Cardano will Overtake Ethereum in 2 Years.

Here's how:
Most people think of Cardano as just another wannabe Ethereum. However, Cardano is
fervently on the heels of Ethereum, currently sitting as the 6th largest Cryptocurrency in the
world by market cap. The five cryptocurrencies ahead of it are stablecoins Tether-USDT and
USDC, as well as Binance's BNB.

With Ethereum currently under pressure to switch to a more eco-friendly consensus

mechanism, Cardano, with its Proof-of-Stake mechanism, is positioned to take over as the
leading open-source blockchain. However, a new consensus mechanism alone is not enough to
beat the world's second-largest Cryptocurrency. Here are a few reasons we believe that
Cardano will Overtake Ethereum in 2 Years.

A Systemic Approach to Innovation

Cardano has a very interesting history. Its founder, Charles Hoskinson, was one of the co-
founders of Ethereum. Back in 2014, when Ethereum was no more than a whitepaper with a
handful of developers, its founders had different ideas on the corporate structure of the project.

Vitalik Buterin, who published Ethereum's whitepaper and is currently known as the face of
Ethereum, wanted Ethereum to be a non-profit organization. Charles Hoskinson disagreed and
preferred the project be developed as a commercial product. The disagreement led to the Exit of
Charles Hoskinson, who moved on to start Cardano.

Hoskinson took Cardano through a slow start, with every step in the blockchain development
taking way longer than its competitors. For example, Cardano's smart contracts launched less
than a year ago, in September 2021. This release came almost four years after its launch. And
six years after Ethereum's smart contract has been in full use.

Cardano's slow development results from a calculated and mathematical approach to

innovation. The developers deliberately go over every new feature repeatedly before they are
launched. In addition, rather than a whitepaper release as is a staple with most cryptocurrency
projects, Cardano's team publishes scores of research papers. The team details new proposals,
ideas, and technicalities behind its underlying technology in these papers.

The research papers undergo independent peer reviews by both technologists and scientists.
Any interested party is welcome to take a look and start a conversation about any noticed flaws.

The peer-review process is tedious and unnecessary from a commercial perspective, but it is
exactly what attracts long-term investors to the project. Not only does it help Cardano release
air-tight updates and features - but it also contributes to the overall development of the crypto
industry and the science community.

Cardano's measured approach is a welcome improvement for many crypto stakeholders in an

industry that is largely propelled by hype and buzz.
Cardano's approach sharply contrasts with Ethereum, which moves at break-neck speed.
Consequently, the Ethereum project is often found stuck in a developmental loop. For instance,
Ethereum can have been battling a low transaction processing speed for years, only capable of
15 transactions per second (TPS). Cardano, on the other hand, currently handles 257
transactions per second.

The difference in the pace of development between the two projects is a classic example of the
tortoise and the hare.

Consensus Mechanism
The main lead Cardano currently has over Ethereum is its Ouroboros validation method based
on the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.

Blockchains are designed to handle thousands of daily transactions involving multiple parties.
Therefore they need a way to confirm these transactions and organize them in a ledger. Using a
central authority will defeat the decentralized ideals that started the cryptocurrency industry.

Blockchains use a network of validators chosen through the mining to validate transactions in
groups called blocks.

Ethereum, like Bitcoin, uses a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to validate its blocks
and elect the block creator among a sea of miners. However, one major flaw of the PoW
consensus mechanism is the amount of electricity that goes into this process we call mining.

Miners set up massive computer rigs for a chance to earn the reward given for creating a block.
This system of incentives keeps blockchains running independently and transparently without
the need for a central authority.

The Ethereum mining process alone currently consumes over 300 terawatts-hour of electricity
per year. To put that into perspective, that is more than the amount of electricity used by
countries like Pakistan and Mexico. Comparatively, Cardano merely uses a fraction of the
amount of electricity Ethereum uses at six gigawatts-hour a year. Equivalent to the amount used
by two power plants.

Cardano brings the same level of security as its predecessors without excessive power usage
and an expensive mining setup. Instead, it uses a proof-of-stake mechanism where its miners,
called "stakeholders," deposit, lock away, or stake a portion of the native ADA token for a
chance to be chosen as the block validator.

Ethereum has proposed a switch to the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism itself. Ethereum's
new changes are part of the larger Ethereum 2.0 plan that proposes to solve all its major flaws.
But we are yet to get a timeline of when to expect these changes — the only window of what
has been written on paper.
Scalability
Any blockchain aiming for the top spot must be able to cater to an increasing number of users
adequately. This inability to scale is at the heart of the outrageous gas fees we experience on
Ethereum. Cardano is already capable of processing over 200 transactions per second, a more
than significant bump over Ethereum's 15 TPS. And this is just with Cardano's main blockchain.

A secondary solution that can process transactions outside the main blockchain will
exponentially boost the blockchain's TPS. Secondary blockchains like these are called layer-2
solutions, and Cardano is currently working on an off-chain layer-2 solution it calls hydra. With
Hydra, Cardano projects to be able to handle over 2 million transactions per second.

To be fair, Ethereum is working on a similar layer-2 solution called Plasma. However, this is
where Cardano's methodological approach and consistent innovation puts them ahead.
Cardano, unlike Ethereum, has a history of delivering on innovations — even if they come a little
late.

Only with a significant increase in the processing speed of these blockchains can they hope to
compete with traditional institutions. For example, Visa, the transaction processing giant, can
comfortably handle 70,000 transactions per second.

Community Support
Cardano has garnered a very strong community passionate about what the project has to offer.
So much so that Cardano's release of its smart contract was received massively, temporarily
ushering it to the number 3 spot in the crypto market.

Despite being released just September last year, Ethereum already boasts over 1000 projects
built on its smart contracts.

One thing is sure, Cardano has a very active and engaged community that is only projected to
grow higher in number. A good indication is that 70% of all the tokens on Ethereum are currently
earning rewards. Where most blockchains are filled with abandoned projects and scheming,
short-term projects, Cardano's high engagement is an objective measure of future dominance.

Cardano also stands out with strategic partnerships with universities, brands, and governments.
This partnership positions it at the forefront of the adoption of Cryptocurrency for everyday use.

For example, Dish Network, one of the biggest TV providers, has signed an agreement with
Cardano to provide 8 million digital identities to its users. The government of Ethiopia has a
similar partnership with Cardano that seeks to use blockchain technology for its national ID
system.

Conclusion
Ethereum's first-mover advantage cannot be trivialized. It currently has about 1 million projects
using its smart contracts to provide solutions. In the same light, however, Cardano has the
basics covered. It has a secure, fast, and scalable blockchain. It has an active community of
users and developers and has made prestigious partnerships to advance the use of
blockchains.

Cardano is not exactly an up-and-comer either. What is left is an opportunity. And opportunities
abound in a fast-moving industry like Cryptocurrency, leading us to believe that Cardano has a
very good chance to overtake Ethereum in the next two years.

The recent bear run has already begun a shift in the power dynamics of the crypto marketplace.
For example, prominent crypto investor Grayscale has increased its ADA allocation to 30%
following the Terra-Luna crash. If Cardano keeps gaining market share with developers in the
NFT and dApps space, it is only a matter of time before Cardano overtakes Ethereum.