Cardano Drops Under $0.18 as Two‑Stage Dijkstra Roadmap Shows Long, Conditional Timeline

Overview

• Cardano traded near $0.174 and fell about 1% after sellers pushed ADA below a short‑term rising channel, with immediate support at $0.1706 on the daily chart.
• Intersect outlined a two‑phase Dijkstra rollout that targets code completion in Q4 2026 for phase one and Q2 2027 for phase two, with those dates described as development milestones rather than confirmed mainnet launches.
• Phase one would upgrade protocol version to PV12 and activate Ouroboros Linear Leios for higher throughput while adding nested transactions, a PlutusV4 script context, and structural support for Peras, which will be turned on in phase two to speed settlement through committee voting.
• Mainnet activation of either hard fork still depends on preview and pre‑production testing plus on‑chain governance approval from delegated representatives, stake pool operators, and the Constitutional Committee, leaving exact launch timing uncertain.
• Near‑term market risk is elevated because concentrated leveraged positions between about $0.183 and $0.187 could trigger volatile liquidations, whale wallets have reduced holdings since early August, and ecosystem liquidity and cross‑chain incidents limit how quickly protocol upgrades will move price.