Cardano is showing signs of weakness as key DeFi indicators continue to slide. The token has fallen more than 24% from its yearly high, recently touching $0.7736, its lowest level since mid-August. This decline mirrors the broader altcoin market, with Ethereum and Solana also under pressure.
A major reason for the drop is the slowdown in Cardano’s decentralized finance ecosystem. The total value locked has slipped to around $320 million, down sharply from the yearly peak of $680 million. Despite hosting platforms like Liqwid, Minswap, and Indigo, no significant new DeFi projects have launched on the network this year.
Stablecoin activity is also lagging. The supply on Cardano has dropped 4.4% in the past week to $37 million, well below newer blockchains such as Unichain, Linea, and Plasma. On the trading front, decentralized exchanges on Cardano processed just $1.4 million in the last 24 hours, showing little momentum.
Institutional interest remains muted as well. Only Grayscale has applied for a spot ADA ETF, while competitors like Solana and Ripple have drawn multiple applications.
From a technical perspective, things look bearish. ADA has broken below both a rising wedge and a head-and-shoulders pattern on the daily chart. The price has slipped under the 50-day and 100-day exponential moving averages, while the Average Directional Index sits at 22, suggesting that the downtrend could deepen in the weeks ahead.
