Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood established Cardano in 2015 after leaving Ethereum the previous year. The platform launched publicly in 2017 as the largest cryptocurrency using proof of stake technology at that time.
The native token ADA honors English mathematician Ada Lovelace while the project takes its name from Italian mathematician Gerolamo Cardano. This naming convention distinguishes the blockchain from other platforms by honoring historical mathematical figures.
A critical moment arrived in 2024 when CIP-1694 activated through the Chang upgrade and Plomin hard fork. This transition enabled ADA token holders to create proposals and vote directly on-chain rather than relying solely on entity-controlled development decisions.
In 2018, IOHK signed a memorandum of understanding with Ethiopia's government regarding coffee supply chain tracking. The following year Georgia's Ministry of Education partnered with Free University of Tbilisi for credential verification systems using Atala identity software.
Decentralized finance services launched on the 12th of September 2021 enabling smart contracts and decentralized application development. Plutus serves as the primary smart contract language written in Haskell while Marlowe targets non-programmers in the financial sector.