Cardano Surges 10% in a Week: Can the Rally Hold?

Cardano’s price is back in the green—up 10% over the past seven days. But is this a dead-cat bounce or the start of a real recovery?

The crypto market’s favorite ‘academic’ blockchain just got a dose of adrenaline. Traders are piling in, but skeptics whisper: 'Same hype, different week.'

Key drivers? Maybe whales accumulating, maybe just traders chasing the next shiny thing. Either way, the charts don’t lie—yet.

Will the momentum last? Ask the 'fundamentals'—or just watch the leverage liquidations. After all, in crypto, 'long-term' means until lunchtime.

Key Insights:

• ADA ranks high in weekly social sentiment, as Cardano price aims to move higher.
• ADA rises again with solid weekly recovery to challenge the 9-month descending trend line.
• Charles Hoskinson says Cardano outpaces top rival networks in this key area.
• Cardano TVL, stablecoin count, and network activity recap.

Cardano’s native coin, ADA just concluded last week with a 10% rally, which pushed towards its 9-month descending support.  But will it maintain the same momentum for a major breakout this time?

The recent calls altcoin season had investors looking for the most promising coins, and ADA was one of the top contenders. The Cardano-native coin was among the highest-ranking cryptocurrencies by market cap, and so the expectations were high.

This was evidenced by ADA’s latest high ranking in the list of coins with the strongest bullish sentiment. It ranked second last week, which may have contributed to its price action.

ADA price recovered by about 50% of its pullback in July. That retracement occurred in the last week of July after the price failed to push above the aforementioned descending resistance.

The recovery was another fresh attempt at a breakout, but it came short of the declining resistance retest.

Although the recovery was noteworthy, it underperformed compared to Ethereum, which pushed to a new local high. ADA’s performance reflected its dominance, which rallied by a minuscule gain.

Last week’s 10% gain displayed weaker demand compared to the July rally. This also meant that ADA price action was at risk of capitulation, especially if the bears attempt another assault. On the other hand, sustained demand could potentially reignite Optimism regarding a potential breakout.

Cardano Price Could Outpace Ethereum

While Cardano price underperformed compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum, it could be winning in one major segment. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently stated that Cardano outperforms Ethereum, Bitcoin and Solana in terms of governance.

Hoskinson statement was a callback to fundamentals in a market that has mainly been driven by sentiment and narratives.

Moreover, the current bullish market was characterized by rising institutional interest. Cardano has been struggling to attract institutional appeal, where rival networks such as ethereum have been thriving.

Dominant governance could potentially help Cardano’s ranking in terms of safety and immutability from network weakness and attacks. Such characteristics could potentially aid in attracting institutional development or Cardano but that remained to be seen.

Here’s how the Cardano network has been fairing

Cardano’s highest DEX revenue in the last 7 days was just above $5 million. For context, its highest daily DEX volume in 2025 so far was $21.1 million in March. Its performance by this metric underscored its struggle to attract more DEX activity.

Meanwhile, rival networks such as Solana and Ethereum had their DEX volumes in billions. This may explain why its total value locked was also unable to push back to December levels. It did however manage to achieve a slight weekly recovery from as low as $311.48 million at its lowest weekly point to $359.83 million at press time.

The latest TVL figures were roughly half of what the network achieved at its December local peak. cardano also pulled off significant growth in other key areas. For example, its stablecoin liquidity maintained a positive trajectory despite the market’s performance.

Cardano’s stablecoin marketcap was as low as $12 million in November 2024 but has since surged above $37 million recently. While this figure may be relatively low compared to some top chains, it was noteworthy for one major reason.

Sudden stablecoin spikes in October 2024, March and July 2025 revealed sizable liquidity injections. This could signal deliberate heavy stablecoin growth, which could be preparing for a spike in network growth and activity.