Cardano (ADA) soars in 18 months as ecosystem expands exponentially
Cardano (ADA) gained this week after a small dip in early February. In the previous 72 hours, the cryptocurrency rose more than 17% to R7.42 amid a market-wide rally before falling back on Sunday. According to CoinMarketCap data, ADA was trading at R7.24 at press time, down 0.77% in the previous 24 hours.
The price gain of ADA can be attributed to numerous developments in the Cardano ecosystem. According to CryptoCompare, the Total Value Locked (TVL) on the Cardano blockchain increased by 49.9% in January, reaching levels last seen in August 2022.
Decentralized protocols drove this expansion, with loan protocols like Meld and Indigo increasing by more than 48% and 76%, respectively. Cardano's TVL was over R2.2 billion at the time of reporting, according to DefiLama, indicating that growth persisted in the first half of February.
The paper also addressed Cardano's price gain in January, adding that "this was the asset's best-performing month since August 2021." Last month, the No. 7 cryptocurrency by market cap benefited from a market-wide crypto lift-off, with its price recovering by just over 70% from a record low of R4,52. Cardano's appealing price action was matched by a surge in trading volume, with volumes on centralized exchanges increasing by around 158% to R179B.
"This was the asset's first increase in trading volume in thirteen months, a much-needed rebound after hitting the asset's lowest monthly trading volume since October 2020 in December 2022," the firm stated.
The long-awaited Djed stablecoin became live on the Cardano blockchain earlier this month, causing a frenzy in the community. Only two weeks after its inception, the so-called overcollateralized stablecoin has amassed more than 31 million Cardano (ADA) tokens as collateral.
As of February 16, it had 31,200,698.37 ADA in its base reserves, representing a collateral ratio of 514%. Nevertheless, Djed's market value had climbed from R30.7 million at its debut to R39.2 million at press time, indicating some adoption of the pegged asset.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated during a Twitter Spaces session on Tuesday that the crypto sector would likely "look for other options" as regulators tighten their grip on stablecoins. This means that non-dollar-backed stablecoins like Djed and other algorithmic stablecoins may arise, driving the entire crypto market towards complete decentralization.
