Cardano (ADA) Surpasses Ethereum (ETH) in Whale Transactions, Signals Strength Amid Bearish Market

• Despite facing market declines, Cardano surpasses Ethereum in large transactions, with daily volumes reaching $13 billion.

• Cardano’s ADA price dropped by 2.56% to $0.5177, while Ethereum saw a milder 0.85% decrease to $2,516.35 in the past 24 hours.

Cardano (ADA) has recently outpaced Ethereum (ETH) in large transaction volumes. Data from the crypto analytics platform IntoTheBlock (ITB) reveals that Cardano’s 30-day volume of large transactions, defined as those exceeding $100,000 in fiat value, significantly surpasses Ethereum’s. This development emerges as the crypto market attempts to navigate through a bearish phase.

Cardano whales have been quite active for the past few months. $13B in large transactions (>$100k) is being settled on Cardano daily on average. A significant amount, if you compare it to Ethereum’s $5B 7-day average. pic.twitter.com/8rjeQZaonU

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) January 18, 2024

Cardano, known for its scientific approach to blockchain development and a strong focus on sustainability, has seen its market price and capitalization dip by 4% in the past 24 hours, at $0.5 and $17 billion respectively. In contrast, Ethereum, the industry’s foremost smart contract network, has experienced a milder decline of 1.96% in the same period, with its price adjusting to $2,487.35.

Ethereum’s Position in the Market

With a slower growth rate, Ethereum holds its position, while Cardano shows a strong influx of large transactions. According to IntoTheBlock data, the weekly average of Ethereum’s huge transactions—mostly those made by market whales—is approximately $5 billion. Ethereum’s transaction volume has, however, recently increased. Over the past 24 hours, it has increased by 6.74% to $4.16 billion. This increase contrasts Cardano’s higher volume, currently at $11.24 billion but has dropped 8.74% in the same period.

Ethereum continues to be a major force in the cryptocurrency market, having been the first to develop smart contract technology and spur the emergence of decentralized apps (dApps). It continuously upgrades to a proof-of-stake consensus process to address scalability and environmental concerns, factors crucial to its long-term viability.

The competition between Layer-1 networks like Ethereum and Cardano reflects the larger dynamics in the cryptocurrency market. To have the Cardano protocol surpass Ethereum in market valuation is one of the community’s aspirational goals. This objective seems far-fetched, though, given that Ethereum’s market capitalization is $302,549,903,898 while Cardano’s is only $903,898.

Cardano’s immediate focus may be leveraging its current strengths, including the recent surge in whale transaction volume and its ongoing developer activity. These factors play a crucial role in establishing Cardano as a strong competitor in the blockchain market, which could challenge Ethereum’s established dominance.

The Bearish Sentiment and Future Prospects

The prevailing bearish sentiment in the crypto market has impacted both Cardano and Ethereum, albeit in different magnitudes. ADA has recently fallen below the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), a critical market sentiment indicator. This drop is typically considered a bearish signal, often leading to further declines or a market consolidation period. The significance of this drop lies in the combination of high transaction volumes with ADA’s negative price action, raising questions about the long-term strategies of large-scale investors in Cardano.

Despite these challenges, Cardano’s community remains optimistic about its long-term prospects, especially in its ambition to surpass Ethereum in market capitalization. However, with Cardano’s market cap currently at $18.3 billion, significantly lower than Ethereum’s $302.5 billion, this goal appears more aspirational in the current market context.

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