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Voltaire

Morgan
VoltaireGovernance+ 1
The fifth phase of Cardano development in which treasury and governance capabilities are being delivered.
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Layer 2

Olga Hryniuk
Scalabilityblockchain
An additional, off-chain protocol that works on top of the layer 1 blockchain. Parties can securely transfer funds from the blockchain into an off-chain protocol, settle transactions in this protocol independently of the underlying chain, and safely transfer funds back to the underlying chain as needed. Layer 2 protocols improve overall throughput and scalab...
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Layer 1

Olga Hryniuk
Scalabilityblockchain
The main blockchain ledger that operates on the underlying consensus protocol. This layer includes protocol parameters that control capabilities such as scalability and throughput.
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Wallet

Morgan
WalletGlossary+ 1
Software to manage cryptocurrency balances and make transactions. ‘Light’ wallets for Cardano such as Yoroi are designed for fast, easy access via browser or on a mobile phone; full node wallets such as Daedalus are designed for desktops. While they require a high-spec machine and regular syncing, they are the most secure (non-hardware) wallet and help maint...
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Yoroi

Morgan
Light walletEmurgo+ 2
Yoroi is a light wallet for daily use with Cardano. Yoroi was developed by Emurgo.
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KEVM

Olga Hryniuk
DevelopmentSmart Contracts
K Ethereum Virtual Machine. It allows developers to experiment with any smart contract that can be run on the EVM, and offers improved security and performance.
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IOHK

Olga Hryniuk
IOGIOHK
Input Output Hong Kong was founded in 2015 by Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood to create Cardano. The company became Input Output Global in 2018.
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IOG

Olga Hryniuk
IOG
Input Output Global. The new name for IOHK, the company that developed the Cardano blockchain. IOG was registered in the US state of Wyoming in 2018, along with an office in Singapore.
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Interoperability

Olga Hryniuk
Interoperability
Aims to enable interconnection between blockchains. Cross-chain transfers and the ‘internet of blockchains’ will grant enhanced user experience and functionality. Sidechains and the AGIX ERC20 converter support Cardano's interoperability.
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Hydra

Olga Hryniuk
HydraScalability
A family of protocols that overlay the layer 1 Cardano blockchain to process transactions off the main chain. Hydra uses the main ledger as the secure settlement layer, boosts throughput, minimizes the delay in starting to process transactions, incurs low to no costs, and greatly reduces storage requirements.
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Hydra Head

Olga Hryniuk
HydraScalability
The first of several Hydra protocols, and the basis of improving Cardano's scalability. Each Hydra Head works as an off-chain mini ledger, similar but faster than the main on-chain ledger, shared between small groups of participants. Many complex protocols can be added as layers on top of Cardano.
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Hot wallet

Olga Hryniuk
WalletCryptocurrency wallet+ 1
A cryptocurrency wallet that can be accessed online to store currencies and make transactions. A hot wallet stores a collection of private keys and needs to be connected to the internet to process cryptocurrency operations.
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Haskell

Olga Hryniuk
ProgrammingHaskell
A functional programming language with a focus on producing secure code.  Haskell is well suited to Cardano's high-assurance code, and the need for greater formal verification in the blockchain. Core parts of Cardano are written in Haskell and extensive testing processes ensure Plutus Core smart contracts work properly.
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Hardware wallet

Olga Hryniuk
WalletCryptocurrency wallet
A device that stores cryptocurrencies offline and can be connected to a computer to access the funds. Hardware wallets are secure and beneficial in terms of offline security and convenience as they can be carried around and used when needed.
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Hard fork

Olga Hryniuk
Hard forkHard fork combinator+ 1
An irreversible change to a blockchain protocol. Cardano uses a hard fork combinator to ensure smooth upgrades. Unlike earlier blockchains, Cardano hard forks save the chain history and do not cause disruption for users.
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Governance

Olga Hryniuk
GovernanceDecentralization+ 3
There is no single decision-maker controlling Cardano's growth and development. Instead, decentralized processes empower ada holders to make suggestions and collaborate on decisions. All ada holders can suggest a change through the Cardano improvement proposal (CIP) system, or participate in Project Catalyst to vote on what changes should be made.
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Goguen

Olga Hryniuk
CardanoDevelopment+ 1
The third phase of Cardano development that brought smart contract support.
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Game theory

Olga Hryniuk
ResearchCardano
The study of logical decision-making made by players within the defined parameters of a system. Game theory provides mathematical frameworks for predicting interactions between people in a system, where they are all looking out for their best interests. Cardano uses game theory to help avoid economic attacks on the network.
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Fungible token

Olga Hryniuk
Cryptocurrency
A token that is identical to many others and can be traded is fungible. For example, one ada is the same as all others and so is fungible. Shares in a company, gold bars, and US dollars, for example, are all fungible. Cryptos are usually fungible, but there are also unique, non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
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Formal verification

Olga Hryniuk
ResearchFormal verification+ 1
The process of checking whether system design and the underlying algorithms are correct and satisfy the given requirements and properties. It is based on the formal methods of mathematics and is an integral part of IOG research. The core parts of Cardano are written in Haskell.
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