Cardano’s ADA faces bearish pressure, dropping to $0.26 as derivatives data shows capital outflows, despite major protocol upgrades and institutional developments.
While Cardano’s development team pushes forward with a series of critical infrastructure upgrades scheduled for late February 2026, its native token ADA is experiencing contrasting price pressure. The asset recently declined by approximately 4% to trade around $0.26, suggesting that near-term macroeconomic forces are currently overshadowing positive network developments.
Market data reveals significant capital outflows from ADA. According to CoinGlass, the open interest for ADA futures contracts stands at $424.84 million, marking a 24-hour drop of 4.25%. This risk-off mood triggered liquidations totaling roughly $1.86 million, with long positions bearing the brunt.
Key derivatives metrics underscore this negative shift. The long/short ratio recently fell to 0.8619, indicating a notable rise in active short positions. Furthermore, the funding rate turned negative, settling at -0.0138%. Such negative funding rates typically signal increased market interest in shorting the asset.
On the technology front, the developers released Plutus smart-contract platform version 1.58.0.0 on February 21. Per information from CoinMarketCap, this update expands built-in functions and enhances network stability. It is a preparatory step for the upcoming “van Rossem” intra-era hard fork to protocol version 11, which is designed to deliver performance improvements for Plutus and increase node security.
In a parallel release, Cardano Node v10.6.2 launched with structural code optimizations and expanded tracing capabilities. This stable release focuses on internal infrastructure readiness, aiming to prepare the network for future scaling solutions like Ouroboros Leios. Founder Charles Hoskinson also confirmed a planned March 2026 launch for the privacy-focused Midnight sidechain.
Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem is securing strategic cross-chain connections. A recently approved LayerZero integration actively bridges the network with more than 150 external blockchains. This infrastructure opens potential access to broader cross-chain liquidity markets.
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Institutional infrastructure continues to develop. The impending launch of a regulated ADA futures contract by the CME Group, coupled with increased fund allocations from asset managers like Grayscale, points to sustained institutional interest. These developments highlight a growing divergence between long-term network building and short-term price action.
From a chart perspective, ADA is trading below both its 50-period and 200-period Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). Analysis from FXStreet identifies a critical support zone near $0.25. A decisive break below this level could trigger a test of the lows established in February.
The market narrative remains divided. As the network rolls out substantial technical upgrades and prepares for its next evolution via the Midnight sidechain, traders are aggressively pricing in macroeconomic uncertainty. The month of March will reveal whether these ongoing infrastructure deployments can generate sufficient on-chain utility to counteract the prevailing bearish market structure.
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