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After stealing the cryptocurrency spotlight in September 2021, Cardano’s value has dropped by around 90%. Its native token, ADA, has lost its place among the top 10 cryptocurrencies as a result of massive losses in market cap.
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This decline in market share raises many questions in people’s minds: What about the future of the Cardano platform and are its popular smart contracts good enough?
The Rise and Fall of Cardano
Cardano was at its peak in 2021. The Alonso upgrade was supposed to make it a major player due to the introduction of smart contracts. Amidst this excitement, ADA rose to around $3.10.
Fast forward to the present, and the excitement has faded. ADA has fallen to around $0.49, with many analysts predicting further declines. As optimism about Smart Contracts Their importance has faded, and many have wondered if they played a role in the platform’s decline.
While Cardano smart contracts were supposed to open the floodgates, the reality on the ground has not been as fast as expected. Most developers have struggled to deploy their applications, and the explosion of decentralized applications was expected but has not materialized. The slow development has frustrated investors and developers alike, eroding trust in the platform.
Competition and market sentiment
The intense competition in the DeFi space adds to the difficulties. Since their initial inception, well-known platforms like Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain have already been able to build high-performance ecosystems for Cardano, making many things extremely difficult.
What’s even worse is that some major projects — including the Hydra scaling solution — have been very slow. While Cardano has made some progress, it has often fallen short of the very high expectations it set in its early days.
Cardano has also suffered due to market pessimism. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile, vulnerable to global economic fluctuations and speculation. Cryptocurrency investor interest in ADA has also waned as the price continues to decline.
Reactions to Hoskinson’s Bitcoin Comments
Meanwhile, in recent days, one of the prominent figures in the Bitcoin community, Tor Demeester, has been at odds with Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, who has made some very provocative comments about Bitcoin.
Classic forecast. In just 3 years, Cardano’s share of Bitcoin’s market cap has risen from 10% to just 1%. pic.twitter.com/CkfQ0izHcd
– Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) September 2, 2024
Hoskinson has been quoted as suggesting that the cryptocurrency industry doesn’t necessarily need Bitcoin, going so far as to predict the emergence of a more secure “digital gold” that will make Bitcoin as obsolete as the Windows operating system, which has seen more advanced platforms like iOS and Android eclipse its importance.
Demeester criticized Hoskinson, emphasizing the irony of his comments by pointing to Cardano’s diminishing market presence. He said: ADA Market Cap Bitcoin’s share has dropped from 10% to just 1% in the past three years.
This aspect in turn increases the pressure on Cardano due to its status as one of the major cryptocurrencies. Demeester’s strong wake-up call was that Cardano, from its bright beginnings, may struggle even more to survive in today’s rapidly changing crypto environment.
Will Cardano recover?
Despite these hurdles, there are signs of recovery. The slight increase in the price of ADA over the past week suggests that some investors still believe in the coin.
The last Chang’s promotion This may also have something to do with the revival of interest in Cardano, including on-chain voting to improve governance. This could provide a better way to engage the community in decision-making and boost user engagement.
But everything is not easy and straightforward from here. Cardano needs to solve its technical issues and accelerate the pace of development regarding its ecosystem to give it the confidence boost it sorely needs.
Featured image by Pexels, chart by TradingView