Cardano Adoption Has Stagnated, Analytics Firm Talks Why

An analytics firm has discussed about how the adoption of the Cardano (ADA) network has hit a phase of stagnation during the past year.

Cardano Total Holders Are Unchanged From One Year Ago

According to data from IntoTheBlock, ADA has seen its userbase stagnate over the last year. The metric of interest here is the total amount of Cardano addresses that are carrying some non-zero balance.

Below is the chart shared by the analytics firm that shows the trend in this indicator over the past few years:

The value of the metric appears to have been moving sideways for quite the while now | Source: IntoTheBlock on X

As is visible in the graph, Cardano had enjoyed notable growth in its holder base during the 2021 bull run, but the metric’s increase slowed down during the 2022 bear market and then completely hit a plateau in the past year.

This would suggest that while the cryptocurrency had been gaining significant adoption in the last bull run, new investors are no longer finding the network worthwhile.

IntoTheBlock notes that the growth during the previous cycle had come as ADA was positioned as a strong alternative to Ethereum, but these days, investors are instead being attracted by other networks like Solana and Base.

Historically, adoption has been important for any asset, as a wider user base can provide a stronger foundation for long-term moves to grow on. With ADA’s holders stuck around the 4.45 million mark, the coin certainly doesn’t seem well set up in terms of this metric.

That said, there have also been some developments for Cardano that could be more positive. As the analytics firm has pointed out, the network has seen a stable trend in the daily active addresses since April.

Looks like the indicator's value has been flat over the last few months | Source: IntoTheBlock on X

An active address is one that is taking part in some kind of transaction activity on the blockchain. Thus, the daily active addresses is a metric that reflects the amount of users that are using the network every day.

“Despite the slowdown in new users, the network’s transaction count and active user base have remained stable since April, indicating a committed community that continues to engage with the protocol,” explains IntoTheBlock.

Additionally, Cardano has also been processing a high daily volume of $7.2 billion recently, which is more than many other networks.

The 7-day data for the on-chain transfer volume on the ADA network | Source: IntoTheBlock on X

It would also appear that HODLing conviction has been on the rise among Cardano investors, with nearly 40% of the supply remaining dormant for a year or more.

The distribution of the ADA supply among the different investor groups | Source: IntoTheBlock on X

ADA Price

At the time of writing, Cardano is floating around $0.336, up more than 3% over the last seven days.

The price of the coin appears to have been stagnant recently | Source: ADAUSD on TradingView

Featured image from Dall-E, IntoTheBlock.com, chart from TradingView.com