Cardano – The 3rd Generation Blockchain

– Where Philosophy Meets Science And Technology

What is Cardano?

Cardano is not just another altcoin. It is an actual blockchain similar to Ethereum as it is a smart contract platform, however, Cardano offers scalability through a layered architecture. Cardano’s approach is unique in this space itself as it is built on scientific philosophy and peer-reviewed academic research. It was conceptualized by Charles Hoskinson who is a co-founder of the Ethereum Blockchain and a number of other projects.

While Ethereum does an admirable job as a smart contract platform, according to Hoskinson it is a second-generation blockchain and needed evolution. What makes Cardano extremely remarkable is the absolute amount of care that goes into its preservation. There are three organizations that work fulltime to develop and take care of Cardano. They are, 

The Cardano Foundation  
IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong)
Emurgo

These three organizations work in synergy to ensure the development of Cardano is tracking at a good pace. 

 

The Origin Of Cardano

Cardano started as a project in 2015 with real high aspirations. The model they chose to follow was a darker program that was a very risky, big, sexy, juicy, huge problem according to Charles Hoskinson when he spoke at the Cardano 2nd Anniversary meetup in Bulgaria on September 28th, 2019. The project focussed on lots of high-risk high return science with a view to see where it took Cardano and somewhere along this journey try to trim it down to a point where the company could build a product and commercialize it. 

After untold hours of research, enormous testing of protocols, 40 white papers and attending many rigorous academic conferences and highly scrutinized. Cardano found its niche and is positioned to be a force as its addressing the ongoing issues other cryptos and blockchains are inherently having.

Cardano was launched in Sept of 2017 Cardano and now on its 2nd anniversary is leading the charge doing great things in terms of development, communication and building a better crypto project.

The Three Generations Of Blockchain

Ist Generation Blockchain. Bitcoin and Money Transfer  – People were asking the questions, Is it possible to create a form of money that can be transferred between two people without an intermediary? Also is it possible to create a decentralized currency on a distributed ledger like a blockchain? Satoshi Nakamoto answered these questions by creating Bitcoin. However, there was a problem with Bitcoin and for all first-generation blockchains in that, they only allowed for monetary transactions and there was no way to add conditions to those transactions. 

For example, Tom can send Jerry 2 Bitcoin for a service he provides, but he couldn’t tell Jerry that he will get the payment only when he provides the service. These conditions would need extremely complicated scripts. “Something” was needed to make this process more coherent. 

  
2nd Generation Blockchain Ethereum and Smart Contracts – The “something” that was needed was a smart contract. Smart contracts assist you in exchanging money, property, shares or anything of value in a transparent, conflict-free fashion without the services of a middleman. Ethereum demonstrated to the world how the blockchain can evolve from a simple payment system to something a lot more powerful and significant. 

However, this generation had some issues too. As many more interesting use cases were being created they were obtaining much more recognition. The issue was the fact that this generation of blockchain ultimately didn’t have a good foundation for scalability. Also, the governance system was not particularly that well thought through. According to Hoskinson, the Ethereum and Ethereum Classic split is a prime example of bad governance.  

3rd Generation Blockchain – Cardano – Through years of experience along with trial and error, Charles Hoskinson knew that the blockchain needed to evolve even more. He took the positive elements from the first two generations of blockchain and added some elements of his own. Hence Cardano was born. The three elements Cardano needed and wanted to solve where,

• Scalability
• Interoperability
• Sustainability  

I will get to the nuts and bolts of how Cardano will approach these three elements in the next article. It’s mind-blowing! It has to be said that Cardano is unique because it is essentially built on scientific philosophy and peer-reviewed academic research. It has the ultimate goal of being “High Assurance Code” and all the engineering that goes into it will ensure that there is a much higher belief in the quality of code used. This will prevent future cases like the ETH-ETC split from occurring, according to Hoskinson. At the end of the day, the project will be 250 times more decentralized than Bitcoin with much less power needed to run it, approximately 10 kilowatts to run a global system. This is classed as a miracle of science and the miracle of good engineering. 

The Philosophy Of Cardano

Cardano is a project in an effort to change the way cryptocurrencies are designed and developed. The overall focus beyond a particular set of innovations is to provide a more balanced and sustainable ecosystem that better accounts for the needs of its users as well as other systems seeking integration.

