Cardano

ADA CMC #15 in the snapshot

A proof-of-stake smart-contract chain that extends Bitcoin-style outputs with data and scripts.

Profile checked 14 Nov 2026Asset ranks captured 14 Nov 2026Snapshot & methodology ↗

01 / THE PURPOSE

What is Cardano for?

Cardano supports native assets and programmable transactions. Its ledger design lets applications express conditions on spending particular outputs instead of updating one global contract account.

02 / THE ARCHITECTURE

Three questions about the machinery.

How does it agree?

Consensus & security

Ouroboros selects stake-pool block producers according to delegated stake. The protocol’s guarantees depend on its honest-stake and networking assumptions; delegation does not remove those conditions.

Where do instructions run?

Execution model

Extended UTXO outputs carry data and spending logic. A transaction explicitly consumes outputs, which helps reason about its effects but requires different application patterns from an account-based EVM.

What is the token for?

ADA in the system

ADA pays fees and participates in staking and governance. Native tokens can coexist in outputs, but they do not automatically have ADA’s consensus role.

03 / THE DESIGN CHOICES

What comes with the design?

Each architecture makes choices about security, performance, coordination, and who can participate.

Competing transactions trying to spend the same output cannot both succeed.
Stake-pool concentration, governance choices and application-specific contracts still matter.

04 / IN PRACTICE

Follow one use.

Illustrative: a swap transaction spends a script-controlled pool output and creates its updated successor. An unrelated transaction using different outputs can proceed independently.

05 / CHECK THE EXPLANATION

Sources & snapshot.

Network descriptions use the references below. The CoinMarketCap snapshot determines which assets are in scope and their captured rank; it does not assess the quality of a network.

Cardano · Extended UTXO Cardano
Cardano · Ouroboros Cardano
CoinMarketCap top 100 snapshot Captured 14 Nov 2026 · See the complete scope audit
Cardano (ADA) on CoinMarketCap Captured asset rank #15

Profile checked 14 Nov 2026. Network designs and ranked positions can change.