The cryptocurrency Cardano (ADA) was created by Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum. He founded Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), which develops and maintains the Cardano ecosystem. The project was officially launched in 2017 and is known for its scientific approach, based on peer-reviewed academic research, and for using the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus protocol called Ouroboros.

Cardano is a third-generation blockchain platform designed to be scalable, sustainable, and interoperable, with a focus on smart contracts and decentralized application (dApp) development.