Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

A Lightning-Style Layer for CardanoCardano (@cardano) developers have unveiled a new state channel architecture called Cardano Lightning, designed to bring Bitcoin Lightning-style payments to the $ADA network. The system was presented in detail during an August 24 Cardano Community livestream featuring PolyCrypto software engineer Ilja von Hoessle, and is currently in pre-production deployment.

The concept draws directly from Bitcoin's Lightning Network, which uses off-chain payment channels to allow users to transact quickly and cheaply without recording every payment to the base layer. As von Hoessle described it, Lightning means you can be "secure but also very fast and pay few or zero fees." Cardano Lightning applies the same logic, but is built specifically for Cardano's extended UTXO (eUTXO) model rather than Bitcoin's architecture.

At its core, Cardano Lightning consists of bidirectional payment channels that allow two parties to send and receive payments directly. Either party can close a channel at any time without putting the other party's funds at risk. Payments can also be routed across multiple channels, meaning two users without a direct connection can still transact through an intermediary node.

How the System Is BuiltThe technical stack combines three components. The foundation is a fork of the Lightning Development Kit (LDK Node), an existing and well-maintained SDK used to build customisable Lightning nodes. On top of that, developers added a Rust-based relay that handles communication and coordination across the network, and a Cardano smart contract that acts as a liquidity manager.

Cardano has previously lacked a lightweight layer-2 payment solution with fast settlement, easy integration, and adjustable fees. Cardano Lightning is an attempt to address that gap directly, targeting instant settlement with minimal or zero transaction costs.

The project remains in pre-production as the team continues testing. No mainnet launch date has been announced.

Sources:
CryptoNews: Bitcoin Lightning payment channels are coming to Cardano
Cardano Lightning official project site
Project Catalyst: Cardano Lightning Network Phase 1

Cardano has opened community review for two new proposals targeting network security and developer tooling as its 2026 upgrade roadmap continues to take shape.

Quantum-Resistant Wallet SecurityCIP-0197 proposes post-quantum zero-knowledge (ZK) signatures for hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallets. The proposal adds ZK proofs of wallet seed phrases on top of existing signatures, described as an intermediate step toward quantum security ahead of a full cryptographic migration. The design allows users to prove ownership of a wallet's recovery phrase through a zero-knowledge proof without needing to reveal the phrase itself. A separate proposal already in active community review, CPS-0030, addresses the development of a broader quantum-secure settlement layer for the network.

Shared Plutus Testing StandardsCPS-0034 outlines a shared framework for testing Plutus behavior consistently across different node types, with the goal of reducing bugs for developers building smart contracts on Cardano. The proposal follows recent work by the Plutus team, which has added new built-in functions, improved Value support in the ledger API, and broadened the conformance test suite in recent development cycles.

Three other proposals remain in active feedback rounds. CIP-0196 aims to standardize human-readable wallet handles through a Handle Provider Registry and Resolver. CIP-0178 would allow light clients and bridges to verify a transaction without downloading a full block. A fifth proposal, CPS-0033, examines concentration risk among delegated representatives in Cardano's on-chain governance system.

Together, the five proposals reflect the range of Cardano Upgrade 2026, which spans cryptographic security, smart contract tooling, and decentralized governance.

Sources
CoinGabbar: Cardano Upgrade 2026, New CIPs Target Quantum Security
Cardano Development Updates: Plutus Core Team Update, August 2026
The Crypto Basic: Charles Hoskinson Proposes Zero-Knowledge Wallet Recovery System for Cardano

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Cardano has scored a major Japan win as its native cryptocurrency ADA and privacy-focused token NIGHT get listed on S.BLOX, a cryptocurrency exchange affiliated with Sony Group.

S.BLOX is a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange owned by Sony Group Corporation; it was acquired in August 2023 by Sony On-Chain Technologies Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation).

In a recent X post, S.BLOX announced it will begin handling Cardano (ADA) starting August 24. The crypto exchange confirms that Cardano trading is now available and has launched a campaign where users can receive up to 10,000 yen worth of ADA to celebrate the listing milestone.

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The Sony-backed crypto exchange simultaneously announced the listing of Midnight's token. In an X post, S.BLOX confirmed that NIGHT handling is now available.

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The listing marks NIGHT's first entry into Japan; S.BLOX highlighted this in its post, pointing out that NIGHT is not handled by any domestic crypto-asset exchange operators, making it the first to do so.

