ADA declined over 8% in the past 24 hours, falling below $0.255 and becoming the worst-performing altcoin among the 30 largest digital assets by market cap. The pullback came despite recent bullish momentum and increased activity from large market participants.
ADA had climbed to a multi-month peak above $0.27 on October 5, up nearly 11% that day. However, the asset was rejected and has since given back most of those gains. The token had risen from under $0.19 to over $0.27 within a span of weeks prior to the decline.
Whale Activity Surges
Data from Santiment Intelligence showed a significant increase in large transactions on the Cardano network. Transactions worth at least $100,000 reached 314 on October 5, marking the highest level of such activity in over four months. However, higher transaction counts among whales indicate increased activity but do not reveal whether these holders are buying or selling.
Social interest in Cardano also climbed, with ADA's social dominance reaching 1.16%, the highest reading for the year. Cardano's market cap had gained over 42% since September 16 before today's pullback.
Recent Developments and Leverage
Fresh project developments have supported renewed attention on Cardano, including the October 1 RealFi mainnet launch, anticipation surrounding Leios, Fireblocks support, and additional institutional integrations.
Part of the decline may be attributed to leverage exposure in the market. ADA open interest had increased by 25% in recent days to over $300 million, meaning more leveraged positions were in place when market direction reversed. The subsequent market-wide liquidation flush erased a significant portion of recent gains.
