To say 2022 has been disappointing for the crypto market would be an understatement. The gentle winter that began in late 2021 has drawn out too long, overhauling the industry.
Despite being one of the world’s most established cryptocurrencies, Cardano wasn’t spared from its aftermath. ADA has lost close to 90.15% value since hitting an all-time high of $3.10 on 02 Sep 2021. The series of price dips have left investors wondering if it is too late to buy Cardano.
In this article, we discuss the price performance of Cardano in 2022 and whether it is a good idea to buy ADA now. The review is accompanied by a list of crypto sectors that can outperform blockchain projects like Cardano.
Is it too Late to Buy Cardano – Summary
Cardano has long been considered a blue-chip cryptocurrency. But the market has reached a point where we can’t confidently grant the tag to any cryptocurrency. This includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. All high-cap cryptocurrencies have shed most of their weight during the overstayed winter. Cardano is no exception.
Crypto catastrophes like the FTX fall and the UST de-peg, rampant scams and hacks, and global recession have contributed to the persistent downturn. While there are factors that most of the market has had to go through, deteriorating confidence in the Cardano network expedited the downward trajectory for ADA. For example, stablecoin and DeFi project Ardana cited Cardano’s inherent limitations as the cause of its abrupt halt. Cardano’s slow expansion continues to be a concern for investors.
Cardano may lose relevance in the coming months as more advanced blockchains enter the competition. That said, Cardano’s goodwill built over the years is hard to tamper with. Looks like the coin will need to step up the game, especially in terms of mainstream adoption, in the coming months to reclaim its lost value and glory.
Here is a quick overview of Cardano price prediction from 2023 to 2030:
| End of 2023 | $0.80 |
| End of 2024 | $2.75 |
| End of 2025 | $3.35 |
| End of 2030 | $5.00 |
Why is Cardano dropping?
Here are the top reasons why Cardano price has been consistently slipping throughout this year.
1. Broader market downturns
The crypto market has undergone a series of severe downturns since late 2021. Cardano was not spared from the slowdowns and crashes, which continue to reflect in its price. ADA hit an all-time high of $3.10 on 02 Sep 2021, ahead of the Alonzo fork. It brought smart contract capability to the network, and opened up possibilities for growth and expansion.
But ADA couldn’t sustain the value and soon descended the charts. By the end of 2021, the coin was down to $1.3, much to the disappointment of the community. Although followed by smaller highs, ADA has been losing value, which raised concerns about its long-term returns.
The two major crypto catastrophes of 2022 – LUNA fall and FTX bankruptcy – didn’t help the case, either. Not only did they take down most cryptocurrencies with them, but also damaged the reputation of the industry. With the UST depegging and the subsequent wider market crash, major stablecoins, including USDT, lost their market cap. High-cap cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, and Solana also took the brunt.
LUNC all-time price history, CoinMarketCap
Cardano, which was enjoying a small peak at $0.891 on 5 May 2022, was down to $0.45 by 15 May 2022. It lost close to 50% value in the market collapse. The downward spiral reversed soon after, and ADA was back to $0.65 by the end of the month. But it would continue to follow a zigzag with no hopes of a rebound in the following weeks.
The next blow to ADA was the FTX fall, which threw the market into a sea of red. Cardano was not spared. The collapse of one of the largest crypto exchanges left its mark on the coin, taking it from $0.42 on 5 Nov 2022 to $0.3 at the time of writing. The good thing is, ADA showed better perseverance than most cryptocurrencies during the chaos.
Cardano YTD price history, 28 Nov 2022, CoinMarketCap
2. Internal setbacks
When the Cardano Alonzo Fork was completed in 2021, the community was looking forward to accruing more value from the new smart contract ecosystem. Sadly, Cardano hasn’t met the expectations of the community. The network has been facing setbacks that could slow down its journey ahead.
