Summary
- Cardano outperformed Bitcoin and the crypto-market during the market correction in late February.
- Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) and the general ecosystem created by Mary hard fork provide the most promising growth segment.
- ADA has slowed down recently but will stay above $1.00.
Cardano faced turbulence today, falling 7.6% in 24 hours to trade at $1.05 at the time of going to press. At that price, ADA was 2.8% below the price recorded seven days ago, depicting a stagnating growth trend. That said, the ADA price is still 487% higher year-to-date, and the cryptocurrency’s all-time high price of $1.49 remains within reach as a result of mostly favorable market conditions.
Strong February numbers and institutional notice
Cardano outperformed Bitcoin during the February market consolidation, gaining 13% as compared to Bitcoin’s loss of 15%. In total, ADA rose by nearly 270% last month. Cardano has henceforth emerged as a formidable altcoin, living up to its rising reputation as an “Ethereum killer.”
On the institutional front, Graph Blockchain has revealed plans to acquire Cardano and Polkadot as part of its staking strategy. In an announcement made two days ago, the company revealed that the two altcoins show stronger growth potential than the other cryptocurrencies in the market. The move by Graph is on the course to be implemented in the next few weeks and underlines the growing attractiveness of Cardano among institutional investors.
Cutting a niche for itself
In recent days, Cardano has been working on community-driven decentralized applications, dubbed “Project Catalyst.” The initiative has won plaudits in the blockchain ecosystem and helped propel ADA prices higher. Project Catalyst is among the most promising growth segments for Cardano in the long term. Within just seven months, it has grown to become the world’s largest Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).
In addition to the community-led project, the Cardano network has also recently undergone a significant improvement in the Mary hard fork release form. Launched on March 1st, it equipped the Cardano blockchain with multi-asset functionality, giving users greater satisfaction. In essence, the Cardano mainnet now supports the minting of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs), thereby giving users greater returns.
Today, Charles Hoskinson, Input Output HK CEO, announced that 591 tokens had been mined on the platform in just eight days, thanks to the Mary hard fork upgrade. The NFT segment is seen as an invaluably important growth segment for Cardano and is expected to give it an edge over rival altcoins.
NFT blockchains have proven to be a hit in the past few weeks, with the top-3 NFTs growing by about 400%. The NFT segment has accorded Cardano an excellent growth path, even as it fights for its space in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
Technical analysis
The Relative Strength Index is 33, and ADA/USD is under pressure from the bears. The price was on a descending trajectory at the time of writing but will find the first support at $1.03. If the bulls balance things out, the price will rise to the first resistance level at $1.10. Otherwise, a slide below $1.00 is possible. A bullish takeover will push the pair to meet the second resistance at $1.13.
