Cardano’s $10 ADA Dream: Two Catalysts That Could Make—Or Break—The Rally

Cardano’s native token ADA has been flirting with bullish sentiment—but can it really hit the mythical $10 mark? Here’s what’s fueling the hype.

Factor 1: Ecosystem Adoption Surge

Developers are piling into Cardano’s proof-of-stake playground, with DeFi and NFT projects multiplying faster than unverified crypto influencers. Every new dApp could be rocket fuel for ADA demand—assuming they don’t collapse like a house of cards.

Factor 2: Institutional Wink-and-Nod

Whispers of hedge funds ’accidentally’ accumulating ADA wallets have traders buzzing. Because nothing screams ’bull market’ like suits pretending they understand blockchain.

Will these factors send ADA to double digits? Maybe—if the crypto gods spare us another ’macroeconomic headwind’ (read: Wall Street’s mood swings). Until then, buckle up for the volatility ride.

Whales Start Buying Again

As the largest market participants, especially for cryptocurrencies that lack ETFs or other funds allowing institutional exposure through regulated financial vehicles, whales’ actions are particularly significant for altcoins’ price movements.

ADA’s price is also highly susceptible to whether they buy or sell in massive quantities, as evident in late February when they were disposing of their assets, and the asset plunged.

However, data shared by Ali Martinez showcases a more promising current picture as they have accumulated over 180,000,000 ADA in the past week alone. In terms of USD value, this stash is equivalent to $135 million at today’s prices. The picture below indicates that whales’ holdings have surpassed 13 billion ADA, which is more than a third of the entire available token supply (35.33 billion, according to CoinMarketCap).

Whales have bought over 180 million #Cardano $ADA in just the past week! pic.twitter.com/hOmii47pKo

— Ali (@ali_charts) May 29, 2025

Bitcoin Ordinals Integration

Aside from whales filling their bags, which is considered a highly bullish development, another factor that could reverse ADA’s price trajectory is the growth and development of the network behind the token.

IOG announced such a big move yesterday, as Bitcoin Ordinals can now be wrapped and bridged to the Cardano blockchain via Fairgate’s BitVMX framework.

According to the statement, this marks a “significant advancement in decentralized finance, enabling seamless interaction between two of the most prominent blockchain systems.”

“The future of DeFi is cross-chain, and BitVMX exemplifies how bitcoin can be a foundational layer in this evolution,” said Charles Hoskinson, CEO of IO. “By combining Cardano’s flexibility with Bitcoin’s security, we open the door to entirely new financial instruments and services.”

Dan Gambardello, a popular YouTuber and X content creator, praised the move and highlighted that it is a part of the ingredients for a potential ADA price surge to $10.