Cardano price has crashed by nearly 60% this year, lagging behind other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. It crashed to a low of $0.3512 on Tuesday, down sharply from the year-to-date high of $1.3245. This article explores some of the top reasons why the ADA price crashed in 2024 and potential catalysts to watch.
Reasons why Cardano price crashed in 2025
There are a few reasons why the Cardano price crashed this year. First, the decline coincided with the ongoing crypto market crash that affected Bitcoin and other altcoins.
Bitcoin dropped by 6.5% this year, while Ethereum plunged by 11% during the year. Additionally, the market capitalization of all tokens dropped by 8.10% this year. This explains why Cardano token plunged as the industry has a close correlation with each other.
Second, ADA price dropped as concerns about its ecosystem continued. Data compiled by DeFi Llama shows that the total value locked (TVL) in its network dropped to below $250 million, making it much smaller than other popular networks like Monad and Katana.
More data shows that Cardano does not have a market share in the fast-growing real-world asset (RWA) tokenization industry that has accumulated nearly $20 billion in assets. As a result, concerns that Cardano is a ghost chain remained for the most part of the year.
Third, Cardano declined as it was passed over by most institutional investors who filed an application for altcoin ETFs. Only Grayscale filed for a spot ADA ETF, with other top companies like 21Shares, BlackRock, Canary, and VanEck remaining on the sidelines.
Additionally, the token crashed this year after the huge liquidation event that happened on October 10, as nearly 2 million traders were liquidated. As a result, most Cardano investors have deleveraged, with the futures open interest falling from over $1.95 billion in September to the current $646 million today.
Cardano price also plunged as the enthusiasm that Charles Hoskinson built earlier this year faded. For example, he predicted that Cardano would attract Chainlink as a partner, which did not happen.
His hints on integrating Bitcoin DeFi in Cardano did not work out. Most importantly, his meeting with a top ‘VIP’ did not amount to any deal.
Key catalysts for ADA price in 2026
There are a few potential catalysts for the Cardano price in the coming year. First, Cardano will launch the Midnight mainnet in the first quarter, a move that will boost its utility. Already, the recently launched NIGHT token launch was highly successful as the token’s market cap has remained above the $1.3 billion.
Midnight is important as it will be the biggest privacy network in the crypto industry, with a focus on the zero-knowledge proof technology.
The other main catalyst for Cardano will be the launch of the Leios upgrade, which will make Cardano one of the fastest-growing chains in the crypto industry. It will achieve this speed by introducing the concept of parallel block processing.
Additionally, there are chances that Cardano’s price will do well as investors react to Grayscale’s launch of the first ADA ETF during the year.
ADA price technical analysis
The weekly chart shows that the ADA price dropped from a high of $1.3245 in November last year to the current $0.3517.
It has moved below the important support level at $0.5142, its lowest level in January, April, and June, confirming a bearish breakdown.
The coin has remained below the 50-week Exponential Moving Average (EMA), confirming the bearish breakdown. It is also approaching its key support level at $0.3056, its lowest level in August last year.
Therefore, the most likely scenario is where Cardano continues falling, with the next key support level to watch being at $0.2212, its lowest level in December 2022 and June 2023.
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