Cardano (ADA), the 10th-ranked cryptocurrency, has declined by 44.55% in the last year and 27.85% in the last 30 days. Its price has plummeted from around $0.82 to less than $0.50, prompting gloomy predictions about the fate of Cardano by Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik.
Hyperliquid, Monad, Zcash as rising threats to Cardano
Notably, in a post that has gained traction on X, Svanevik predicts that “Cardano will drop out of the top 20 cryptocurrencies” in terms of market capitalization. He believes that Cardano’s position in the crypto space will weaken significantly as the asset has failed to stabilize and grow.
Svanevik dismissed Cardano as a “ghost chain,” as it has very low utility in the real world. According to the Nansen CEO, Cardano has very few active users and developers, hence the blockchain’s inability to sustain growth.
He maintained that Cardano does not have enough meaningful activities happening on-chain and criticized ADA’s performance.
Svanevik observed that the most recent price peak of ADA was less than half of Cardano’s 2021 all-time high (ATH). This suggests that investor interest in ADA has stagnated and is likely to fade.
In Svanevik’s opinion, other blockchains will overtake Cardano and edge it out of the top 20 spots in terms of market capitalization. He specifically listed likely projects that could flip Cardano to include Hyperliquid, Monad and Zcash.
The choice of these projects might be due to their unique features, which have made them attractive to users in the space. Hyperliquid is a fast-growing chain for perpetual trading design, while Monad is a high-performance Ethereum Virtual Machine chain. Zcash continues to gain acceptance because it is a privacy currency.
Svanevik opines that these blockchains will gain momentum over Cardano and surpass it in both market value and relevance, given its poor price outlook.
As of press time, Cardano is changing hands at $0.4657, which represents a 0.12% decline in the last 24 hours. The $0.4600 support is facing a severe threat as it momentarily dipped below this level before reclaiming it.
Community reacts as debate over Cardano’s future intensifies
It is worth noting that not many people in the crypto space agree with Svanevik’s prediction on Cardano. A trading expert with the user name @TradingAlpinist pointed out that Cardano has been facing such grim predictions in every market cycle.
The TradingAlpinist, however, noted that, regardless, Cardano has remained relevant in the top 10 while most critics have disappeared. Another user wondered how a blockchain, which Svanevik dismissed as a “ghost chain,” has stayed in the top 10 for around a decade with “no users.”
As the debate continues, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has yet to react to the latest prediction on ADA. Hoskinson had earlier predicted that 2026 would be the “beast year” for crypto, and many in the community assume that includes Cardano.