ADACardano: history, founders and key events
From Sep 29, 2017 to today, every major rally, crash and upgrade, each with a dated, sourced price.
Open the interactive timelineLatest close in our data: $0.2312 (Coinbase Exchange ADA/USD daily close, 2026-10-14).
Origin story
Cardano was started by Charles Hoskinson, an Ethereum co founder, and Jeremy Wood through their company IOHK. It takes a research first approach, with its Ouroboros proof of stake protocol published in peer reviewed papers.
The network launched on September 29, 2017 in the Byron era. Staking arrived with Shelley in 2020 and smart contracts with Alonzo in 2021.
Founders: Charles Hoskinson, with IOHK (Input Output), the Cardano Foundation and Emurgo.
Source: Binance ADA/USDT daily closes 2018-04-17 to 2021-03-17; Coinbase Exchange ADA/USD daily closes 2021-03-18 to 2026-10-14. Fetched Oct 14, 2026 from free public APIs. Click a dot for the event and its price on that day.
Browse by year
Key events
- Sep 29, 2017launch
Cardano Byron launch
Cardano's mainnet goes live. - Apr 17, 2018milestone
First daily close in our data $0.2426 (Binance ADA/USDT daily close, 2018-04-17)
Our sourced ADA price history begins on this day. - Jul 29, 2020upgrade
Shelley hard fork $0.1397 (Binance ADA/USDT daily close, 2020-07-29)
Staking and decentralized block production arrive. - Sep 3, 2021rally
Highest close in our data $2.97 (Coinbase Exchange ADA/USD daily close, 2021-09-03)
The highest daily close for ADA in our price history. - Sep 12, 2021upgrade
Alonzo smart contracts $2.58 (Coinbase Exchange ADA/USD daily close, 2021-09-12)
Cardano adds Plutus smart contracts. - Sep 1, 2024upgrade
Chang hard fork $0.3311 (Coinbase Exchange ADA/USD daily close, 2024-09-01)
On chain governance begins under CIP-1694. - Jun 25, 2026crash
Lowest close after the peak $0.1435 (Coinbase Exchange ADA/USD daily close, 2026-06-25)
The lowest ADA close in our data after its highest close.
Updated
Sources
Facts written in our own words. Last checked Oct 14, 2026.