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Cardano [$ADA] ranked among the weakest-performing crypto tokens in the market, losing significant ground since its launch. $ADA plunged to around $0.16 at press time, down from an all-time high near $3.10.
$ADA slipped 2.14% over the past 24 hours, while trading volume plummeted 23% to $177.3 million. Price action told only part of the story, though.
On-chain metrics did little to strengthen $ADA’s recovery case.
Why is Cardano’s network activity so weak?
$ADA’s on-chain footprint pointed to real weakness in transaction flow.
The Cardano network logged just 21,700 transactions over the past day, a steep drop from roughly 57,000 at its peak.
That pattern held across recent trading and much of this year. Daily Transaction Count hovered between 11,000 and 20,000, a subdued range for a network of Cardano’s standing.
By contrast, Active Addresses ticked up to roughly 13,860. That divergence suggested a larger pool of users still generated only limited on-chain activity.
In broader terms, Active Addresses mostly sat between 10,000 and 20,000. Thin address activity paired with a low Transaction Count weighed heavily on the chain’s utility.
Are whales behind $ADA’s selling pressure?
Exchange activity told a similar story. Heavy investor participation failed to lift a bearish outlook.
Spot Average Order Size data showed large whales dominated $ADA trading on centralized exchanges. Whales are investors who control enough liquidity to influence an asset’s performance.
Weighed against Spot Market Netflow, that whale dominance translated into net selling of $ADA over the past two weeks.
CoinGlass reported $ADA’s Spot Netflow this week came in at roughly $1.41 million, against about $143.43 million in Exchange Inflows.
The pattern stretched back several weeks: the week beginning 13th of July logged roughly $167.39 million in inflows and a netflow of $1.82 million, consistent with continued net selling.
Sustained selling from the group kept $ADA at risk. The only saving grace was buyers holding netflow within range.
Can Cardano’s 500 million $ADA treasury plan turn the tide?
For now, the bullish case for $ADA rests on its development plan for the Cardano blockchain.
The plan raises the treasury’s spending allocation from 350 million to 500 million $ADA, giving the network more room to build out core infrastructure.
The move matters most if it drives higher on-chain activity, pulls in more active addresses, and attracts protocols to build on Cardano.
DeFiLlama data shows just 62 protocols currently operate on the chain—a low figure for a network active for years—holding a combined total value locked (TVL) of $61.7 million.
Final Summary
- Cardano’s Active Addresses rose while transactions collapsed – a split that hints at hollow, low-value engagement.
- A treasury raised to 500 million $ADA offers ammunition, but ammunition without demand rarely wins battles.