Cardano's ADA Outpaces Bitcoin, Driven by DeFi Ambitions and Tech Breakthroughs

Cardano (ADA) has surged 8.7% in the past month, with its market capitalization surpassing $30 billion as of September 2025, according to recent market data [1]. The price has climbed to $0.836, reflecting strong growth compared to Bitcoin’s 90% and Ethereum’s 72% gains over the same period [3]. This marks a significant milestone for ADA, which has climbed from $0.3319 on September 2, 2024, to $0.7994 on September 2, 2025, outperforming its major competitors in percentage terms [3].

The rise in ADA’s value is attributed to a combination of recent technological upgrades, growing adoption in emerging markets, and increased investor interest in scalable and sustainable blockchain solutions [3]. The Cardano network has been implementing upgrades such as the Vasil hard fork, which significantly improved smart contract functionality and efficiency. As of January 2025, the number of Plutus smart contracts on Cardano had reached 24,050, a 67% increase from the beginning of the year [1]. This growth in smart contracts underscores the platform’s commitment to innovation and its evolving ecosystem.

The Cardano Foundation, co-founded by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, has been advocating for the blockchain to become a key enabler of Bitcoin DeFi. In a recent interview, Hoskinson suggested that Cardano, rather than Ethereum, should serve as the backbone for Bitcoin’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem [2]. He argued that the inherent rivalry between Bitcoin and Ethereum makes it unlikely for the latter to support Bitcoin DeFi. Instead, Cardano’s interoperability and Layer-2 solutions, such as Stacks and Midnight, are better suited to facilitate Bitcoin’s integration into DeFi [2]. Hoskinson also highlighted the potential for Cardano’s Babel fees to allow Bitcoin holders to access DeFi without leaving the Bitcoin ecosystem [2].

Despite these developments, Cardano faces challenges in the DeFi space. While it has introduced DeFi solutions and partnered with entities like BitcoinOS to expand its offerings, its total value locked (TVL) remains significantly lower than that of Ethereum and Solana [4]. As of the latest data, Cardano’s TVL stands at around $380 million, compared to $97 billion for Ethereum and $11 billion for Solana [4]. Additionally, the network hosts only 59 decentralized applications (dApps) with real-world activity, far below the thousands of dApps predicted by Hoskinson in 2022 [4]. Critics, such as former BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, question the relevance of Cardano in the dApp ecosystem and argue that the platform lacks usable stablecoins and liquidity [4].

Analysts suggest that Cardano’s future success hinges on its ability to address these shortcomings while continuing to innovate. The integration of zero-knowledge (ZK) smart contracts on Cardano’s mainnet in November 2024 marked a pivotal advancement, enabling private and secure verification of transactions and computations [1]. This development has opened the door for new use cases, including zero-knowledge applications and partner chains such as Midnight [1]. Further, the launch of Cardano’s light wallet, Lace, with Bitcoin support in 2025 has enhanced user accessibility and functionality, allowing users to send, receive, and swap BTC with Cardano-native assets [2].

Looking ahead, Cardano’s price trajectory remains the subject of diverse expert forecasts. While some platforms like CoinCodex and Digital Coin Price predict bullish scenarios with ADA reaching $2.19 and $3.8 by 2026, respectively [1], others, such as WalletInvestor and Gov Capital, offer more conservative estimates of $1.049 and $1.58 by the end of 2025 [1]. The divergence in predictions reflects the inherent volatility of the cryptocurrency market and the uncertainty surrounding future developments. However, a consensus among experts points to ADA’s potential to grow significantly over the next five years, with some forecasts suggesting a price of around $4.07 by 2029 [1].

Source:

[1] Cardano (ADA) Price Prediction 2025 2026 2027 - 2030 (https://changelly.com/blog/cardano-ada-price-predictions/)

[2] Cardano Founder Predicts Bitcoin DeFi TVL Will Surpass Ethereum Entire Market Cap (https://thecryptobasic.com/2025/09/09/cardano-founder-predicts-bitcoin-defi-tvl-will-surpass-ethereum-entire-market-cap/)

[3] Cardano Surpasses Bitcoin and Ethereum in 1-Year (https://coinfomania.com/cardano-outperforms-bitcoin-ethereum-2025/)

[4] Now That Cardano is Dead, What's The Next Big Thing? (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/now-cardano-dead-next-big-034009482.html)