Cardano Whales Move $2.5B as DeFi TVL Records All-Time High

• Development on Cardano has increased substantially. 
• Whales are once again showing interest in Cardano. 
• Cardano DeFi is growing rapidly. 

Cardano has been progressing at a remarkable rate this year. The Proof-of-Stake chain is slowly gaining relevance in the industry as it deploys new solutions and expands its network to handle the rising adoption of DeFi. 

While once dormant, activity on Cardano has substantially increased. The POS chain has been breaking record after record this year, leading to more excitement for what’s to come to the network during “Cardano Summer.” 

Whales’ Cardano Splurge

Given the network’s performance this year, whales’ interest in Cardano has been rising. Large holders have been heavily accumulating ADA, leading to net inflows on the network spiking as high as 1500% this year. 

Now, following a flurry of development updates, new solutions, and a surge in native token activities in May, whales are once again on the hunt. On June 5, IntotheBlock data reported large holders on the network moved over $2.5 billion in a day, suggesting confidence and burgeoning interest in the Cardano ecosystem. 

Notably, such surges also occur when things are calmer in the crypto market. At press time, competitors like Bitcoin and Ethereum’s price action have been rather stale. According to CoinMarketCap, Cardano’s ADA token stood at a price level of $0.35 with a daily trading volume of $286 million. The token has been range-bound for most of the year, trading between $0.31 and $0.45. 

Cardano DeFi Picks Up

While Cardano struggles to break through resistance, its DeFi ecosystem has grown remarkably. According to DeFiLlama, Cardano DeFi TVL, in terms of ADA, reached an all-time high of 568 million ADA or $180 million on June 4.

Although the network is still substantially behind its all-time high TVL of $326 million based in USD, it’s important to note one ADA cost $1.1 at the time – three times as high as it was at press time. 

This surge in DeFi performance is because of the rising trading volume on Cardano Decentralized exchanges, which have been steadily gaining momentum thanks to native tokens and memecoins like SNEK pumping up activity on the network. At press time, Cardano’s TVL sat at $168 million, with MinSwap as its largest DeFi protocol with a TVL of $60.71 million. Based on DeFi TVL, Cardano ranked 15th, above Bitcoin, Fusion, and Klaytn.

On the Flipside

• According to DeFiLlama, Cardano is home to 20 protocols. 
• A report published on December 30 by Santiment highlighted Cardano as the top protocol in terms of development activity.
• On April 27, Whales accumulated over $327 million worth of ADA.

Why This Matters

Cardano is gaining prominence in the industry as a solid competitor. The network is on a positive track, and whale interest could urge retail investors to follow suit and accumulate. 

Read more about Cardano: 

Cardano Road to $1: New Protocols, Accelerating Decentralization, and Igniting Network Activity