ADA’s drop in open interest looks similar to Solana’s past pattern, where a fragmented market often comes before weaker altcoin momentum.
Cardano has experienced a sharp decline of over 10% over the past week. It started near $0.30, but heavy selling pushed it to $0.23, forming a consolidation to $0.26. Amidst strong bearish pressure, new data suggest that major traders have exited their ADA positions.
Alphractal founder Joao Wedson, for one, said that Cardano’s derivatives market is going through a major shift that could affect its price momentum.
Cardano Follows Solana’s Path
Open interest in ADA has declined sharply from $1.6 billion to $334 million, as major players have aggressively closed their positions. However, Wedson explained that the more important change lies in how OI is distributed across exchanges. In 2023, Binance controlled over 80% of ADA’s open interest, while 17 other exchanges combined held less than 20%.
By 2026, that balance has dramatically changed as Binance now holds only 22%, and Gate.io has emerged as the new leader with 31% of the market. Wedson observed that this change is significant because a similar pattern played out with Solana.
During SOL’s rally from $20 to $200 in 2023-2024, Binance’s dominance in open interest increased, thereby supporting price appreciation.
Later, as Binance’s share declined, Solana’s momentum weakened. The same trend appears to be unfolding with Cardano, and with open interest now fragmented, the altcoin’s upside potential may be limited as the overall crypto market remains fragile.
“Binance tends to be the exchange that fuels strong altcoin rallies, but only when leverage is concentrated and competition is limited.”
Long-Term Trend Remains Intact
Despite the short-term market uncertainty gripping the ADA market, pseudonymous analyst, ‘Crypto Patel,’ believes that the overall long-term structure stays bullish as long as the price does not fall below $0.13 on a weekly close.
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On the upside, he says ADA needs to reclaim $0.44 to confirm a new uptrend. If that happens, the crypto asset could enter a new bull cycle, and long-term targets range from $1.20 to as high as over $10, similar to past cycles.
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