To celebrate the launch, S.BLOX announced a campaign where users can receive up to 14,000 yen worth of NIGHT.

Cardano founder reacts to listingIn a recent livestream, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson hailed the recent listing, especially for Midnight.

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According to Hoskinson, S.BLOX is the first Japanese exchange to list NIGHT in Japan, which marks a monumental milestone.

The significance, according to Hoskinson, is that the listing process normally takes a very long time, citing the instance of ADA. Token listings have to go through an incredibly rigorous process with the JFSA, with relatively few tokens listed.

The listing also remains significant, as no privacy coins or privacy-preserving infrastructure trading as coins were listed on the exchange until Midnight.

In March 2026, Cardano's privacy-focused sidechain Midnight officially went live, and the NIGHT token was launched in December 2025.

10h05 ▪ 5 min read ▪ by Ghiles A.

Summarize this article with:

The crypto sector is still looking to make the blockchain simpler and more useful on a daily basis. In this dynamic, Cardano aims to take a new step by expanding its user base on a global scale. Input Output Global bets on concrete applications, better scalability, and a more accessible experience. The goal is clear: to bring cryptocurrencies closer to the general public while preparing the network to handle much more significant activity. Hydra and Ouroboros Leios thus become essential in this strategy. A vision focused on utility and accessibility

In Brief Cardano wants to expand its global adoption through more accessible applications. Hydra is now in the adoption phase to accelerate trading and micropayments. Ouroboros Leios aims to increase network throughput without sacrificing security. Input Output Global offers 27.7 million ADA to accelerate Leios development. The main challenge remains turning these technical advances into sustainable daily adoption. A vision focused on utility and accessibility Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, believes that massive adoption comes through an evolution of the discourse on cryptocurrencies. According to him, their integration into daily uses can simplify financial operations while enhancing their security and privacy. This approach thus aims to make digital assets tools usable by billions of people around the world.

However, technical innovation alone is not enough. Hoskinson also emphasizes transparency and ease of use in interactions with the blockchain. The goal is therefore to reduce perceived complexity for the user, bringing crypto uses closer to more traditional financial practices.

This direction appears in the current roadmap. Cardano is notably working on scalability, digital identity solutions, and applications able to offer a smoother experience. The strategy thus aims to turn the underlying technology into a discreet, accessible infrastructure for everyday use, with simple and understandable paths for different user profiles.

Cardano accelerates with Hydra and Ouroboros Leios Scaling relies on Hydra and Ouroboros Leios. According to the report from Input Output Global, Hydra entered its adoption phase in February, after a testing period. This stage marks a shift towards concrete applications, with demonstrations by DeltaDeFi and Masumi in trading and micropayments.

These demonstrations show how Hydra can leverage higher throughput and reduced latency. For applications requiring rapid exchanges, these characteristics can facilitate more regular use of the network. The project therefore seeks to bring Cardano’s technical capabilities closer to the practical needs of users. The network must especially convert these performance gains into regular usage.

At the same time, Ouroboros Leios is expected to push scalability further. Input Output Global has proposed allocating 27.7 million ADA from the treasury to accelerate its development. This funding aims to support the preparation of a candidate release for the mainnet, with a gradual deployment aimed at increasing throughput without compromising security or decentralization.

Adoption remains the real test Technical advances open a new stage for Cardano, but they must produce real activity. The network must demonstrate that its infrastructures can attract users and support sustainable adoption. This phase thus shifts attention from research promises to more concrete indicators, while the network will need to measure progress through visible and lasting usage.

For ADA holders, improving infrastructure and scalability can strengthen the network’s fundamentals. However, success will mainly depend on the ability to turn technical work into visible daily use. Attracting a global base of new users will require an experience simple enough to go beyond the circle of users already familiar with the blockchain.

This evolution is also part of a broader movement toward financial services that are accessible directly from crypto wallets. The text notably highlights the rise of tokenized stocks, gold and silver, and price automation. This trend seeks to reduce some intermediaries and simplify asset management for both individuals and institutions.

The next step for Cardano will therefore depend on converting its technical advances into sustainable activity. Hydra and Ouroboros Leios must now support this transition to more concrete and accessible uses. One billion users remains a distant goal, whose achievement will depend mainly on real adoption, the experience offered, and the blockchain’s ability to absorb growing demand.

