughput claims
- No classified figure recorded
Scaling layers
- Hydra Head · State channels, beta 910
An isomorphic state channel: online participants run the Cardano ledger off-chain and must all sign each snapshot; any participant can close the head and the final state can be contested on the main chain. Mainnet-compatible from 0.10.0, but the project says mainnet use is at your own risk and the protocol is in development.
Capabilities
| Capability | How it is provided | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Account abstraction | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Atomic swaps | Built into the protocolLimited scope | One transaction can spend several parties' outputs and either validates with all its inputs or fails, so single-chain swaps of ADA and native assets (ledger-native tokens) settle in full or not at all. Scope is limited to the same chain: cross-chain swap tooling using hash time locks was not reviewed. 12 |
| Authenticated data publication | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
| Light clients | Core-team softwareLimited scope | Mithril, developed by Input Output (IOG), is a separate protocol in which stake pool operators run signers that produce stake-based threshold-signed snapshots, used for fast node bootstrap and chain-data verification without a full node. Consensus does not produce these signatures, so the value follows the software's publisher. Scope is limited: the signer is described as production-ready while the protocol keeps evolving. 11 |
| Native staking or delegation | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| On-chain governance | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Parallel execution | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Payment or state channels | Ecosystem software (publisher not distinguished) Earlier definition | Hydra Head state channels, run by participants with hydra-node, are mainnet-compatible but self-described as in development and used at own risk. See the scaling options described in this profile. 910 |
| Programmable spending | Native (protocol or core-team software) Earlier definition | Plutus validators decide whether script-guarded outputs may be spent, using datum, redeemer and transaction context. This is eUTXO validation. 13 |
| Protocol-verified messaging | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Reversible transfers or recovery | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; Cardano's built-in native scripts combine signature requirements with before-slot and after-slot time locks, and Plutus validators can express more, so a schedule where the sender can reclaim funds before a set time and the recipient can claim after it could be built (an inference from the script rules). These are building blocks, and CIP-1854 multi-signature wallets are a signature threshold, not a recovery path. No standard wallet flow for sender reclaim or recovery was reviewed, and the protocol does not reverse a confirmed payment. 118 |
| Rollups | Unknown | No rollup anchored to Cardano was reviewed for this profile. Hydra is a state channel, not a rollup. |
| Shielded transfers | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Signed partial offers | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
Reading these values
- How this feature is provided
- Built into the protocol, core-team software or independent software says where a feature lives and who can change it. These are implementation layers, not quality: core-team software is not closer to the protocol than independent software.
- Structured assessment pending
- The shared review has not assessed this feature for any chain yet (Account abstraction, Native staking or delegation, On-chain governance, Parallel execution, Protocol-verified messaging and Shielded transfers). That does not mean it is absent, and a chain’s profile may already describe it.
- Unknown
- The review has not established this for this chain under the current definition; the note beside it says why. Unknown is not absent and not a low score. A feature reads “Not present” only when a source shows it is absent.
- Earlier definition
- Payment or state channels, Programmable spending and Rollups keep the earlier definition until the next fact-check. There, “Native” does not separate the protocol from core-team software, “Ecosystem software” does not say who publishes it, and “Partial” does not say which layer.
- Reading across rows
- The list of capabilities is incomplete. Do not read these rows as a chain leading or lagging overall.
Ecosystem & custody
| Product type | Status | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Automated market makers | Established in the ecosystemMinswap | Minswap is a multi-pool AMM DEX on Cardano. Liquidity depth is not measured here. 12 |
| Issuer-native stablecoins | Established in the ecosystemUSDM | USDM is a USD-backed stablecoin issued natively on Cardano by Moneta Digital; holders rely on the issuer's reserves and redemption. 13 |
| Algorithmic stablecoins | Unknown | Algorithmic or overcollateralized stablecoins (for example Djed) were not verified from a primary source. |
| Bridges | Unknown | Bridges were not reviewed. A bridge does not make connected ledgers share finality. |
| Block explorers | Established in the ecosystemCexplorer.io | Public explorer data is indexer output, not independent consensus verification. Other explorers were not reviewed. 14 |
| Hardware wallets | Established in the ecosystemLedger, Trezor | See the Ledger and Trezor custody entries in this profile: both vendors support ADA, including staking, in their own apps. 1516 |
Hardware-wallet custody
| Device maker | Status | What users can and cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Ledger | Native supportSame as native: Yes | Can: Manage ADA in Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live) Can: Stake or delegate ADA using Ledger Wallet or compatible wallets such as Daedalus or YoroiNative-token handling on Ledger was not confirmed from the reviewed page. 15 |
| Trezor | Native supportSame as native: Yes | Can: Send, receive and stake ADA in Trezor Suite on Trezor Safe 3, Safe 5, Safe 7 and Model T Can: Use NuFi or AdaLite with the device Cannot: Use ADA on Trezor Model One (not listed on Trezor's Cardano pages) 1617 |
Public data
Your AI can request these lookups through the connection. The website itself runs no lookups. Networks: mainnet.
| Lookup | Status | What it covers and its limits |
|---|---|---|
| Address or account | Available | one validated mainnet payment address and its indexed lovelace balance |
| Tokens and assets | Available | bounded paginated Koios native-asset rows for one payment address |
| NFTs | Available | CIP-25 exact token metadata and CIP-68 label-222/datum signals for one bounded address-asset page |
| Transactions | Available | bounded indexed mainnet inclusion and value summary by transaction hash |
Sourced developments
Developments: Review overdue Reviewed Sep 26, 2026; next review was due Oct 6, 2026, 07:35 UTC.
