Cardano News Today: Why Cardano's AI-Driven Payments Could Outpace Bitcoin by 2030

Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson has issued a provocative challenge to Bitcoin maximalists, asserting that ADA could surpass Bitcoin in market value by 2030. This bold claim comes as Cardano accelerates its transition from a research-driven blockchain to a practical, AI-integrated payments platform. Hoskinson outlined a $1 trillion valuation target during a recent roadmap update, emphasizing real-world adoption through AI-powered transactions and machine-to-machine (M2M) payments, according to a Blockchain Magazine report. The vision hinges on Cardano's integration of the x402 protocol, a Coinbase-developed standard enabling automated, signature-free payments between AI agents and digital services, as noted in a Bitcoinsistemi report.

Cardano's recent upgrades, including the Chang hard fork, have boosted network capacity to 1,000 transactions per second, positioning it for large-scale global payments. The x402 implementation, already tested with a memecoin on Cardano, allows AI agents to execute micropayments for services like pay-per-use chat tools and streaming subscriptions. This innovation aligns with Hoskinson's broader strategy to make Cardano the backbone of the AI-agent economy, leveraging its formal verification processes and quantum-resistant research for long-term stability.

However, Cardano faces stiff competition. XRP, currently trading at $2.46, remains a key player in cross-border payments, though institutional investors are shifting capital to projects like Remittix (RTX), a DeFi initiative targeting the $19 trillion remittance market, according to a Live Bitcoin News report. Remittix's utility-driven model—enabling instant crypto-to-bank transfers across 30+ countries—has attracted $27.7 million in funding and CertiK verification, ranking it 1 among pre-launch tokens in a Digital Journal report. Analysts argue that Remittix's focused approach to payments could outpace broader platforms like XRP if adoption scales rapidly, per a Coinpedia press release.

The crypto landscape is also seeing a broader rotation into utility-driven altcoins. XRP's 6.69% weekly decline highlights shifting investor sentiment, with capital flowing into projects offering tangible use cases, as noted in the Live Bitcoin News report. Remittix's 50% token bonus and planned listings on BitMart and LBank further underscore its appeal to growth-oriented investors, according to that same report. Meanwhile, Cardano's $2.9 billion total value locked (TVL) lags behind Ethereum and Solana, prompting criticism of its DeFi progress in the Bitcoinsistemi article.

Hoskinson's 2030 vision includes full decentralization via the Midnight sidechain and Hydra scaling solutions, aiming for 10 million active users and institutional adoption, according to a Coinpedia report. Yet, achieving a $1 trillion valuation will depend on regulatory clarity and execution against ambitious timelines. With pilot programs set for 2026, Cardano's success may hinge on whether AI-driven payments and M2M transactions gain mainstream traction, as the Blockchain Magazine report suggested.