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Ghiles A.

Journaliste et rédacteur web passionné par l’univers des cryptomonnaies et des technologies Web3. J’y traite les dernières tendances et actualités afin de proposer un contenu de haute qualité à un large public du secteur.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Table of contents

Grayscale Investments has withdrawn the registration statements for three proposed single-asset exchange-traded funds tied to Cardano’s ADA, Polkadot’s DOT and Hedera’s HBAR. The asset manager submitted three Form RW requests to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 7, telling the regulator it “does not intend to proceed with the planned distribution” of the trusts’ shares, according to the SEC filing.

The withdrawals were sponsor-initiated under Rule 477 of the Securities Act of 1933, not the result of a formal SEC rejection. Grayscale said no securities had been issued or sold under the registrations, which had not yet become effective.

Because Grayscale chose to pull the filings before the SEC reached a decision, the move signals a change in the firm’s product priorities rather than a regulatory defeat. Grayscale gave no detailed explanation in the filings, which simply stated that the sponsor no longer intends to proceed.

The S-1 registration statements had been filed in late August and early September 2025 amid a broad wave of altcoin ETF applications. All three underlying tokens have fallen sharply since then, with DOT down the most on a year-to-date basis.

The broader altcoin ETF retreat The withdrawals are part of a wider cooling in the single-asset altcoin ETF category. Bitwise earlier withdrew a registration for a proposed Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, and competition for inflows into smaller altcoin funds has intensified. Year to date, ADA has fallen more than 41%, DOT has lost about 54% and HBAR has shed roughly 35%, according to market data cited in coverage of the withdrawals.

Grayscale continues to operate a portfolio of roughly 17 ETF products, including its Bitcoin Mini Trust and Ethereum Staking Mini ETF.

What it means for the pipeline Dropping three altcoin funds narrows Grayscale’s proposed single-token pipeline and reflects a more selective approach to products whose demand has not matched the filings made a year ago. For issuers, the retreat suggests the next wave of ETF filings will favor assets with clearer institutional demand rather than breadth for its own sake. The firm can re-file if market conditions change.

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A freelance writer with a passion for crypto, delivering insightful and accurate content on blockchain and fintech. With a knack for translating complex concepts into accessible content, Eric produces well-researched articles, blog posts, and thought leadership pieces that cover the latest trends and developments in the digital finance space. His writing is aimed at educating and engaging both newcomers and industry experts, offering fresh insights into the world of cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance (DeFi), and blockchain innovations. Eric’s dedication to quality and accuracy makes him a trusted voice in the fintech and crypto communities

Despite Cardano’s impressive price performance yesterday, its DeFi sector suffered a sharp setback. 

According to DeFiLlama data, Cardano’s total value locked (TVL) plunged 16.17% over the past 24 hours, falling from $64.83 million to $54.35 million.

Notably, the decline came even as ADA surged more than 10% and reclaimed the $0.19 level. Typically, a strong price rally can boost investor confidence and encourage greater capital inflows into DeFi. However, DeFiLlama’s latest data shows the opposite trend, with TVL now sitting 87.56% below its August 2025 high of $437.2 million.  

Cardano’s DeFi Metrics Show Mixed Performance Although TVL has dropped sharply, other DeFi metrics are showing some resilience. For instance, Cardano’s stablecoin market capitalization increased 0.58% over the past week to $67.51 million.

However, DEX activity has weakened considerably, with trading volume falling 63.07% to $5.9 million. In contrast, derivatives and perpetual trading activity has strengthened, surging 92.7% over the past week to $27.82 million.

Consequently, Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem is delivering mixed signals, although the declining TVL remains a major concern for analysts. 

Cardano TVL Crashes Cardano Targets TVL Recovery TVL remains an important indicator of DeFi adoption because it reflects the capital users have deposited across a network’s decentralized applications. A rising TVL can signal stronger user confidence, liquidity, and ecosystem activity, while a decline may indicate weaker capital participation.

Against this backdrop, the Cardano community is pursuing initiatives designed to reverse the TVL decline. One of them is AlphaGrowth PRIME, which aims to increase Cardano’s TVL by more than $200 million within 12 months. The community has already approved a 120 million ADA treasury allocation to support the initiative. 

