Anika Begay
An analyst firm discussed how Cardano (ADA) network adoption has reached a plateau over the past year.
Total Cardano holders are unchanged from a year ago
According to data from IntoTheBlock, ADA has seen its user base stagnate over the past year. The metric of interest here is the total amount of Cardano addresses carrying a non-zero balance.
Below is the graph shared by the analysis company that shows the trend of this indicator in recent years:
The value of the metric appears to have been moving sideways for quite the while now | Source: IntoTheBlock on X
As can be seen in the chart, Cardano saw significant growth in its holder base during the 2021 bull market, but the metric’s growth slowed down during the 2022 bear market, before reaching a complete plateau last year.
This would suggest that while the cryptocurrency gained significant adoption during the last bull run, new investors no longer find the network useful.
IntoTheBlock points out that the growth during the previous cycle occurred while ADA was positioning itself as a viable alternative to Ethereum, but nowadays investors are instead attracted to other networks such as Solana and Base.
Historically, adoption has been important for any asset, as a larger user base can provide a stronger foundation for long-term moves to grow. With ADA holders stuck around the 4.45 million mark, the coin certainly doesn’t look well-positioned in terms of this metric.
That said, there have also been some developments for Cardano that could be more positive. As the analytics firm noted, the network has seen a steady trend in 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 an address that is taking part in some type of transaction activity on the blockchain. So, daily active addresses is a metric that reflects the amount of users 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 an engaged community that continues to engage with the protocol,” IntoTheBlock explains.
Additionally, Cardano recently processed a high daily volume of $7.2 billion, 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 also appears that HODLing sentiment is on the rise among Cardano investors, with nearly 40% of the supply sitting idle 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 hovering around $0.336, up more than 3% in the last seven days.
The price of the coin appears to have been stagnant recently | Source: ADAUSD on TradingView
Featured image by Dall-E, IntoTheBlock.com, chart by TradingView.com