For example, Ardana, a leading DeFi and stablecoin ecosystem building on Cardano, stopped its development recently. It blamed funding and timeline uncertainty as the reason for the abrupt halt.
“Unfortunately due to recent developments with regards to funding and project timeline uncertainty, the Ardana project has had to come to a halt. Our code will remain open source for builders to continue our work going forward as they wish,” the team announced in a Tweet on 24 Nov 2022. The funds and treasury balances will be held by Ardana Labs till then.
https://twitter.com/ArdanaProject/status/1595595507979767808
The tweet blames Cardano for its early demise: “To put it simply, we could launch our products within a few weeks if we so wanted. However, the underlying network on #Cardano is currently not ideal for any protocol dealing with liquidations; it’s not safe enough for us to launch without risking user funds”.
The announcement came as a shock to the Cardano community. Many came in support of the network, citing the Ardana team’s lack of competence as the reason for the failure. The good news is, Cardano is getting a new stablecoin. The network has partnered with COTI, a DAG-based Layer 1 protocol, to launch an over-collateralized algorithmic stablecoin. Since the market hasn’t still healed from the UST crash, the new venture raises concerns. The new stablecoin will be backed by excess collateral in the form of cryptocurrency stored in a reserve to address the dilemma.
Cardano may also be getting a new U.S. Dollar-backed stablecoin, according to EMURGO, the official commercial arm and a founding entity of the Cardano blockchain.
#EMURGO, the official commercial arm and a founding entity of the @Cardano #blockchain, announces the planned launch of its new U.S. Dollar-backed stablecoin, #USDA. A first fully fiat-backed, regulatory compliant #stablecoin in the #Cardano ecosystem.
🔗:https://t.co/I035EKi78f pic.twitter.com/uyCO9SOe8Z— EMURGO (@emurgo_io) November 18, 2022
3. Global recession
2022 has not been kind to the global economy, either. The tenacious inflation, impending recession, and energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war have taken a toll on the crypto market as well. Investors, who have little money to spare, are now more conscious than ever about where to park their savings. Of course, crypto is not on top of their list because of its high volatility this year.
But the deteriorating confidence in the traditional markets and centralized financial institutions may work in favor of the crypto industry in the coming months. Investors are looking for better alternatives that offer transparent transactions. If the market moves to a more stable phase, it will see increasing traction from traditional investors. Cardano, being one of the most established cryptocurrencies, will be a good alternative to blue-chip stocks.
4. Threats of regulation
Regulatory threats continue to be a hurdle in the way of crypto mass adoption. Although Cardano is considered one of the eco-sustainable blockchain projects, it is also on the watch. The fall of FTX and the UST crash has urged regulators to bring crypto under strict laws. While positive regulations will motivate people to invest in crypto without worry, hostile regulations can shunt the growth of crypto projects.
Since the post-pandemic crypto revival, there have been increasing initiatives to integrate cryptocurrencies into the regulated payment system. The prejudice and misconceptions about the industry prevent them from bringing any meaningful outcome, however. The widespread hacks and scams in the industry aggravate the situation.
The lack of clarity about crypto regulations continues to threaten the Cardano ecosystem, like the rest of the industry.
Cardano Price Prediction: 2023 to 2025
| End of 2023 | With new projects ready for roll-out, the Cardano ecosystem has the potential to take ADA up to $0.80 by the end of the year. It can go further higher in the event the market gets back on its feet faster and Cardano follows suit.
