Ethereum-killer has become a commonplace term in the crypto world with many coins being predicted to have the potential to overtake ether. That’s because Ethereum is not a perfect blockchain with its high gas fees, low transaction rates and a gas-guzzling consensus method.
Cardano is one of the latest to be predicted to surpass the second largest cryptocurrency. ADA claims to solve many of the issues affecting its rival, having put scalability and efficiency at the core of the project.
The upcoming Vasil hard fork on the blockchain has particularly supercharged the view of ADA as an ETH killer. But who will win out in the battle of Cardano vs Ethereum?Which has more potential? Cardano or Ethereum?
What are Cardano and Ethereum?
Blockchain and cryptocurrencies were built to take power away from financial institutions and create a more transparent system. Five years after Bitcoin’s launch, Ethereum innovated the industry and brought wider and more creative utility to the technology
Instead of just being used as a store of value or transaction book, developers were flocking to Ethereum and built a wide range of decentralised applications, otherwise known as DApps. Now in 2022, eight years’ later, the blockchain boasts an impressive portfolio of projects, from DeFi to non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, split ways with the project when it launched. According to a report on Benzinga.com, this was due to disagreements about the direction of the blockchain.
Hoskinson teamed up with his former Ethereum colleague Jeremy Wood and created IOHK, a business that builds blockchains and cryptocurrencies for institutions. In 2017, IOHK developed Cardano, a crypto project with scalability, sustainability and transparency at its core.
Cardano’s website describes itself as: “A decentralised third-generation proof-of-stake blockchain platform and home to the ADA cryptocurrency. It has been designed from the ground up by a team of top engineers and academic experts.”
The consensus methods compared
The system for producing new blocks is the main difference between Cardano and Ethereum. This distinction is also what Hoskinson is hoping will see Cardano become a superior blockchain.
Currently, Ethereum uses a proof-of-work consensus method where computers solve complex puzzles to create new blocks. While it has a history of being reliable, this method has been criticised as energy intensive and inefficient.
Cardano said its method, a variation of proof-of-stake called Ouroboros, is more scalable and efficient. Simply put, the consensus method assigns random leaders who are responsible for validating blocks. This is the secret behind why Cardano can achieve 250 transactions per second (TPS), compared with Ethereum’s 15 TPS.
Ethereum 2.0
Experts argue the high gas fees, lack of scalability, and energy intensive nature of Ethereum’s network is holding it back. Developers are seeking improved efficiency for their apps and investors are on the hunt for fast transactions.
But the Cardano vs Ethereum debate is set to become more complex as ether’s blockchain has recognised these problems and is currently undergoing a transformative upgrade. Ethereum 2.0 will migrate the consensus mechanism from proof of work to proof of stake and is set to improve the TPS from 15 to 100,000.
However, it is argued on Cardano’s CoinMarketCap page that ETH 2.0 is going to be a time-consuming process that will take place gradually. Meanwhile, Cardano’s solution is already in place, which is “peer-reviewed”, “durable and stable”.
Ethereum has already proved to struggle with deadlines having pushed back it’s launch date. The latest update on the release dates is to implement the second phase in June 2022 and the final upgrade in 2023.
Cardano’s recent success
Similarly, Cardano has big plans for this year with a major upgrade scheduled for June as well. Hoskinson has revealed the blockchain is undergoing a hard fork, titled Vasil, which is set to enhance the blockchain and smart contract platform.
Hoskinson is hoping this fork will continue to address the goals in his vision. New mechanisms are said to be put in place that will improve scalability, reduce fees and allow more complex smart contracts.
Hundreds of engineers are reported to be working on the project, according to a 12 April YouTube video by Hoskinson, on a “insanely aggressive timeline”.
Cardano has already started to see a drive in its ecosystem growth. More than 850 projects have been built on the blockchain, with NFT collections making up almost 50% of them. Ethereum has shown dominance in the non-fungible market, but experts think Cardano has what it takes to overcome it.
Cardano vs Ethereum
Ethereum killers come and go. None have proved to dethrone the second largest cryptocurrency. Cardano is the latest to be given the title as many think its ecosystem growth could drive it to become one of the largest cryptocurrencies.
When looking at ADA vs ETH, the former still has a long way to go. Currently, ranked seventh, Cardano’s market cap is trailing far behind Ethereum’s – ETH’s $248bn valuation is over ten times the size of ADA’s $19bn.
However, their recent losses have been similar, with Ethereum and Cardown down – 12.43% and 13.52% respecitvely for the seven days prior to 17 May 2022.
Which has more potential? Cardano or Ethereum?
Many crypto enthusiasts have their opinion on whether Cardano or Ethereum will remain victorious. The predicted outcome depends on who you ask.
When discussing Ethereum vs Cardano, Adria Cimino wrote in a Motley Fool article that the latter’s strength lies in its stability. “That's because the network uses a peer review system. This means every change or upgrade goes through a peer review process before actually going live. That’s a big plus because it likely will prevent glitches down the road.”
Cimino said it has “what it takes to catch up to Ethereum – and maybe even surpass the market giant”. However, she argued Solana is a more favourable Ethereum killer, due to SOL’s higher number of DApps and developers.
On the other hand, Faizan Farooque was bullish over ADA’s potential in a recent article for InvestorPlace. “The Cardano blockchain is a sleeping giant. It’s built on peer-reviewed research and avoids the pitfalls of its predecessors. It has the potential to become more powerful than Ethereum or Bitcoin.”
But cryptocurrency has proved time and time again to be an unpredictable market. Coins that have competed with the big two have then been seen to plummet in value. Take the recent collapse of the Terra ecosystem. Many thought LUNA had what it took to overtake Ethereum, then overnight it fell out of the top 100 coins.
With the upcoming Vasil hard fork, experts think Cardano can continue its upward trajectory in both its ecosystem growth and ADA token. But whether it is capable of overtaking ETH will continue to divide crypto enthusiasts.
Hope this article can provide you with a better understanding about Cardano vs Ethereum.
