The security of proof-of-stake blockchains is provided by a mutually dependent relationship between its native token and the consensus mechanism that powers it: after all, electing nodes to issue blocks according to their stake requires a consistent global view of the stake distribution, while maintaining consistency itself requires a fair election mechanism. Indeed, the name…

Africa and the topic of banking and the unbanked, the topic of economic identity, is something that's near and dear to my heart. More than 10 years ago, I was using Kiva, a microfinance lending platform, and it awoke a long journey of mine to read books like Muhammad Yunus’ Banker for the Poor and start having a discussion about the question: why does the world have fractured…

While their impact on Roman emperor Julius Caesar was less than favorable, the Ides of March have proved propitious for Cardano, as ada has this week been listed on Coinbase Pro and also added to the prestigious Bloomberg Terminal. These are both major developments, reinforcing Cardano's position in the cryptocurrency landscape. One brings ada to an entirely new customer base…

Yesterday we offered an overview of the Extended UTXO model employed by Cardano, explaining how it differs from the approaches taken by Bitcoin and Ethereum. Now let’s dive a little deeper into inputs and outputs, the component parts of a transaction.

We need to talk about transactions: Outputs and Inputs

The term transaction usually evokes financial echoes. While such meaning…

Blockchain networks are complex data structures. Transactions continuously crisscross the chain, creating digital footprints that require careful tracking and management to maintain the integrity and reliability of the underlying ledger.

Two major accounting ledgers exist in the blockchain space: UTXO-based blockchains (Bitcoin, for instance), and Account/Balance chains…