Cardano's native token, ADA, is trading around $0.2572, having declined nearly 9% over the past week. The price remains below its 50-day and 100-day moving averages, indicating a prevailing bearish trend. Despite this, derivatives data shows a surge in activity, with open interest rising 3.87% to $428.45 million and trading volume exploding by 33.39% to $779.84 million.
This spike in volume and interest follows a significant institutional development. On March 8, the Cardano Foundation, led by CEO Frederik Gregaard, confirmed the successful integration of the Cardano blockchain with Archax, a UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-regulated digital securities exchange. This integration places MemberCaps Fund I tokens (MCM tokens) within Archax's regulated infrastructure, providing a compliant pathway for large financial institutions to tokenize traditional assets like real estate and securities on the Cardano network. Gregaard described finalizing the deal as "a tough one" to complete.
However, on-chain metrics present a more cautious picture. Daily active addresses on the Cardano network have been in a steady decline since late January, currently sitting at approximately 13,500, suggesting reduced network demand.
From a technical perspective, ADA is testing the key Fibonacci 0.5 retracement resistance level at $0.2614. The price is contained within a descending channel, with immediate support from an ascending trendline near $0.2458. A break above the $0.2614 resistance could target the next Fibonacci level at $0.2826, while the channel's upper boundary lies between $0.29 and $0.31. The daily RSI reading of 41 indicates weak momentum, and the MACD hovers near zero, maintaining a mildly bearish bias. Analysts suggest a daily close above the $0.27–$0.28 range is needed to shift the technical outlook.
