Cardano and its native token, ADA, experienced a notable decline in the second quarter of 2024, according to a recent report by data intelligence firm Messari. Key performance indicators revealed significant decreases across various metrics, mirroring the broader downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
ADA’s price plummeted 39.7% to $0.39, while its market capitalization fell by 39.4% quarter-over-quarter to $14 billion. This decline was influenced by a slight increase in circulating supply, leading to a minor discrepancy in market cap figures and a drop in ADA’s market cap ranking from 9th to 10th place.
Transaction fees on the Cardano network, crucial for processing transactions and covering storage costs, also suffered. Revenue in USD decreased by 44.3% to $0.74 million, while revenue in ADA fell by 28.0% to 1.60 million. Average daily transactions decreased by 27.5% to approximately 51,400, and daily active addresses (DAAs) fell by 33.2% to 31,800. The average transaction fee in USD dropped 23.1%, from $0.21 to $0.16, although the average fee in ADA saw only a marginal decline of 0.6%, remaining at 0.34.
Despite these setbacks, the ratio of transactions to active addresses increased by 8.4% to 1.62, indicating a rise in “power users” engaging more frequently with the platform. In terms of staking metrics, total ADA staked and the staking rate increased slightly, but the total value of staked ADA in USD decreased significantly by 39.6% to $8.9 billion, primarily due to the falling price of ADA. Cardano’s treasury balance, measured in ADA, rose 5.8% to 1.57 billion, although its dollar value decreased by 36.7% to $604.7 million. Currently, 20% of transaction fees are allocated to the treasury.
Decentralized application (DApp) activity on Cardano also saw declines, with average daily DApp transactions falling 35.7% to 34,300 and average daily decentralized exchange (DEX) volume in USD decreasing by 42.5% to $4.2 million. The total value locked (TVL) on Cardano dropped 41.2% to $219 million, following a peak of $506 million in March 2024, attributed to the broader crypto market downturn rather than Cardano-specific factors.
Additionally, for the first time since the introduction of Cardano’s stablecoins in late 2022, the stablecoin market cap on the platform decreased by 12.4% to $19.6 million. Average daily non-fungible token (NFT) sales also took a hit, plummeting 57.4% to under 730 transactions.
Despite these challenges, the report highlights ongoing developments within Cardano’s ecosystem. New stablecoins like USDM and MyUSD saw their market caps rise dramatically, indicating shifts in the landscape. Upcoming upgrades, such as the Chang Hard Fork, promise to enhance Cardano’s governance capabilities, moving the network closer to achieving its long-term goals of self-sustainability and participatory decision-making.
At the time of writing, ADA was trading at $0.34, down 0.7% for the 24-hour period.
