— Ch. 1 · Founding And Origins —
Cardano (blockchain platform).
~3 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
In 2015, Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood set out to establish Cardano after leaving Ethereum the previous year. Hoskinson had departed following a dispute with co-founder Vitalik Buterin over whether to accept venture capital funding. While Buterin preferred keeping Ethereum as a nonprofit organization, Hoskinson wanted to create a company structure. The two men founded IOHK to develop blockchains for corporations, governments, and educational institutions. This new platform launched publicly in 2017 as the largest cryptocurrency using proof of stake technology at that time. The project took its name from Italian mathematician Gerolamo Cardano while the native token ADA honors English mathematician Ada Lovelace.
Technical Architecture
Cardano uses a unique proof-of-stake protocol called Ouroboros instead of traditional proof-of-work systems. This approach eliminates the massive computing resources required by Bitcoin mining operations. In February 2021, Hoskinson estimated the network consumed just 6GWh annually compared to Bitcoin's 110.53 TWh usage. The platform divides time into slots of roughly 20 seconds within epochs lasting approximately five days. Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, Cardano lacks a formal white paper and relies on design principles addressing scalability and regulatory compliance issues. The system maintains an extended UTXO ledger model similar to Bitcoin but enhanced for smart contracts and scripting languages.