Cardano price rebound from all-time low ahead of Leios testnet

Cardano’s price has fallen to a record low this year despite the recent launch of the Midnight mainnet. On April 10, ADA was trading at $0.25, slightly above its all-time low of $0.2168. Attention is now turning to whether the token can rebound ahead of the upcoming Leios upgrade launch in June.

Cardano to launch Leios upgrade in June

ADA is expected to be in focus as Charles Hoskinson and the Cardano team prepare the network’s largest update since its inception. The Leios upgrade is scheduled to launch on the testnet in June, with the mainnet activation planned for later this year.

Once activated, the upgrade is intended to improve performance through parallel processing. The network would introduce ranking blocks, endorsement blocks, and committees of validation, with developers aiming to support thousands of transactions per second.

Midnight and other recent milestones

The Leios upgrade follows the launch of Midnight, Cardano’s privacy sidechain. Midnight has reportedly signed partnerships including with Momentum Bank, which will tokenize assets worth millions of dollars for the network. Additional partnerships mentioned include Sundae Labs, Fluid Tokens, Houdini Swap, and SecondSwap.

The article also cites other recent developments under the Pentad proposal, which aims to expand the network through new oracles, stablecoins, and analytics tools. Cardano onboarded Pyth Network as an oracle in December, and later added Dune Analytics and USDCx.

Other milestones referenced include Cardano reaching 120 million transactions and VolatilityShares launching the first Cardano futures ETFs.

Network growth and on-chain metrics

Despite these milestones, the article says Cardano’s network has struggled to grow since its launch a decade ago. Data compiled by DeFi Llama shows Cardano’s total value locked (TVL) at $137 million, which is described as much lower than other major chains such as Solana and BSC Chain.

It also reports that Cardano’s stablecoin supply has risen to $48 million. By comparison, the article cites Ethereum at $165 billion and Solana at $16 billion, while Justin Sun’s Tron is listed at $86 billion in stablecoin supply.

On profitability, DeFi Llama data cited in the article indicates Cardano generated $60,700 in March, described as its lowest level in years. Fees are also reported to have fallen sharply from last year’s high of $977k.

These figures are used to support the article’s characterization of Cardano as a “ghost chain,” noting that while market capitalization is reported at over $9 billion, the network is said to have limited activity.

Technical picture for ADA

On the weekly chart, the article states that ADA has dropped from a record high of $3 in August 2021 to around $0.2525. It also notes that market capitalization has fallen from over $90 billion to about $9 billion.

Cardano recently fell below a key support level at $0.2825, described as the lowest level in August 2024. The token has remained below the 50-day moving average, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is hovering at oversold levels.

The Average Directional Index (ADX) is reported at 34, which the article says suggests the downward trend is accelerating. It adds that if selling continues, ADA could test the psychological level at $0.200.