Meanwhile, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson remains optimistic about the network’s long-term DeFi prospects. He identified RealFi and Pogun, a Bitcoin DeFi initiative designed to unlock billions of dollars in idle Bitcoin without requiring users to surrender custody of their assets, as potential catalysts for Cardano’s TVL growth.

In his view, AlphaGrowth PRIME, RealFi, and Cardano’s Bitcoin DeFi initiatives could significantly boost the network’s TVL. Hoskinson believes that once Cardano attracts billions of dollars in TVL, the narrative changes, prompting the market to evaluate the blockchain based on its own merits.

DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

Cardano (ADA) is once again testing a critical rising trendline after its recent bullish breakout, with buyers focused on sustaining the coin’s recovery trajectory. At the same time, the Cardano ecosystem has taken a significant step forward after decentralized representatives approved a major DeFi liquidity proposal, which could help reinforce ADA’s market sentiment if current support levels remain intact.

Cardano price hovers as bullish setup faces major testADA is currently trading at $0.1776, with a 24-hour volume of $121.75 million and a total market capitalization of $6.49 billion. The altcoin has shown signs of consolidation over the previous day, as technical analysts suggest potential for further upward movement if key support holds.

Crypto analyst The Boss observed that ADA retreated to a pivotal rising trendline after breaking out from a rounded-bottom pattern, which had previously established a solid foundation just above crucial support. The analyst noted that the success of buyers in maintaining this structure could strengthen the broader bullish setup. If buyers fail, momentum could weaken and lead to renewed pressure on ADA’s underlying support zones.

Technical metrics, including the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), are closely watched as they attempt to confirm a return in buying power, while the Average Directional Index (ADX) will indicate if the ongoing trend is sustainable.

If bulls can defend the trendline and overcome resistance, ADA could target $0.2242, $0.3136, $0.3825, and potentially $0.4488.

120 million ADA allocated by DReps to boost DeFi liquidityRecent data show that decentralized representatives, or DReps, within the Cardano network, have approved a plan to allocate 120 million ADA for decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity. This proposal received the required two-thirds supermajority, providing a substantial infusion of capital into Cardano’s DeFi applications.

The move illustrates Cardano’s ongoing transition toward a governance model driven by community participation. The use of DReps aims to ensure that significant decisions regarding network resources and treasury allocations reflect the consensus of the wider community.

Mini dictionary: DReps (Decentralized Representatives), are elected participants in the Cardano ecosystem who vote on governance proposals and shape the direction of network development.

Cardano’s latest governance decision allocates significant resources for increasing liquidity in decentralized applications, aiming to stimulate further participation and growth across the DeFi sector.

Attention now focuses on how these newly approved funds will be deployed and whether increased liquidity can meaningfully boost engagement in Cardano’s DeFi landscape.

Outlook: Resistance levels and market momentumMarket expectations for ADA’s price remain focused on whether buyers can defend the key uptrend line and sustain the bullish reversal pattern. Analysts believe that a successful rebound could propel ADA toward multiple technical resistance targets, including $0.2242 and potentially $0.45 in the coming sessions.

The approved allocation of 120 million ADA is widely viewed as a catalyst for expanding DeFi liquidity, though the precise impact will depend on how quickly and efficiently these funds are integrated into the ecosystem.

Resistance TargetPrice Level1st resistance$0.22422nd resistance$0.31363rd resistance$0.38254th resistance$0.4488Analysts continue to emphasize caution, citing the inherent volatility of the cryptocurrency market and that market predictions are not guaranteed.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Grayscale withdrew its Cardano, Polkadot, and Hedera ETF registrations in under four minutes on August 7, exactly two days before ADA cleared the SEC seasoning threshold. With Bitwise and Canary still in the race, the retreat says more about the economics of altcoin ETFs than about Cardano itself.

Summary

Grayscale filed three Form RW withdrawals with the SEC on August 7, 2026, pulling its Cardano Trust ETF, Polkadot Trust ETF, and Hedera Trust ETF registrations in a span of 190 seconds, with no shares issued, sold, or distributed under any of the three.

– Cardano completed its six-month CME futures seasoning period on August 9, 2026, two days after Grayscale walked away, clearing the threshold that would have allowed a spot ADA ETF to list under the SEC generic listing standards in as few as 75 days.