In the spirit of many open source projects, Cardano did not begin with a comprehensive roadmap or even an authoritative white paper. Rather it embraced a collection of design principles, engineering best practices, and avenues for exploration. These are taken directly from the Cardano website and they include the following, 

• Separation of accounting and computation into different layers
• Implementation of core components in highly modular functional code
• Small groups of academics and developers competing with peer-reviewed research
• Heavy use of interdisciplinary teams including the early use of InfoSec experts
• Fast iteration between white papers, implementation and new research required to correct issues discovered during review
• Building in the ability to upgrade post-deployed systems without destroying the network
• Development of a decentralized funding mechanism for future work
• A long-term view on improving the design of cryptocurrencies so they can work on mobile devices with a reasonable and secure user experience
• Bringing stakeholders closer to the operations and maintenance of their cryptocurrency
• Acknowledging the need to account for multiple assets in the same ledger
• Abstracting transactions to include optional metadata in order to better conform to the needs of legacy systems
• Learning from the nearly 1,000 altcoins by embracing features that make sense
• Adopt a standards-driven process inspired by the Internet Engineering Task Force using a dedicated foundation to lock down the final protocol design
• Explore the social elements of commerce
• Find a healthy middle-ground for regulators to interact with commerce without compromising some core principles inherited from Bitcoin

 

Why Are We Here?

Below are excerpts from a Keynote Speech made by Charles Hoskinson, heading the Cardano Project. Passionate reasoning as to why we are in need of major change for the betterment of all on a global scale and its coming.

“The reason why we’re here and why this industry exists is because the world is changing. The philosophy of the world is changing, the way the governments work is changing due to the pressures of instantaneous, instant availability of information and value from the internet and also from globalization. We no longer live in our little silos or hierarchies with standard narrative fictions that have existed for centuries. The people in 3rd world countries can have just as much impact on the world as the people in the United States now. They have the same access to information as the rest of the world. This is changing everything, it’s creating friction and is why we have upheaval and unrest, financial collapses, etc. 

The point of our blockchain and crypto industry is we are providing a toolbox, a collection of visions of where we can take the world. Where we can collectively decide on how to solve problems whether it's environmental, governance, wars or resource allocations, without there being some central country in charge. Or without building some giant meta government that gets rid of a nation-state. 

The magic of the blockchain industry is that we in a completely decentralized, libertarian private way are having conversations about re-inventing money, consent, and property rights, in fact, the very structure of the world. The point of Cardano has been to be a model of how to do this.” 

As a whole, the protocol’s design is geared towards protecting the privacy rights of users, while also taking into account the needs of regulators. In doing so, Cardano is the first protocol to balance these requirements in a nuanced and effective way, pioneering a new approach for cryptocurrencies. 

Charles Hoskinson also pointed out that by definition, decentralized meant that no one was in charge and no one unilaterally could decide. However, for it to take the shape of a sustainable system, there should be clarity in terms of “who pays and who decides the future”. 

“…so basically if you're going to decentralize the system and hand it over to the people you need to build up a critical mass of people who are capable of running the system. There are two ways of doing this, you can just fork and say good luck, everybody, bye-bye, or you can go ahead and build a safe sandbox, and pay people in that sandbox, allow businesses and knowledge and domain expertise that build up within in it and at some point when you bubble over and get a critical threshold you can pull it into the main system.”  

In addition, while the platform has been solidly composed, Cardano also recognizes the need for it to evolve and adapt to changing needs. Consequently, they have designed a system that can be upgraded by way of soft forks, and are installing a treasury system that will ensure the sustainability of the protocol.

What’s In It For Markethive?

With Cardano’s latest technology resolving present-day blockchain issues, it makes sense to switch to the Cardano blockchain which will be ready in 2020. Markethive will still have its own blockchain but with the support and protocols of an exceptional 3rd generation project. Let’s face it, technology doesn’t standstill. It’s always progressing finding new and better ways to improve systems and this is a good thing. 

