Overview
- Cardano moved its mainnet to Protocol Version 11 through an on‑chain governance vote that activated the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, delivering Plutus improvements, revised smart‑contract cost models, zero‑knowledge support, and tighter node security.
- ADA recovered roughly 7–9% in recent sessions and traded around $0.17, but analysts say the token must reclaim $0.17–$0.19 and clear resistance near $0.18–$0.20 before a broader downtrend can be judged to have turned.
- Derivatives and on‑chain metrics are mixed: funding rates have turned positive, suggesting more long interest, while the long‑to‑short ratio remains below one, signaling cautious positioning among traders.
- Large holders increased holdings around the upgrade, with Santiment reporting the biggest whale balances since February 2023, yet Cardano’s DeFi activity and total value locked remain small (about $86 million), meaning the upgrade needs to translate into user and TVL growth to sustain price gains.
- A Wanchain‑linked Cardano bridge exploit drained about 515 million NIGHT tokens, roughly $9 million, and Wanchain says the issue affected the bridge infrastructure rather than Cardano’s Layer 1, underscoring cross‑chain risks that could slow developer and investor confidence.