Cardano’s primary use case is to allow transactions in its native cryptocurrency, ADA, and to enable developers to build secure decentralized applications powered by it.

 

However, Cardano differs from other blockchain projects by emphasizing a research-driven approach to design, aiming to achieve an academic rigor it believes will propel adoption of its technology.

 

While Cardano may not promise new ground-breaking features, users and developers may find its cryptocurrency offers appealing optimizations based on scientific research and formal verification, a process by which its code is verified mathematically.

 

Further, Cardano is released in phases and has seen 5 major platform upgrades since 2017, including Byron, which enabled the transfer for ADA cryptocurrency for the first time and Voltaire, which introduced a new model for how users could fund development for software changes. 
 

Stellar was created with the aim to change the way currencies and assets were transferred globally and has been described as everything from a payment rail to an exchange. 

 

The Stellar platform incentivizes a distributed network of computers to run a software that enables anyone to send money and assets in ways that have traditionally been the domain of payment providers.

 

Stellar differs from Ripple in attempts to position itself as a kind of decentralized exchange, with a built-in order book that keeps track of the ownership of Stellar assets. These assets can then be traded on its platform between users using its Stellar Lumens XLM cryptocurrency.