Cardano Fell 29% in 30 Days, Even More Than XRP. Does Cardano Have a Future? - 24/7 Wall St.
Cardano (ADA) has declined 29.7% over the past 30 days, outperforming its competitor XRP by 4.8%, with the cryptocurrency now priced at $0.17.
Over the past year, ADA has lost 70.1% of its value and trades 94.4% below its peak of $3.09 reached in September 2021. In contrast, XRP is down 71.5% from its July 2025 high of $3.65. The broader market decline has affected both cryptocurrencies, but Cardano's larger drop can be attributed to weak buying interest and lower overall platform activity.
Tech Selloff and Forced Liquidations
Cardano's recent price drop can be traced to a selloff in tech stocks following the Democrats' success in the November 3 midterms. Investors anticipated stricter regulations on AI data centers, and since cryptocurrencies often move in tandem with tech stocks, Cardano suffered alongside them.
The situation worsened due to leverage. Data from CoinGlass indicates that long positions, which profit only when prices rise, bore the brunt of these losses during the selloff, with most ADA liquidations affecting long holders.
Currently, the charts indicate a lack of new buyers. ADA is trading 13% below its 20-day moving average of $0.20, 17% below its 200-day average of $0.21, and 21% below its 50-day average of $0.22.
Cardano's Ongoing Development
Despite its recent struggles, Cardano still offers value to its holders. Staking lets ADA holders delegate their coins, helping secure the network while earning new ADA in return, without any lock-up period. In contrast, the XRP Ledger offers no native rewards.
Cardano also features an on-chain treasury where holders vote on spending proposals. Although this democratic system faced challenges—such as a proposal to fund the 2026 Cardano Summit falling short of the required two-thirds vote—it remains operational.
The mainnet for Midnight, a new privacy-focused sister chain, launched on March 30. However, the fees operate on the NIGHT token, so this expansion does not directly drive demand for ADA.
XRP's Competitive Advantages
DeFi remains a weak point for Cardano. The total value locked in Cardano's lending and trading applications is comparatively low compared with competitors like Solana or Ethereum. Additionally, Cardano's stablecoin supply remains limited despite Circle's recent introduction of USDCx.
XRP has a significant advantage in access to Wall Street. There are already spot XRP ETFs trading, such as the Bitwise XRP ETF, while a U.S. spot ADA ETF had yet to receive approval. Over 90 days, XRP has gained 5.3% while ADA has lost 2.9%.
Future Outlook
Reaching its all-time high of $3.09 seems unlikely in the near term. A more attainable goal could be for ADA to regain its 50-day average of $0.22, approximately 27% above its current price. At $0.17, ADA would need to climb about 477% to hit $1.
ADA's recovery depends on several factors that have yet to materialize, such as U.S. spot ETF approval and the introduction of Hoskinson's new programming language. For now, the outlook isn't clear as Cardano works to convert network activity into consistent demand for ADA.
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