Founded by Charles Hoskinson who was also one of the founders of Ethereum, Cardano started its development in 2015. Designed and developed by IOHK in conjunction with the University of Edinburgh, the University of Athens and the University of Connecticut, Cardano SL (or Cardano Settlement Layer) is a Proof of Stake cryptocurrency based on the Haskell implementation of the white paper u201cOuroboros: A Provably Secure Proof of Stake Blockchain Protocol by Aggelos Kiayias, Alexander Russell, Bernardo David and Roman Oliynykov.

Cardano is reportedly the first blockchain platform to evolve out of a scientific philosophy and a research-first driven approach and it is developing a smart contract platform which seeks to deliver more advanced features than any protocol previously developed. Cardano will use a democratic governance system that allows the project to evolve over time, and fund itself sustainably through a treasury system. Cardano also notes that it will combine users' need for privacy with regulation, so that Cardano's style of regulated computing will foster greater financial inclusion.