If the stablecoins under development are released as planned, the network will gain a stronger foothold in the industry and attract a solid user base that is not here just to pump value. More robust use cases that cater to the growth of the industry as a whole will drive ADA price in the coming months. |
| End of 2024 | Cardano will be home to a diverse range of crypto applications by early 2023. As the network expands its real-world use cases and acquires more integrations, especially in the traditional sectors, ADA price can hit anywhere from $2.50 to $2.75. |
| End of 2025 | Given that the network continues to penetrate traditional sectors like education, healthcare, and real estate, the Cardano price can hit $3.35 by Dec 2025, breaking past its all-time high. |
| End of 2030 | From 2025 to 2030, clearly defined crypto regulations will be in place, which will help the industry enter a mature phase where innovation takes precedence over hype. Cardano will follow the market trends and climb to $5.00 by the end of 2023. |
Is it too Late to Buy Cardano? Our Verdict
No, it’s not too late to buy Cardano. The project has still a long way to go, and so does ADA. As the crypto market recovers from the drawn-out winter, Cardano will follow suit. The consistent project developments going on in the space will introduce new applications with diverse use cases, which, in turn, will drive the sustainable growth of ADA.
That doesn’t rule out the chances of market downturns, however. Cardano is prone to market volatility and can witness more crashes in the future. The long-term growth potential of the project looks strong, regardless of the minor setbacks ahead.
These Crypto Projects will Outperform Cardano in 2023
Cardano is a blue-chip cryptocurrency. Despite the highs and lows in the market from time to time, we can’t ignore the fact that Cardano has a secure position on the crypto charts in terms of market cap. ADA ranks ninth on CoinMarketCap at the time of writing, with a $10,528,123,585 market cap.
It goes without saying that Cardano is one of the safest crypto investments. But it can’t give you 10X-25X returns in a week or month. Most likely, not even in years. The crypto asset is saturated to a great extent. If you’re looking for cryptocurrencies with higher growth potential, you should look for early-stage crypto projects instead. Their low market cap gives them larger room for value appreciation.
Here are the top three sectors that are likely to outperform blockchains like Cardano, Ethereum, and Solana next year. Each category is accompanied by a list of projects that are reviving these sectors with unique visions and value propositions. Let’s dive in.
Green cryptocurrencies
Green crypto projects are dedicated to empowering environmental initiatives with novel blockchain use cases. They have a competitive edge against other crypto projects in terms of mainstream adoption. That is, they draw more traction from crypto and non-crypto investors due to their high market relevance.
For example, Algorand is a sustainable blockchain project that has secured multiple top-tier partnerships in a short space of time since its inception. In fact, it is an official partner of FIFA, thanks to its diverse green ecosystem. Companies and governments are more willing to support and invest in projects that have visionary goals. Moreover, these projects quell the criticisms regarding the environmental impact of blockchain projects.
A recent project to acquire widespread attention from both crypto insiders and outsiders is IMPT. The large Web3 ecosystem is designed to decentralize the carbon market and make it available to more people. It comes with an NFT carbon credit marketplace, a shopping platform, and a social platform. Here’s how they work together to bring climate action to the mainstream.
- The IMPT carbon marketplace tokenizes carbon credits into NFTs for better transparency and ease of exchange. Businesses and individual users – mandatory and voluntary – can use the platform to buy carbon credits and compensate for their carbon footprint.
- The IMPT shopping platform, on the other hand, allows users to earn carbon credits through everyday shopping. It has partnered with leading global retailers, who will allocate a share of their sales margin to the program. IMPT shopping app users are rewarded in IMPT tokens, which they can exchange for carbon credits on the IMPT marketplace.
- The IMPT social platform combines Social-Fi and GameFi features to turn carbon offsetting into a fun social activity. It helps users – businesses and individuals – keep track of their carbon-offsetting activities through a new scoring system.
If IMPT unfolds as planned, it has the potential to enter the $1B club by late 2023, giving ample returns to presale investors. The presale, now in the second stage, is sprinting towards an early sell-out, as a result. Other green cryptos to keep an eye on are Earthling, Chia, and STEPN.
Utility-centric cryptocurrencies
Rain or shine, cryptocurrencies underpinned by relevant use cases won’t go out of trend. We have seen how Trust Wallet Token bucked the trend this year amid the FTX crash. That’s why we need more projects that focus on providing real-world utilities to users, rather than continue accumulating market cap without any solid base.
