Both Cardano and Polygon, two of the most well-known cryptocurrency projects so far, are competing for market dominance in the rapidly growing blockchain industry. In order to help investors and other stakeholders (you!) make more informed judgments about these networks, this article compares both projects conceptually and technically in great detail. Get ready for 2023!
An Associated History
Because Polygon is an Ethereum Layer-2 (L2) solution, Cardano and Polygon have a shared past.
In 2013, Vitalik Buterin had the idea for Ethereum. Buterein enlisted the aid of Charles Hoskinson and a few others to develop the concept. However, the two couldn’t agree on whether the project should be for profit or nonprofit. Hoskinson quit the Ethereum project in late 2014 to start IOHK, a blockchain engineering and research firm. And Cardano quickly emerged as IOHK’s signature project.
Cardano, a “third generation” blockchain introduced in 2017, aims to outperform Ethereum in terms of cost, speed, and environmental impact. The same year, Polygon was established to assist Ethereum in achieving these similar goals. Today, Cardano and Polygon are two of the top 10 cryptocurrency projects by market capitalization (Market caps for Cardano vs Polygon are sourced from coinmarketcap.com, current as of 4:31 p.m. UTC on Jan. 31, 2023).
What Are Cardano and Polygon
Both are open source, decentralized, proof-of-stake (POS) blockchain networks. Both have smart contract logic for the development of third-party decentralized applications. Both provide users with fast transactions and low fees. However, there are major conceptual and technical differences.
- Cardano is a decentralized, POS, L1 blockchain protocol. Cardano’s development has been slow and purposeful as its subject to extensive peer-reviewed research. Cardano is being rolled out in stages and is currently in stage three (Goguen: Smart Contracts) of five total. Cardano’s ambitions are to scale into the global economy and transform multiple industries. Cardano’s native token is ADA.
- Polygon is a decentralized, POS, L2 multi-blockchain network for Ethereum. Polygon has a POS main-chain, but it also has a software framework that allows third-party developers to create new L2 chains that work with its main-chain and Ethereum. Polygon’s mission is to bolster Ethereum by reducing the latter’s gas fees and increasing its transaction output. Polygon’s native token is MATIC.
How Do Cardano and Polygon Work
Cardano and Polygon deploy POS consensus mechanisms, but each use different POS sub-variants, as well as other differing technologies to create their unique blockchains.
Cardano Technicals
- Ouroboros POS: “Ouroboros” is the ancient symbol of the snake that eats its own tail. Ouroboros POS implements a Global Random Oracle (GRO), which is a randomness algorithm that itself randomly changes over time. GRO leverages previous block data in part to produce each new iteration of randomness – hence the parallel to the legendary symbol. Ultimately, GRO is used for the secure selection of Cardano’s block validators. The algorithm is believed to provide enhanced security due to the extreme difficulty in anyone being able to predict the next block validator.
- Epochs and Slots: The Cardano blockchain is divided into epochs (approx. 4 days) and…
David learned about bitcoin in 2015 and has closely followed the crypto industry since then.
His professional interests center around bitcoin, layer-one blockchain protocols, decentralized finance, and clean energy.
An attorney by trade, David has held licenses to practice law in the State of Hawaii and in US federal courts.
