Bitcoin has stagnated around $9,300 but this hasn’t stopped Cardano (ADA) from surging higher. The altcoin is up over 30% in the past 24 hours, surging higher on an influx of buying volume across all major exchanges.
With the latest move higher, Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV) has been unseated as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency.
Data from and show ADA is now the sixth-largest cryptocurrency. Its reported market capitalization is $3.92 billion — $500 million higher than that of BSV.
Top seven cryptocurrencies by market capitalization from Messari (OnchainFX)
Considering that ADA is the only cryptocurrency in the top 10 that is pumping, it is no surprise itis passing its competitors.
What’s Behind the Move?
Behind ADA’s strong performance in the past 24 hours and over the past few weeks is one thing, according to analyst Luke Martin.
The CNN-featured cryptocurrency trader discussing the chart seen below:
“$ADA & $XTZ have been two of the most memorable large cap pumps in the last year. Both come down to one thing: staking/baking. What large cap alt will be the next to launch their staking?”
ADA/BTC chart by Luke "Venture Coinist" Martin (@venturecoinist on Twitter). Chart from
Martin is referencing Cardano’s “Shelley” upgrade, which has been likened to Ethereum’s 2.0 upgrade.
Shelley promotes the decentralization of the Cardano network through ADA staking. Staking is when users allocate their cryptocurrency to a node and earn rewards for processing blocks. Staking is not yet live on Cardano, though it is expected to be launched by the end of this month.
Investors en-masse are buying into Cardano seemingly to participate in staking, which produces passive income for those that participate.
On-Chain Metrics Signal More Upside Is to Come
From a technical perspective, few are too sure what comes next. As Cardano has moved so fast, analysts have been slow to react.
But on-chain and exchange data suggest that ADA has room to rally, despite it already gaining 250% since the start of 2020.
Blockchain analytics firm IntoTheBlock that five of seven of its core metrics are currently “bullish.” These metrics are as follows:
Net network growth: an indicator that tracks the growth of the Cardano blockchain
In the money: an indicator that tracks the profitability of ADA holders
Smart price: an implied price formed by order book data
Bid-ask volume imbalance: the weighting of buy orders vs. sell orders
Futures market momentum: the open interest, volume, and price of a cryptocurrency’s derivatives market
