On-chain data from Alphractal has revealed sharply contrasting network usage trends across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, and Cardano, even as their market narratives diverge.
Bitcoin active addresses have fallen significantly relative to previous cycles, but Alphractal founder Joao Wedson says this may not signal weaker usage. Instead, BTC investors are holding longer and moving coins less frequently, while ETFs, custodians, exchanges, and the Lightning Network handle more activity. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $3.31 billion in August inflows, reinforcing Bitcoin’s growing role as a reserve asset accessed through financial products.
Ethereum’s active addresses are again accelerating and approaching 1 million, despite much activity operating on Layer 2 networks. Tron stands out with more than 4 million active addresses, driven primarily by payments and stablecoins, particularly USDT, rather than speculative TRX trading.
Cardano presents the weakest on-chain picture, with activity sharply lower since 2021. Founder Charles Hoskinson has publicly warned of a wave of failures and dApp closures. However, ADA price has shown some resilience, briefly touching $0.254 before pulling back to about $0.196.
In a separate report, Cardano was up 2.74% to $0.19965 in 24 hours, outperforming a largely flat Bitcoin, after being used as a public verification layer for Brazilian fashion supply chains through Blockforce. More than 500,000 records have been anchored on Cardano’s mainnet, with anchoring costs reduced by 92%.
Meanwhile, development of Ouroboros Leios is advancing: testing reached 26.8 TxkB/s, compared with 4.51 TxkB/s under the current Praos configuration. IOG has outlined a phased deployment that could increase throughput by 10x to 65x, with mainnet deployment targeted for December 2026, subject to testing, audits, and governance approval.
Cardano’s Constitutional Committee vote faced a September 1 deadline, with DRep approval at 68.95%, above the 67% requirement, but SPO support at 50%, one percentage point below the 51% threshold. If approval fails, four committee members could leave, leaving only three, below the constitution’s minimum of five.
Popular ADA commentator Dan Gambardello disclosed he has reallocated part of his Cardano holdings into other crypto projects over the past year, citing greater upside potential, while saying he remains bullish on Cardano. For ADA, holding above the psychological $0.20 level is now seen as the key near-term test.
