ADA & Lovelace
The difference between ADA and Lovelace and the maximum supply of the cryptocurrency.
What is ADA?
ADA is the native cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain. Any user on the platform can use ADA to exchange value, store it in wallets, or use it for staking to secure the network and receive rewards. With the dawn of the Voltaire era, ADA also serves as a tool for decentralized governance voting.
Who was Ada Lovelace?
The name "ADA" honors Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (1815–1852), a British mathematician. She is widely considered the very first computer programmer, having designed the first algorithm intended to be executed by a machine (Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine). This highlights Cardano's strong connection to science and mathematics.
Lovelace: The Smallest Unit
Just as a Bitcoin is divided into 100 million Satoshis, or a Euro into 100 Cents, ADA is also divisible. The smallest indivisible unit of ADA is called a Lovelace. Internally, the blockchain calculates exclusively with Lovelaces to completely eliminate precision errors from decimals ('floating-point errors').
Maximum Supply
Cardano, similar to Bitcoin, has a strictly limited supply. There will never be more than 45 billion ADA. A portion of this was distributed at launch, while units from the reserve are continuously distributed over the years to participants as staking rewards.