Cardano (ADA) Whale Activity Surges: Is a Market Shift Imminent?

• In anticipation of an inevitable breakout, Cardano (ADA) whales have been on a buying spree in the recent past, thus increasing the number of large transactions recorded on the blockchain.
• The mid-cap altcoin is fast approaching the apex of the daily descending triangle that could lead to another bull rally in the near term amid the anticipated altcoin season. 

Cardano (ADA) network, a fast-growing Ethereum-killer blockchain focused on scalable and secure smart contracts, has recorded notable on-chain growth in the recent past. The development of the Hydra Head protocol, a layer-two scalability solution for the Cardano network, and the Mithril protocol which is currently undertaking the mainnet beta launch, has significantly helped the ecosystem compete with other layer-one blockchains like Solana (SOL), and BSC.

According to market data provided by defillama, the Cardano network has a Total Value Locked (TVL) of about 677.2 million ADA, which is worth about $341 million at the current price of around 49 cents. 

Some of the top-rated Cardano-based decentralized financial (DeFi) protocols include Indigo CDP with about $82 million in TVL, Minswap DEX with around$77 million in TVL, and Liqwid Lending protocol with approximately $37 million in TVL, among many others.

The Cardano network is also playing a crucial role in real-world asset tokenization (RWA) as more investors seek to explore more fundings that is not geographically locked. Furthermore, blockchain technology has opened up global markets to investors who were previously unable to participate in the formal financial industry.

Closer Look at Cardano’s On-chain Activity

The Cardano network has in the recent past been a bee hive of activities fueled by whale traders speculating on an inevitable price breakout following a consolidation that began in early December last year. According to on-chain data analysis provided through Intotheblock, the number of large Cardano transactions experienced a significant sharp uptick in the recent past, whereby the 24 hours leading to Monday were about 6,980, up from around 5k in the last seven days.

Similarly, the Cardano network has seen a substantial spike in the overall volume for large transactions that came in at about 26.9 billion ADA. Ideally, a notable spike in large transactions significantly increases the overall confidence in the respective crypto asset, thus leading to a bullish outlook in the near term.

ADA Price Analysis and Market Outlook

Cardano price has been consolidating in a descending triangle on the daily time frame, which is fast approaching the apex that leads to an imminent breakout. The mid-cap altcoin with a fully diluted valuation of about $22 billion faced a significant resistance level of around 69 cents, which also coincided with the weekly 200 Moving Average (MA).

With the heightened on-chain activity fueled by whales buying at current levels, ADA price is well positioned to rally towards $1.2 in the near term. Moreover, the highly anticipated altcoin season is about to happen in the coming weeks as Bitcoin dominance slips below crucial support levels.  Meanwhile, ADA price has dropped about 18 percent in the past four weeks at the time of writing but currently trade at (see chart below)