Cardano's Price Drops 9% Amid Stagnant User Engagement, Derivatives Market Cools

Cardano's price has experienced a notable decline, dropping by over 9% in the past week. This price movement is accompanied by a stagnation in user engagement, as daily active addresses on the network have remained flat, hovering around the 10,000 mark since early March. This lack of user activity is particularly concerning given that other altcoins have shown signs of recovery during the same period.

The stagnation in daily active addresses suggests that network participation is not only cooling off but also plateauing. This trend is further exacerbated by the cooling derivatives market, where Open Interest in ADA Futures has fallen by nearly 30% since early March, dropping from over $1.2 billion to under $900 million. This decline in Open Interest coincides with a notable dip in ADA’s price, indicating that traders are becoming increasingly reluctant to take on leveraged positions.

Funding Rates across major exchanges like Binance and Bybit have remained consistently negative, with several plunges below -0.10%. This suggests that short positions are dominating the market, as traders are paying a premium to maintain bearish bets. The drop in Open Interest and persistent negative Funding Rates reveal a market that is leaning more toward defense than recovery, casting doubt on ADA’s near-term upside.

The fading interest in ADA signals a declining relevance for Cardano, as the market shifts toward faster, newer assets. This trend is further highlighted by the fact that Cardano has seen spikes in Total Value Locked (TVL) and user activity that quickly vanish post-hype. With no major catalyst imminent, aside from the coming partner chains initiative and slow DeFi integrations, ADA risks becoming sidelined in a market obsessed with speed and novelty.

Once a retail darling, Cardano now occupies the role of a legacy chain struggling to reclaim relevance. The lack of organic demand and user retention raises red flags about the real-world utility of the network. As capital rotates into Base, memecoins, and AI tokens, Cardano's sideways drift feels systemic, indicating a broader shift in market sentiment away from established Layer 1 protocols toward newer, more innovative assets.