Cardano price

Cardano is the native asset of Cardano, a programmable blockchain organized around the Ouroboros proof-of-stake protocol. ADA pays transaction fees, can be delegated to stake pools, and participates in protocol governance functions. The ADA asset is therefore tied to this specific network, protocol, or issuer function rather than to a generic cryptocurrency category.

Ouroboros selects slot leaders from stake pools, with selection probability related to delegated ADA rather than proof-of-work hashing. Cardano sets a maximum ADA supply of 45 billion; staking rewards draw from transaction fees and the remaining monetary reserve. These mechanics describe how ADA is produced, issued, redeemed, burned, or used to secure its network; they do not imply any price outcome or investment view.

A distinguishing feature is that Cardano's Ouroboros family was developed through a research-led, formally analyzed proof-of-stake approach. ADA holders can delegate participation rights to a stake pool without transferring custody of their ADA. This named mechanism or use case is the asset-specific fact that separates ADA from tokens that may share a broad category but have different issuance, governance, or settlement designs.