The world of smart contracts is a fascinating one, and it’s growing more rapidly than ever. Blockchain technology has made it possible to execute smart contracts in a truly decentralized manner—without the need for intermediaries or other third parties.
While many people still associate smart contracts with Ethereum, there are now plenty of other platforms out there that can run them, too. One such platform is Cardano (ADA).
Applicability of ADA in the World of Smart Contracts
ADA’s smart contract platform is highly applicable in the world of smart contracts due to its ease of use, enhanced security, scalability, sustainability, and decentralized governance.
These features make it an attractive option for developers and businesses looking to build decentralized applications on the blockchain.
Ouroboros, ADA’s consensus protocol based on Proof-of-Stake (PoS), is considered more energy efficient and less resource intensive than the Proof-of-Work (PoW) protocols. Thus, ADA’s platform does not require vast amounts of computational power to maintain a healthy network.
ADA’s platform is designed to scale, allowing it to process many transactions at once without slowing or crashing. This scalability is achieved through the use of sidechains, which are separate blockchains that can communicate with the main chain. This allows ADA to handle a higher volume of transactions than Ethereum.
In terms of governance, ADA has a more decentralized approach than Ethereum. The platform is run by a community of stakeholders, who have a say in the decision-making process through a voting system.
This ensures that the platform is not controlled by a single entity.
Security and Speed
Ethereum has a higher transaction volume than Cardano, with approximately 1 million daily transactions compared to less than 100,000 on Cardano. However, Cardano has implemented a Proof-of-Stake consensus protocol called Ouroboros that is considered more flexible than Ethereum’s protocol.
This may make Cardano’s blockchain more scalable and could speed up transactions.
In terms of security, Cardano takes a more careful and thorough approach to implementation and development, with each component of its architecture being carefully checked and tested by a group of experts before implementation. Ethereum, on the other hand, is known for its practicality and rapid implementation of changes.
Scalability Challenges for Cardano
Scalability is a major challenge facing most blockchain technologies, and the Cardano blockchain is no exception
When the number of users and transactions on a blockchain network increases, the network can become congested, slow down, and lead to long transaction times and higher fees.
Cardano’s Ouroboros consensus algorithm enables the election of a quorum of nodes that can run more traditional protocols and accommodate the needs of large infrastructure providers.
In addition, Cardano is developing the Hydra Protocol to improve blockchain scalability by enabling parallel processing of transactions and high-speed settlements.
Ethereum as the Frontrunner of Smart Contracts
Ethereum is widely considered to be the frontrunner of smart contracts, as it was the first blockchain platform to enable the creation of decentralized applications (dApps).
Its native programming language, Solidity, and its support for the ERC-20 token standard have made it a popular platform for developers to create new blockchain-based applications. Despite Ethereum’s many strengths, its current technical limitations have led to the development of alternative blockchain platforms.
Cardano, for example, is a blockchain platform that was specifically designed to address the scalability and security issues of Ethereum.
There are also other blockchains such as Polkadot, Cosmos, and Binance Smart Chain that have emerged as potential challengers to Ethereum’s dominance.
Cardano smart contracts are much more practical than Ethereum smart contracts.
The comparison between Cardano and Ethereum smart contracts is subjective and depends on various factors.
Cardano is primarily a financial settlement platform that uses its native ADA token as currency, while Ethereum enables the creation of programmable tokenized assets and apps.
Ethererum was the first blockchain to implement smart contracts, and it has more than 3,000 decentralized applications running on top of its network. Cardano has a little over 1 ,000 dApps.
Nevertheless, Cardano is quickly becoming the preferred smart contract platform for enterprise businesses. Its solid technological foundation and diverse range of capabilities place it in a strong position to challenge Ethereum’s lead in the smart contract market.