Cardano Holders at a Loss: 48% of ADA Holders Are Out-of-Money as Certain Altcoins Stagnant
Nearly half of all Cardano holders are currently at a loss. Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash.
Key Takeaways
- Less than half of all Cardano addresses are currently in the money.
- Meanwhile, 83% of all Algorand holders are at a loss.
- Are these major alt coins doomed or can ADA and its peers stage a comeback?
When Bitcoin set a new price record in March, for the first time since 2021, every single BTC holder found themselves in profit. But many altcoins still have a long way to go before reaching the same point.
With ADA currently trading at around a fifth of its 2021 high, less than half of all holders are in the money, with the rest either at a loss or just breaking even. But Cardano isn’t the only altcoin that is struggling.
Five Altcoins With the Worst Returns For Investors
Although Cardano’s underperformance is certainly disappointing for investors, some of its peers have fared even worse.
Among cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization of $1 billion or more, Algorand has delivered the worst results for investors.
With the altcoin trading at around 10% of its 2021 peak price (and just 7% of its post-ICO all-time high), less than 14% of ALGO holders are currently in profit. Meanwhile, 83% are at a loss.
After Algorand, Starknet (STRK), Synthetix (SNX), Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS) and Polygon (MATIC) were the next worst-returning among major altcoins, data from IntoTheBlock shows.
Is Cardano Dead?
Although Cardano holders are better off than most Algorand or Starknet investors, the altcoin’s disappointing performance in recent months is the worst among the top 10 cryptocurrencies.
In fact, ADA’s time at the top may not last much longer.
Having already been overtaken by Dogecoin and Toncoin in recent months, Avalanche is now snapping at Cardano’s heels too. If it can close the gap of a few billion dollars that separates the 2 coins’ market caps, AVAX could shunt ADA into 11th place.
Alongside, ADA’s weak price performance, the Cardano ecosystem has also struggled with a high rate of deadcoins and project failures.
While the success of crypto projects rests on many factors, of which the underlying protocol coin’s value is just one, the fact that nearly half of all ADA addresses are out of the money hasn’t helped things.
Nevertheless, Cardano’s supporters remain optimistic about the blockchain’s future.
Upgrades Incoming: Light at the End of the Tunnel?
Responding to criticism of the blockchain he helped found, Charles Hoskinson recently hit back at Cardano’s haters.
“Seeing all the dunking on Cardano makes me smile a bit,” he said. “We are holding all the cards as an ecosystem. We have the best path for scalability, governance, and innovation. We also have the best community.”
To support his claims, Hoskinson pointed to 2 anticipated upgrades that will introduce a new decentralized governance system and boost Cardano’s scalability.
The first, Cardano’s Chang hardfork, is expected to ship within the next few months. The first upgrade of the network’s Voltaire Era, Chang will lay the foundations for a new governance mechanism whereby all ADA holders will be eligible to vote on proposed changes to the protocol.
The second anticipated upgrade will see Cardano implement a new consensus algorithm known as Ouroboros Leios.
While Ouroboros Leios could still be years away, it is expected to significantly boost Cardano’s throughput and time to finality.
Cardano Criticism Countered by 2 Major Upgrades, According to Charles Hoskinson
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