Why is everyone talking about Cardano?

From being a lesser-known cryptocurrency, Cardano (ADA) has raced to become third-largest after its price surged touched an all-time high surpassing Binance’s native token, as per market valuation.

At the current price of $2.82, Cardano’s market capitalisation stands $90.60 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. Its price has gone up by nearly 11.3 percent in the last 24 hours. Its year to date is also much higher than Bitcoin and Ethereum as it is currently at 1,444 percent.

The cryptocurrency market has been rallying in the last two weeks with the total market capital surging past $2 trillion. Bitcoin and Ethereum have been leading after they plummeted in mid May. Meanwhile, new altcoins have also rallied in the price race.

Cardano is a proof of stake blockchain and is considered a direct rival of Ethereum and Solana. Its recent price surge came after the upcoming ‘Alonzo’ upgrade was recently announced.

The update which will be launched in September is expected to introduce smart contracts to the blockchain. “It's an important moment, marking significant progress in the rollout of #smartcontracts on the #Cardano mainnet which is targeted for the end of August/early September,” the development team said in a Twitter post adding that it has begun test net as well.

The bullish trend of Cardano got a boost after the coin was authorised to list in Japan which is considered to have one of the ‘most demanding listing criteria worldwide’. It is scheduled to be listed on August 25, 2021. This listing places the native among the likes of elite coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin that are also traded on the Japanese exchange.

Cardano’s reputation as a “green coin” is what attracts cryptocurrency enthusiasts who want to engage with environmentally friendly and sustainable digital assets.  This gives the coin an upper hand over Bitcoin and Ethereum that are not considered as efficient in energy consumption.