Whales Fuel $ADA Rally: Cardano’s Market Cap Surpasses $28 Billion as Large Transactions Surge

The price of the native token of smart contract platform Cardano ($ADA) has surged by more than 41% over the past week to now trade at around $0.8 per token, giving it a total market capitalization above the $28 billion mark.

According to popular cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez, the price rise came amid an increase in the volume of large ADA transactions, which grew by 297% over the past two weeks to a $22.5 billion high.

Cardano’s price has risen more than 120% over the past month amid a wider cryptocurrency market rally that has seen the price of the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin ($BTC) surpass the $98,000 mark to near a $2 trillion market capitalization.

Meanwhile, on-chain analysis firm Santiment has noted that “Cardano is decoupled from the altcoin pack” as it moved to a near 8-month high. The firm added that ADA’s price ratio against BTC is also at a similar high, with the last time the whale volume was similar being ahead of a significant 26% price jump.

The cryptocurrency bull run has been benefiting the Cardano Foundation as well. As reported, the nonprofit organization supporting the Cardano ecosystem  has revealed in a recent report that as of Dec.31, 2023, it held $478.24 million in assets, with 82.5% of those being held in ADA, 10.1% in BTC, and the rest in cash and cash equivalents.

The value of these assets has likely grown significantly since, given the crypotocurrency market’s recent price rally. Its ADA holdings, for example, are up more than 100% over the past year, if the Foundation didn’t sell any.

The report details that the Cardano Foundation’s main income stream comes from the staking rewards generated by delegating the ADA tokens it holds on the Cardano network. Last year, it notes, its 668.8 million ADA tokens generated 20.9 million additional ADA, a 3.1% return.

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