Cardano ADA jumps 27% to $0.21 as network activity surges

Cardano's ADA climbed 27% to $0.21 as on-chain activity doubled and institutional flows turned positive.

Cardano's ADA rose 27% to $0.21 on Aug. 24, extending a rebound as daily transactions doubled and institutional exposure widened.

"Cardano activity has nearly doubled in just two days," Chainspect said in an Aug. 21 post, after the network processed over 32,000 daily transactions.

The move tracks a broader crypto upturn, with Bitcoin touching an intraday high of $79,500 and Ethereum climbing 4.2% to $2,427. Cardano's daily transactions reached 32,841, up 33% from 24,000 a day earlier, while active addresses jumped to roughly 32,800 from 13,800, per Chainspect data. The network has processed about 123 million transactions since 2017, with developer activity exceeding 303,000 commits. Cardano's stablecoin market cap crossed $62.5 million, with USDCx accounting for roughly $44 million.

ADA now faces immediate resistance at $0.23 to $0.24, with a clean break above $0.2887 potentially confirming a bullish structure and $0.50 marking a major macro trend reversal. On the downside, $0.16 to $0.09 is the next accumulation zone, and a two-week close below $0.08 would invalidate the setup.

ADA/BTC Breakout and Institutional Flows

The rally is supported by an improving ADA/BTC chart. Analyst Crypto Dossier said ADA may outperform Bitcoin by 2x to 4x during a broader bull market, pointing to a breakout in the ADA/BTC ratio above its 200-day moving average after years of weakness. If Bitcoin reaches around $150,000, the analysis puts ADA near $1.50, with potential to reach $2 or higher on stronger developments. Analyst Crypto Patel is more aggressive, with targets at $0.28, $0.50, $1, $2, $3 and eventually $5.

Institutional interest is also improving. T. Rowe Price added ADA to its Active Crypto ETF with a 0.44% allocation. Cardano's upcoming Ouroboros Leios upgrade is expected to improve throughput, while the ₳120 million Cardano PRIME program targets DeFi liquidity and growth. ADA has also traded on CME futures for more than six months, potentially satisfying a condition for the SEC's streamlined spot ETF process.

The technical picture shows a divergence worth watching. RSI is rising into overbought territory while open interest has slipped to about $283 million, suggesting the rally is supported more by spot buying than fresh leveraged positions. If open interest keeps falling while RSI stays elevated, ADA could become vulnerable to profit-taking near resistance.

With stronger activity, institutional exposure and multiple developments, ADA's setup is improving, but Bitcoin's trend and the recovery of altseason will ultimately decide how far the rally can run.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.