Cardano emerged back in 2015 and presents today a strong contender in the smart-contract arena. Similar to Ethereum, developers can create smart-contracts for their DApps. On the other hand, Cardano is highly scalable, and is able to process more than 250 transactions per second, versus Ethereum that currently does around 15 only!
This solves the major obstacles and backlashes that many cryptocurrencies faced: Eco-friendliness and scalability.
Invest responsibly, and always do your own research. Cheers! CT Team