The launch of Cardano (ADA) futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has triggered a classic 'sell the news' event, resulting in an immediate 3% price dip for ADA. The futures, which also include Chainlink and Stellar, began trading on February 9, 2026, with initial trades executed between major liquidity providers Cumberland DRW and Wintermute. Despite the institutional milestone—placing ADA alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum in regulated derivatives markets—the price action saw ADA testing critical support near $0.25, having briefly broken the $0.24 level to hit a new yearly low.
Giovanni Vicioso, CME’s Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products, noted the early support underscores client demand for managing price risk. Analysts suggest the launch, announced well in advance, allowed sophisticated players to hedge spot exposure, leading to initial selling pressure rather than immediate upside. The broader market reaction indicates institutions are utilizing the new futures primarily for hedging strategies, which may dampen spot volatility in the near term.
Concurrently, bullish long-term price predictions for other major altcoins have emerged from an analysis using China's 'KIMI' AI, associated with Alibaba. The model projects significant gains for XRP, Dogecoin (DOGE), and Solana (SOL) by the end of 2026.
For XRP, currently trading around $1.38, KIMI estimates a potential surge to $8, representing a sixfold increase. This forecast is supported by Ripple's reaffirmation of XRP as a core component of its strategy for the XRP Ledger (XRPL) as an institutional-grade payments network. Key catalysts include recently approved U.S.-listed XRP ETFs, Ripple's expanding partnerships, and the potential passage of the U.S. CLARITY bill.
For Dogecoin, with a current price near $0.09, the AI projects the meme coin could hit the symbolic $1 target this year, equating to gains of over 1,000%. Adoption drivers include Tesla accepting DOGE for merchandise and integrations by PayPal and Revolut.
For Solana, which has spent most of February 2026 trading below $100 after a late-2025 correction, KIMI's most optimistic scenario forecasts a rally to $400 by 2027—nearly a 5x return that would surpass its previous all-time high of $293 set in January 2025. Growth is attributed to rising on-chain activity, the launch of Solana-linked ETFs by Bitwise and Grayscale, and tokenized real-world asset issuance by firms like Franklin Templeton and BlackRock on the network.
The article also highlights the ongoing presale for the meme coin Maxi Doge (MAXI), an ERC-20 token that has raised over $4.6 million. It offers staking yields of up to 68% APY and is currently priced at $0.0002803 in its structured presale.
