Nikolas Sargeant
On Tuesday, the Cardano Foundation announced via X that the Cardano Foundation has joined Mastercard’s Crypto Partner Program.
As part of its Blockchains track, Cardano Foundation will engage with Mastercard and other participants working across payments and stablecoins on areas including cross-border money movement, B2B transactions and settlement.
Cardano is a third-generation blockchain using the Ouroboros proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, designed to consume significantly less energy than proof-of-work networks.
Cardano's development is primarily managed by Input Output Global (IOG, formerly IOHK), founded by Charles Hoskinson, an early Ethereum contributor. The ecosystem includes the Cardano Foundation, which ensures standardization and advocacy, and Emurgo, which drives commercial adoption and business development. Cardano operates as a Layer 1 blockchain separate from other infrastructure projects.
ADA, the native cryptocurrency, serves two functions: as a medium of exchange on the Cardano network and as a mechanism for participating in network security and governance through staking. Similar to Ether on Ethereum, users must hold ADA to execute smart contracts and pay transaction fees.
Cardano is designed as a third-generation blockchain, addressing limitations in first-generation networks like Bitcoin and second-generation platforms like Ethereum. Prior-generation blockchains often face throughput bottlenecks that constrain transaction capacity and increase fees during periods of high network activity.
ADA is down 5.7% in the last 24 hours, trading at $0.1926 per coin.