This negates any problems with scalability as Markethive and its coin grows, unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum. This also speeds up the development of the wallet and fits in perfectly with Markethive’s plans of quantum computers.  Markethive is currently on Cardano’s sandbox platform, testing the system, getting ready for the blockchain launch next year.  

Conclusion

Cardano is not only built on steadfast philosophy but also on dedicated science. That alone gives it a significant edge over its competitors. Being lead by Charles Hoskinson only adds more credibility. The platform is multilayered and gives the system the elasticity to be easily maintained. Cardano uses a Proof-of-Stake system, reducing the number of electricity requirements and improving its scalability. Another feature of Cardano is its Recursive InterNetwork Architecture that allows for the existence of a subnetwork within the main network, which also makes it easier for a network to grow.

Cardano aims to become an “Internet of Blockchain,” making it possible for all cryptocurrencies to exist side by side and be converted from one to another without intermediaries. Cardano will also allow users to attach metadata to their transactions if they want to, making the network friendlier to banks and governments.

Completely open-source and patent-free, Cardano was built in a spirit of collaboration. And engineered for efficiency and scalability, the Cardano ecosystem is developing out into the most complete and most useful cryptocurrency and blockchain ever constructed.

 

 

 

David Ogden

A Crypto/Blockchain enthusiast and a strong advocate for technology, progress, and freedom of speech. I embrace "change" with a passion and my purpose in life is to help people understand, accept and move forward with enthusiasm to achieve their goals. 

 

 

 

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden

From MAGNATE to FUGITIVE to HOLLYWOOD

The saga of John Mcafee's life and adventures from being an anti-virus software mogul to a wanted man fleeing Belize on questions about a murder has been recounted several times, but there is still some mystery as to why he felt he had to leave his paradise in 2012. This has led to filmmakers wanting to do a movie and documentaries about his fascinating life.  

An Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Nanette Burnstein was approached by Showtime with the idea to do a story about the Belize episode in McAfee’s life in 2015. A year earlier, Spike TV asked her if she would make a film with McFee’s involvement. This meant she had to follow him around for a year. She declined that offer. Spike TV went ahead without her and it has since been made into a 6 part series, “The McAfee Project” 

 

Filmmaker – Nanette Burnstein

Burnstein accepted Showtime’s offer and headed down to Belize to uncover the truth that is shrouded in mystery and to this day the murder of Greg Faull is a cold case. In her documentary, named Gringo: The Dangerous Life Of John McAfee, she gains the trust of McAfee’s associates, members of his security detail, and numerous women to learn of McAfee’s alleged involvement in not just the Faull case but other crimes. 

Notably, McAfee declined to be filmed for the movie although Burnstein does include some email correspondence between the two at which later John McAfee denies they had. An executive producer for the Showtime documentary, Jeff Wise, who had previously written numerous stories about McAfee presented Burnstein with a promo tape of the interviews they put together of revelations about McAfee from his associates in Belize. This piqued her interest even more so she went to Belize for the next 3 months to work on the film.  

One of the first people she met through Wise was Eddie McKoy, a local who is known for his ties with gangs in Belize and goes by the nickname of “Mac 10”. Reportedly he was hired to kill John McAfee but after a meeting with McAfee and some negotiation, he became part of his security detail. 

According to the movie, Burnstein uncovers alleged specifics about the Greg Faull murder. Most notably, McAfee's caretaker, Cassian Chavarria, claims on camera that he was ordered by McAfee to wire $5000 to McKoy with instructions to kill Faull after Faull allegedly poisoned McAfee’s dogs. When Burnstein confronts McKoy in the movie with this information, he denies it. 

She also learned that the allegations about McAfee’s time in Belize don’t end there. 

A man named David Middleton, who allegedly broke into McAfee’s house in Belize, was beaten to death. Men who claim to have been involved in the beating speak in “Gringo” about the incident, saying McAfee hired them.

Then there’s a disturbing recollection by microbiologist Allison Adonizio, who was working for McAfee developing antibiotics derived from jungle plants in Orange Walk. She alleges McAfee drugged her one night and raped her.

According to Burnstein and her film, it becomes clear very quickly that she sees the evidence against McAfee as unequivocal. Burnstein says, 

“Is he absolutely guilty of both murders? Do I have DNA evidence to prove it? I can’t. But I think that the evidence is so damning against him that I want people to think about how someone can get away with doing something like this.”

