The DeFi ecosystem of Cardano has seen significant growth, with over 637 million ADA locked in it. This growth has been fueled by the mainstream adoption of the web3 industry and digital assets. The Cardano network, which is a fast-growing layer one blockchain designed to facilitate the mainstream adoption of web3 and digital assets, has become a mature ecosystem that secures billions of dollars. The developers of Cardano have been working tirelessly over the past year to prepare for the highly anticipated bull market expected in the next 24 months.
According to a recent report by the Input-Output Group, the Cardano network has recorded over 80 million transactions as of December 15, 2023, with only 153 decentralized financial (DeFi) projects. The Cardano network has implemented strategic policies to enable DeFi developers to easily build applications that appeal to new crypto investors. In the layer one blockchain space, competition is primarily focused on the ability to create applications that attract mainstream users and allow for secure global transactions at scale.
Since the adoption of smart contracts by the Cardano network, its on-chain activity has grown exponentially. As a proof-of-stake secure blockchain, Cardano has attracted both institutional investors and retail traders looking to diversify their crypto portfolios. Currently, over 22.98 billion ADA has been staked by more than 345,000 addresses to passively earn and secure the network.
The Cardano smart contracts have seen significant growth, with over 637 million ADA locked in all smart contracts. Market data from Lookerstudio reveals that there are now over 9,000 Cardano-based smart contracts, driven by the mainstream adoption of web3 protocols. The Plutus V2 Script, introduced as part of the Alonzo hard fork, accounts for around 8,000 of these contracts as of December 24, 2023. Combined with the Plutus V1 scripts, the Cardano network now has a total of over 14,000 smart contracts.
Some of the top-rated decentralized applications (dApps) on the Cardano network include the jpg.store NFT marketplace with over 21,000 unique accounts, and the Minswap decentralized exchange (DEX) with more than 35,000 unique accounts. Other notable DeFi protocols on Cardano include Liqwid Finance, Muesliswap, and SundaeSwap. The Djed algorithmic stablecoin has also experienced significant growth on the Cardano network, as it plays a crucial role in stabilizing the 9.17 million native tokens.
In terms of price action, ADA has seen a rally of over 60% in the past four weeks, currently trading at $0.666. With a market capitalization of approximately $21 billion and an average 24-hour trading volume of around $831 million, ADA is poised for a major bullish breakout. The weekly Relative Strength Index (RSI) has surpassed the 70 level for the first time in two years, indicating a potential bullish trend. In the short-term, Cardano’s price has been consolidating in an ascending triangle pattern, which could result in a bullish breakout in the coming weeks.
For those interested in Cardano, there are resources available such as a Cardano buying guide, a Cardano wallet tutorial, and a 24-hour Cardano price check. Additionally, more Cardano news can be found for further updates and insights.