Dash 2 Trade dashboard
Another recent example of market-relevant projects is Dash 2 Trade, a crypto analytics and intelligence platform that caters to both seasoned and novice traders. Trading is a game for shrewd participants, especially when it comes to volatile assets like crypto. However, the market is swamped with part-time and newbie investors who have little to no technical knowledge. If the market is to get back on its feet, we need more intelligent investors. Only then can we build the industry and sustain its growth.
This is what Dash 2 Trade aims to achieve with its advanced dashboard that provides trading signals and social analytics on-chain data to help users maximize their profits. It also features a custom-made scoring system for presales and ICOs, independent technical indicators, auto trading API, risk profiler, presale listing alerts, on-chain analytics, and social trading.
Dash 2 Trade is powered by D2T tokens, now closing in on the fourth stage of the presale. As the presale moves to the next stages, the price will see a gradual hike. Other emerging cryptocurrencies that can give close competition to Cardano in terms of utility are Casper, Tamadoge, Bloktopia, and Silks.
Play-to-earn cryptocurrencies
Play-to-earn is an evergreen crypto sector. If the underlying project shows potential, early-stage P2E tokens will make a good investment for next year. Given that gaming accounts for a major share of blockchain use, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the market is crowded with play-to-earn projects. Most use the metaverse and GameFi tags to build hype. Few blockchain projects succeed in the long run, however.
Their high entry barrier and low usability are to blame. Projects that make the effort to resolve these shortcomings have plenty of opportunity for growth in the gaming sector. Judging by the white paper and gaming mechanics, RobotEra and Calvaria fit the criteria. RobotEra is a Sandbox-inspired metaverse where users can own virtual estate, create games and experiences, and play them without any coding skills.
The game is themed around robots, opening up boundless creative possibilities. If the project unfolds as planned in the white paper, RobotEra won’t be any less vibrant than ours with concerts, museums, nightclubs, casinos, and salons, to name just a few. The project is currently hosting the presale of its native token $TARO. As an investment, TARO can outperform Cardano due to its low market cap and fast-growing community.
Another interesting play-to-earn game to keep an eye on is Calvaria, a battle card NFT game centered around the afterlife. The game’s theme and narrative are engaging, similar to RobotEra. But what makes Calvaria one of the best NFT games of 2023 is its low entry barrier. Since the game comes in both play-to-earn and free-to-play versions, it won’t have a hard time acquiring a large user base.
The ongoing Calvaria presale gives the most profitable entry to the project, as RIA tokens are predicted to reap 10X returns toward the end of 2023.
FAQ
- Where to buy Cardano?
You can buy Cardano from any centralized or decentralized cryptocurrency exchange of your choice. Make sure you store your ADA in a self-custodial wallet to eliminate the risks of hacks and asset mismanagement. If you are buying Cardano in bulk, it is best to transfer the coin to a cold wallet.
- How to stake Cardano?
You can stake Cardano by running your own Cardano staking pool or outsourcing the task to stake-pool operators. Platforms like Coinbase and Binance allow users to stake ADA in exchange for passive income.
- How high can Cardano go?
Cardano has the potential to go as high as $0.8 by the end of 2023. In the long term, the coin will hit $5.00 if the network resolves its shortcomings and develops a diverse blockchain ecosystem. It will be prone to market volatility from time to time, however.
- Where can I buy Cardano?
Cardano is available for purchase on all major centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges.
- How to buy Cardano?
You can buy Cardano using cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies from all major crypto exchanges.
- Why is Cardano dropping?
Cardano price is dropping as a result of the broader market downturns and the failure of projects like Ardana stablecoin to take off. ADA is likely to recover early next year as both the market and the ecosystem get back on their feet.
- Which cryptocurrencies are good alternatives to Cardano in 2023?
IMPT, Dash 2 Trade, Trust Wallet Token, Casper, RobotEra, and Bloktopia are likely to give better returns to investors than Cardano in 2023.