 

Trailor From The Documentary, Gringo: The Dangerous Life Of John McAfee.

Interesting to note, reportedly Allison Adonizio and Jeff Wise, an executive producer of the showtime documentary were having an affair at the time. Adding to that McAfee states in an interview Adonizio wasn’t the professional, hardworking microbiologist he thought she was. She was unhappy "to the core" and somewhat unhinged. She was more of a partier than a worker and McAfee fired her as a result. These could be the motivations for her allegations McAfee subtly asserted. 

In rounding out his theories, McAfee speculated that Wise might be in cahoots with the head of Belize’s Gang Suppression Unit, Marco Vidal. The same man who shot up McAfee’s Belize compound and lab, killing his dog and destroying his property.

 McAfee described Vidal as his “archenemy,” and said that Vidal would “would pluck out his own eyes to get me back to Belize and sitting in his torture chair.”

 

McAfee ‘Gringo’ A Complete Fabrication

Just before the movie was due to be released, it was discovered the 9 people interviewed in the documentary were coerced and paid for their testimonies by Showtime. Of course, Nanette Burnstein and Showtime flatly denied they didn’t and don’t pay for interviews, however, 4 of the people that gave interviews have given sworn statements attesting to the fact that representatives at Showtime paid them to lie about McAfee. 

McAfee, among other things, had in his possession, a receipt sent to Eddie McKoy, McAfee’s former employee, a transaction that shows someone was paid $3000 for their interview. 
    
 “The beauty of Western Union,” McAfee said, “is that both parties to a transaction are required to provide proof of identity. So… unless Nanette [the director of the film] can somehow convince the world that I managed to get Western Union to lie for me, which given Nanette’s world-class talents in fabricating her own and others’ realities, cannot absolutely be ruled out, then I think it’s game over.” 

McAfee noted that if you do a bit of research you can find that Nanette “has in the past entirely fabricated documentaries.” McAfee dismissed the entire documentary as “a fabrication from beginning to end.”

In the video below are the recantations of the people in Belize that worked closely with John McAfee. These people were approached by Showtime who were making the documentary about McAfee and enticed with payments to blatantly lie in their interviews on the film. 

Regardless of whether “Gringo” convinces you that John McAfee is a murderer, as some say, or that he’s a victim of a Belizean government plot to kill him, as he claims, it is certainly not short on stories.

McAfee’s Rebuttal Says It All 

The Showtime documentary outrightly accuses John McAfee of Murder so he now fights back in his rebuttal. McAfee, for his part, asserts that he has been demonized by the press. He ends his rebuttal with a request, "Please, Showtime, show some grace and simply pay me without the formality of having to deal with lawyers. I will accept $500 million. Thank you.”

There is no question the long-time security guru is eccentric. The question is, is he a criminal?

JOHN McAFEE: Here's what really happened in Belize…

On A Lighter Note

Currently, there is a movie being produced named “King Of The Jungle”. This is set to have a dark comedic slant of the true story of the tech magnate with Michael Keaton playing the part of John McAfee, and Seth Rogan portrays Wired Magazine investigator Ari Furman, who accepts what he thinks is a run-of-the-mill assignment to interview McAfee, but once he arrives in Belize, he finds himself pulled into McAfee’s escalating paranoia, slippery reality, and murder.   

The Hollywood movie does have John McAfee’s blessing but not before he had Johnny Depp fired from the cast. Depp was set to play McAfee before Michael Keaton got the role. McAfee said he didn’t think Depp had the depth to play him as he tweeted, 

“He is a great actor, but I didn't believe he had the depth to play me. He turned Hunter Thompson into a parody in Fear and Loathing for example.”

McAfee wanted Morgan Freeman to play the part, but Freeman refused the role. “King Of The Jungle” will hopefully be released sometime in 2020. 

 

 

 

David Ogden
Entrepreneur, using Markethive, a global Market Network, and  also a strong advocate for technology, progress, and freedom of speech.  I embrace "Change" with a passion and my purpose in life is to help people understand, accept and move forward with enthusiasm to achieve their goals. 

 

 

David Ogden – Http://markethive.com/david-ogden