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Cardano, Start Here

Updated 2026-10-29

Short answer: Cardano is a blockchain built with a research-first approach, and its coin is ADA. Two things are different from most chains: a wallet has two kinds of address, and staking doesn't lock your coins. Fees are small and paid in ADA.

Two kinds of address

  • Payment addresses start with addr1 and are what you give people to pay you. A wallet can have many.
  • The stake address starts with stake1, and there's one per wallet. It ties all your payment addresses together and collects staking rewards.

To see your whole wallet in our Portfolio, add the stake1 address (or any addr1 address from it).

Staking

You choose a stake pool from your wallet (Lace, Eternl, Yoroi and others) and your ADA starts earning after a few epochs. An epoch is 5 days. Your ADA stays in your wallet and you can spend it at any time; rewards collect on your stake address until you withdraw them.

Tokens

Cardano has its own native tokens and NFTs. Each token output also carries a small amount of ADA (often around 1 to 1.5 ADA), so sending tokens moves a little ADA along with them.

Watch out

  • Fake stake pools and "airdrop" sites asking for your recovery phrase. Delegating never needs it.
  • Look-alike tokens: check a token's policy ID on the project's official site.

On Crypto Lighthouse

  • [Portfolio](/portfolio): your wallet's ADA, rewards included, from its stake address.
  • [Check an Address](/check): activity and sanctions status.

Learn more at cardano.org.