– Five other issuers, including Bitwise, Canary Capital, VanEck, and 21Shares, still have active ADA ETF filings, with the earliest possible SEC decision window falling around October 23, 2026.

– Grayscale reported a 20 percent revenue decline in its IPO filing, with GBTC and ETHE generating 88 percent of the firm’s roughly $318.7 million in nine-month revenue while bleeding a combined $30 billion in cumulative outflows since their ETF conversions.

– ADA trades near $0.196 with a $6.55 billion market cap, DOT sits at $0.805, and HBAR has fallen to $0.068, all down more than 60 percent from their all-time highs and collectively representing a fraction of the institutional demand that drove Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF launches.

At 4:33 p.m. Eastern on August 7, 2026, Grayscale Investments filed a Form RW with the SEC to withdraw its Cardano Trust ETF registration. Ninety seconds later, the Hedera Trust ETF followed. Two minutes after that, the Polkadot Trust ETF joined them. Three products, gone in 190 seconds, with identical boilerplate language and no public explanation beyond a statement that the company “no longer intends to proceed with the planned distributions.”

What makes the timing remarkable is not the speed of the filings but the date itself. Cardano’s CME futures contract, which launched on February 9, was two days away from completing its six-month seasoning period, the exact regulatory milestone that would have opened the door for a spot ADA ETF under the SEC’s streamlined listing framework. Grayscale did not just exit the altcoin ETF race. It exited on the finish line.

This piece examines why Grayscale pulled back, what the withdrawal reveals about the economics of altcoin ETFs in a soft market, whether Cardano’s institutional case was ever as strong as its community believed, and what the remaining filers face as they pursue products that the largest crypto asset manager in the world decided were not worth the trouble.

Three withdrawals, one message
The mechanics of the withdrawal are straightforward. Under SEC Rule 477, an issuer can voluntarily withdraw a registration statement before it becomes effective, provided no securities have been sold under it. Grayscale filed its S-1 registration statements for the Cardano, Polkadot, and Hedera trusts in late 2025 and early 2026 as part of a broader push to convert its private trust products into publicly traded ETFs, the same playbook that had already succeeded with GBTC and ETHE.

All three Form RW filings contained identical language. None cited a specific reason for withdrawal. The SEC accepted them without comment. Unlike a rejection, a voluntary withdrawal carries no stigma and no waiting period. Grayscale could refile tomorrow if it chose to.

But the coordinated nature of the withdrawals, three filings dispatched within minutes of each other at the close of a Thursday trading session, suggests a deliberate strategic decision, not a procedural adjustment. This was not a pause. It was a retreat.

The crypto market noticed. ADA fell more than 2 percent in the 24 hours following the news, while DOT dropped nearly 2 percent to $0.805 and HBAR slipped 2.24 percent to $0.068. The declines were modest in absolute terms but notable for tokens whose communities had been counting on ETF approval as a catalyst.

The seasoning clock and what it meant for Cardano
To understand why the timing matters, it helps to understand the regulatory machinery that Grayscale was walking away from.

In September 2025, the SEC approved new generic listing standards for crypto exchange-traded products. The framework allows eligible funds to list without undergoing the full 19b-4 rule-change process that had previously stretched approval timelines to 240 days or more per product. Under the new standards, a crypto asset qualifies for streamlined review if it has traded on a regulated futures market for at least six months.

CME Group launched Cardano futures on February 9, 2026. The six-month clock expired on August 9. On that date, ADA became the newest cryptocurrency to meet the SEC’s eligibility threshold, joining Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP in the small club of assets with a clear path to a spot ETF.

Grayscale knew this. Every issuer in the space knew this. The August 9 milestone had been widely discussed in industry circles for months, with multiple analysts noting that a filing activated on or after that date could see an SEC decision as early as October 23.

Yet Grayscale chose to withdraw two days before the clock expired. The company did not wait to see whether the newly eligible status would generate fresh institutional interest. It did not pause the filing to reassess. It killed it. For a company that spent years lobbying regulators to create the very framework that makes these products possible, the decision to abandon three of them on the eve of eligibility is a striking and deliberate reversal of strategy.

The economics of a product nobody wanted
The most likely explanation for Grayscale’s withdrawal is the simplest one: the numbers did not work.