Publication date · newest first
-
Cardano Foundation and Fireblocks announced native-token support work
The Cardano Foundation announced that Fireblocks plans full custody, send, and receive support for Cardano Native Tokens, with availability expected by March 2027.
- Proposal:announced roadmap
- Implementation:support work announced; implementation not independently observed
- Release:expected by March 2027
- Activation:not active evidence as of this review
Source: Cardano Foundation — Fireblocks to add full support for Cardano Native Tokens (external site)
-
Cardano Foundation introduced Mesmo native library bindings
The Foundation described Mesmo as a compiled Cardano Client Lib fallback exposed through a C ABI with Python, Go, Rust, and JavaScript wrappers, intended to supplement rather than replace each ecosystem's main SDK.
- Implementation:library described with multi-language wrappers
- Release:Announced
- Activation:not a protocol activation
-
cardano-node 11.1.2 released
cardano-node 11.1.2 was published as a stable release that optimizes memory use in time-lock scripts; Intersect asked stake-pool operators to prioritize it because it superseded 11.1.1 after an issue found in testing.
- Implementation:released source and artifacts
- Release:stable release; supersedes 11.1.1
- Activation:operator adoption varies; not a hard-fork activation
Sources: IntersectMBO — cardano-node 11.1.2 (external site) · Intersect — Intersect weekly update #129 Sep 19, 2026 (external site)
-
IOG announced Plutus stewardship transition to Midgard Labs
Input Output announced that the Plutus team and management responsibility would move from IO Labs to Midgard Labs effective October 1, with both organizations collaborating during the transition.
- Implementation:transition coordination announced
- Release:organizational announcement published
- Activation:scheduled stewardship transition on 2026-10-01; not yet effective at review
Source: Input Output — Plutus moves to Midgard Labs (external site)
-
Cardano Foundation published its August 2026 activity update
The monthly report covered partnerships, governance votes, community funding, and developer-infrastructure activity during August.
- Implementation:organizational report published
- Release:published update
- Activation:mixed underlying activities; not one protocol activation
Source: Cardano Foundation — Cardano Foundation Monthly Update: August 2026 (external site)
-
IOG reported Leios Earth-phase public-testnet results
IOG reported that the 41-day Earth phase of the MusashiNet public testnet peaked near six times the transaction-byte throughput of Cardano mainnet at the compared parameters, while also documenting bugs, forks, crashes, fixes, and remaining prototype work.
- Proposal:CIP-164 design and ongoing engineering
- Implementation:public prototype testnet Earth phase completed; Water phase continuing
- Release:testnet engineering report
- Activation:not activated on Cardano mainnet
Source: Input Output — Leios hits 6x Cardano's throughput on its first testnet (external site)
-
van Rossem hard fork enacted at Epoch 644
Intersect reported that the hard-fork governance action was enacted on Cardano mainnet at the Epoch 644 boundary on 2026-07-18 21:44:51 UTC.
- Proposal:ratified before enactment
- Implementation:coordinated and tested before mainnet
- Release:mainnet protocol upgrade
- Activation:enacted at Epoch 644 on 2026-07-18
Source: Intersect — Intersect weekly update #121 July 24, 2026 (external site)
Topics your AI can explain
Your AI can explain these topics for Cardano through the connection, with sources.
Known gaps
What this profile's review did not establish:
- No throughput figure is listed; the Leios testnet result is a relative, testnet-only measurement and was not classified as a claim.
- Hydra adoption and home-user wallet support were not reviewed.
- Rollups anchored to Cardano were not reviewed.
- Bridges and algorithmic stablecoins (e.g. Djed) were not verified from primary sources.
- Hardware requirements cited are for stake-pool operation; separate figures for a non-producing home node were not found. The home node rating was set on 2026-09-27 from these memory and disk figures; it would drop back if the 24 GB figure rises or the on-disk backend is not confirmed.
- Native-token support on Ledger and Trezor was not confirmed.
- No standard wallet flow for reversible transfers or recovery was reviewed; native script time locks are building blocks only, so that row is unknown.
- USDM redemption terms were not detailed on the reviewed issuer page.
Sources
Oldest dated source check: Source checked Sep 27, 2026 Next check due Oct 27, 2026.
- Extended UTXO model (external site)
- Native tokens (external site)
- Cardano Developer Portal (external site)
- Cardano addresses (external site)
- Ouroboros overview (external site)
- CPS-0017: Settlement Speed (external site)
- Minimum hardware requirements to run a stake pool (external site)
- Leios hits 6x Cardano's throughput on its first testnet (external site)
- Hydra repository (external site)
- Hydra Head protocol overview (external site)
- Mithril documentation (external site)
- Minswap (external site)
- USDM (external site)
- Cexplorer.io Cardano Explorer (external site)
- Cardano wallet on Ledger (external site)
- Cardano (ADA) on Trezor (external site)
- Staking Cardano (ADA) in Trezor Suite (external site)
- CIP-1854: Multi-signatures HD Wallets (external site)
Report an error
Found something wrong or out of date? Reporting is free, and every chain goes through the same process. Published corrections appear in the public log.
Funding disclosure
Funding disclosures appear here when an upkeep arrangement exists, in the form “Upkeep funded by [name]; verdicts unaffected.” The funder ledger has not been published yet. Neutrality & funding