In the World of Crypto, Cardano Could Be a Real Winner

Here’s why crypto investors may want to think about owning Cardano as a part of a well-diversified portfolio right now.

Indeed, when investors see cryptocurrencies trading at a few dollars or less, it is difficult to imagine it can reach the heights of Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency. That’s a rather impressive growth trajectory that’s hard to duplicate. Considering Bitcoin started off at a few cents and is now standing at nearly $60,000 a coin, no one can deny the possibility of other tokens following suit in the long run.

Here I will discuss Cardano (CRYPTO:ADA) — a crypto play that I believe has tremendous potential in the long run. Let’s see why.

Caradano was created for business

Cardano was created by Charles Hoskinson — co-founder of Ethereum — one of the bigger players in the crypto market. In essence, Cardano is a blockchain featuring its own coin called ADA. This network can handle smart contracts or self-executing contracts when certain conditions are met. As the building blocks of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, smart contracts are generally perceived to be the future of crypto. Accordingly, there are many who believe Cardano could be an “Ethereum killer” on this basis.

There are other reasons why some investors feel this is the case. Namely, Cardano is among the faster large-cap cryptocurrencies in terms of transaction speed. This token is roughly eight times faster than Bitcoin and has fees that are much lower than Ethereum right now. For those in the crypto world looking to do something as simple as transferring money, Cardano is certainly an intriguing choice right now.

Environment-friendly attributes

However, among the key reasons many investors consider Cardano a top crypto pick is the network’s proof-of-stake protocol. What this means is that investors can stake their crypto to validate transactions on the blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin’s proof-of-work model (which requires mining, or complex mathematical computations to be done to validate transactions), Cardano’s model is much simpler.

What does this mean?

Well, for one, this network uses a lot less energy. It’s believed that Bitcoin currently uses roughly 0.5% of the total global power consumption. For crypto aficionados worried about the future implications this growth could provide, Cardano is certainly an intriguing choice.

Bottom line

The crypto market is one that’s certainly risky. Investors picking any one token, or group of tokens for that matter, should be aware of these risks.

However, investors seeking growth may want to look past Bitcoin and Ethereum to other projects such as Cardano. Indeed, Cardano remains a top cryptocurrency on my watch list right now for the aforementioned reasons.

Fool contributor Chris MacDonald has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Bitcoin.

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