# Can anyone help me better understand Ada? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [20 January 2021 22:29 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/can-anyone-help-me-better-understand-ada/45177 "2021-01-20T22:29:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DontHassleTheHosk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DontHassleTheHosk](https://forum.cardano.org/u/DontHassleTheHosk)\ **Post date:** [20 January 2021 22:29 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/can-anyone-help-me-better-understand-ada/45177/1 "2021-01-20T22:29:38Z")
I’ve been buying Cardano for almost 3 years, as I believe in Charles, the team, and the vision, wholeheartedly. What I need help understanding is basically-what exactly is the intention of having Ada or Cardano “coins.” I understand it’s a way to help stoke or finance the mission, at least that’s my understanding. My main confusion is “do Charles and IOHK see Ada as a currency that will be used to buy goods and services, in countries where native currency has failed. Or is it simply a means to fund the project and give people a way to make profits along the way?” I follow many channels, Crypto Crow, Ivan on Tech, etc, and I always hear about taking profits (converting Ada to Fiat,) but never about holding simply to eventually use Ada to buy things, pay bills, etc. Thank you in advance for anyone’s insights. ---
**Author:** ![XZact](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/xzact/32/60180_2.png) [@XZact](https://forum.cardano.org/u/XZact)\ **Post date:** [21 January 2021 02:08 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/can-anyone-help-me-better-understand-ada/45177/2 "2021-01-21T02:08:05Z")
It’s a slow moving project, and all the payment solutions are not yet built out. But yes, in the future it will be a currency and a payment system, and a store of value, and a world computer smart contract platform, and, and and… just about everything you can possibly do with a blockchain. (assuming things go according to plan) > **[Partnership: Cardano Users Can Now Spend ADA on Amazon, Nike, Starbucks,...](https://newslogical.com/partnership-cardano-users-can-now-spend-ada-on-amazon-nike-starbucks-1100-others/)** > > The commercial arm of the Cardano Foundation, Emurgo, has just signed a new partnership with a top-class Canadian payment processor, Bidali, > **[Wolfram Alpha teams up with Cardano to build 'avant-garde oracles'](https://cointelegraph.com/news/wolfram-alpha-teams-up-with-cardano-to-build-avant-garde-oracles)** > > Wolfram Alpha, a major computational knowledge engine, will release Cardano-based functionality in 2021. > **[Africa is the future of DeFi, argues Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson](https://cointelegraph.com/news/africa-is-the-future-of-defi-argues-cardano-s-charles-hoskinson)** > > Building DeFi networks in Africa could lead to over $5 trillion in assets on the Cardano blockchain, says Charles Hoskinson > **[Cardano + SingularityNET Partnership = Trillions in Marketcap!](https://medium.com/@thefractalcrypto/cardano-singularitynet-partnership-trillions-in-marketcap-bcd78e44e9d4)** > > Cardano and SingularityNET are set to become the biggest movers and shakers in the whole blockchain space. With the combination of both… ---
**Author:** ![tomdx](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex023/user_avatar/forum.cardano.org/tomdx/32/44498_2.png) [@tomdx](https://forum.cardano.org/u/tomdx)\ **Post date:** [21 January 2021 08:10 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/can-anyone-help-me-better-understand-ada/45177/3 "2021-01-21T08:10:07Z")
Lets say you build the best (DeFi) app the world has ever seen and you deploy it on Cardano. Your customer base grows rapidly and you know that you’re going to send 2.5Mio transactions to the network next year. Every one of these Tx costs a little (ADA), which might be completely opaque to your customer base - they might not have ADA they might not even know that your app runs on Cardano. In this scenario it’d be good to have some ADA through staking or early acquisition, because it would give you a competitive advantage over someone who has to pay more for a Tx. ---
**Author:** ![DontHassleTheHosk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DontHassleTheHosk](https://forum.cardano.org/u/DontHassleTheHosk)\ **Post date:** [21 January 2021 18:17 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/can-anyone-help-me-better-understand-ada/45177/4 "2021-01-21T18:17:23Z")
thank you so much for this, really appreciate! ---
**Author:** ![DontHassleTheHosk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DontHassleTheHosk](https://forum.cardano.org/u/DontHassleTheHosk)\ **Post date:** [21 January 2021 18:17 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/can-anyone-help-me-better-understand-ada/45177/5 "2021-01-21T18:17:53Z")
thank you so much! ---
**Author:** ![DontHassleTheHosk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DontHassleTheHosk](https://forum.cardano.org/u/DontHassleTheHosk)\ **Post date:** [21 January 2021 18:18 UTC](https://forum.cardano.org/t/can-anyone-help-me-better-understand-ada/45177/6 "2021-01-21T18:18:33Z")
looks like I replied to other when I also meant to reply to you. thank you both!