Cardano’s development began over a decade ago, but the actual launch took a couple of years. The release of smart contracts, a crucial development, followed in 2021 after the widely discussed Alonzo upgrade.
Its native token has garnered favor among many cryptocurrency investors, but it also faces significant skepticism and criticism.
Analyst Questions Valuation
Satoshi Flipper, a prominent figure on Crypto X with over 240,000 followers, shared another analyst’s perspective on the Charles Hoskinson-founded network, posing the question, “Is Cardano the most overvalued blockchain on the planet?”
The analysis questioned the blockchain’s performance, citing a DeFi total value locked (TVL) of just $128 million, according to DeFiLlama at the time of publication, along with a 24-hour DEX trading volume of $1.3 million, $26 million in stablecoins, and approximately 17,000 active addresses.
Eye Zen Hour described this as an “incredibly small on-chain economy relative to valuation.” Cardano’s native token has a market capitalization of $9 billion, which, despite a significant decline from its peak, still ranks it among the top 15 altcoins by that metric.
Consequently, Zen Hour concluded that the market will eventually have to decide on Cardano and ADA, whether it is valuing an ecosystem or “just a memory from prior cycles.”
Price Performance and Decline
The Alonzo upgrade coincided with ADA’s most significant price surge in the third quarter of 2021. At the time, the token, along with the broader market, reached a new all-time high of just over $3. However, it turned out to be a classic “sell-the-news” event, and ADA has struggled to regain its previous value.
During the 2025 market-wide rally, Bitcoin and many altcoins achieved new peaks, but ADA’s high fell far short of its 2021 record, failing to surpass $1.3. It currently trades below $0.25, representing a staggering decline of over 92% since its 2021 all-time high.
While nearly all crypto assets have declined since last October, ADA’s drop has been more than just a correction, and being 92% away from its record does not bode well for its large community.
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