While many altcoins have successfully held onto their election-rally gains, navigating market uncertainties with resilience, Cardano (ADA) has notably diverged from this trend. Its performance in 2025 paints a stark picture of struggle, raising significant concerns about its market position and underlying value.
Cardano's Dramatic Underperformance
Cardano has experienced a severe downturn, completely wiping out its yearly gains and sliding back to early election levels around the $0.30 support. This steep decline is mirrored in its market capitalization, which has plummeted by $25 billion—a 64% drop—to $14 billion in 2025. Such a performance places it significantly behind even memecoins like Dogecoin, which managed to limit its drawdown to 50%. Consequently, ADA's coveted 10th spot in the crypto rankings is now under serious threat, with Bitcoin Cash (BCH) rapidly closing the gap.
Fundamental Cracks Emerge
Beyond the price charts, Cardano's technical weakness is increasingly reflected in its fundamentals. Despite recent network enhancements, user engagement has seen a sharp decline, with active addresses falling from an election-peak of 93,000 to below 25,000, stifling potential FOMO. Analysts also highlight a significant discrepancy in Total Value Locked (TVL); for instance, Sui boasts 4.5 times Cardano's TVL despite having only a third of ADA's market capitalization, suggesting Cardano may be considerably overvalued compared to its peers. Adding to these concerns, significant whale activity indicates smart money is exiting, with over 120 million ADA offloaded in the past two months, coinciding with a 50% price drop from its $0.80 peak. This combination of declining user activity, low TVL, and substantial whale selling strongly suggests an overvalued asset, making the loss of Cardano's top-10 ranking appear increasingly inevitable.