Launching an ETF is not free. Legal fees, compliance infrastructure, market-making arrangements, custodial agreements, marketing, and ongoing regulatory reporting all carry costs. For a Bitcoin or Ethereum product with billions of dollars in potential demand, those costs are trivial relative to the revenue from management fees. For an altcoin ETF tracking a $6.55 billion asset with tepid institutional interest, the calculus is different.

Consider the existing data points. The Canary Capital HBAR ETF, which launched on Nasdaq in October 2025 as the third crypto asset to receive US spot ETF status, held approximately $49.14 million in net assets as of July 2, 2026. Its market-price return was negative 37.32 percent for the year and negative 63.32 percent since inception. Even at a generous 2 percent management fee, a $49 million fund generates under $1 million in annual revenue, a figure that may not cover the cost of running the product.

The broader altcoin ETF landscape tells a similar story. While XRP ETFs have accumulated roughly $1.5 billion in cumulative inflows and Solana funds have gathered about $1.15 billion, those figures pale next to the tens of billions that flowed into Bitcoin products. Below the top tier, demand drops off sharply. As CryptoSlate reported, “strong demand for three altcoins contrasts with weak, sporadic flows across the rest of the altcoin fund market.”

Grayscale already has a way to offer ADA exposure. Its CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF, trading under the ticker GDLC, tracks an index that includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano. For investors who want a small allocation to ADA within a diversified crypto portfolio, that product already exists. A standalone ADA ETF would have to compete not only with GDLC but also with direct ADA purchases on exchanges, an increasingly frictionless process for institutional buyers.

Grayscale’s fee problem and the IPO calculus
The withdrawal also needs to be read in the context of Grayscale’s broader financial position. The company filed for an IPO in late 2025, planning to list on the NYSE under the ticker GRAY. The S-1 filing revealed a business under significant pressure.

GBTC, charging 1.5 percent annually, and ETHE, charging 2.5 percent, together generate approximately 88 percent of Grayscale’s total revenue, roughly $345 million of an estimated $425 million annually. But both products have been hemorrhaging assets. GBTC has recorded approximately $25 billion in cumulative net outflows since its January 2024 ETF conversion, while ETHE has seen about $4.8 billion leave since July 2024. Investors are rotating into lower-fee alternatives: BlackRock’s IBIT charges 0.12 percent, and Fidelity’s FBTC charges 0.25 percent.

Grayscale responded by launching Mini versions of both products at 0.15 percent, which have attracted $3.3 billion in combined inflows since 2024. The company has also expanded into new product categories, filing for ETFs covering Solana, Chainlink, Zcash, Hyperliquid, and Canton, among others.

But expansion costs money. Every new product requires regulatory filings, compliance oversight, and operational infrastructure. For a company preparing to go public while watching its revenue decline 20 percent year over year, the question is not just “can we launch this product?” but “will this product generate enough revenue to justify the resources it consumes at the expense of higher-priority launches?”

For ADA, DOT, and HBAR, the answer appears to have been no. Meanwhile, Grayscale continues to pursue ETFs for assets where it sees stronger demand or strategic differentiation, including a Zcash ETF that would be the first US-listed privacy coin fund and a Canton Coin product tied to institutional blockchain infrastructure.

What the remaining filers face
Grayscale’s exit does not kill the Cardano ETF. Five other issuers have active filings, and the August 9 seasoning milestone remains valid regardless of who chooses to use it. Bitwise, Canary Capital, VanEck, 21Shares, and at least one additional filer are still in the queue.

But the remaining applicants face a market that has not been kind to altcoin ETF launches. The Canary HBAR ETF’s experience is instructive. Despite being one of the first altcoin spot ETFs in the United States, it launched with just $47.8 million in assets and has struggled to attract meaningful inflows since. The lesson is that regulatory approval alone does not create demand. Without institutional buyers willing to allocate capital to a specific token through an ETF wrapper, the product sits on the shelf.

Cardano has some advantages that HBAR lacked at launch. Its market cap of $6.55 billion is substantially larger. It has 16 consecutive months of net inflows into ADA investment products, according to Blockworks data. Clearstream added ADA to its MiCA-regulated custody earlier in 2026, creating a pathway for European institutional demand. And the Cardano community, whatever its other characteristics, is large and vocal.

But “large and vocal” does not always translate to “willing to buy an ETF.” Much of Cardano’s holder base consists of retail investors who already own ADA directly and have no reason to pay a management fee for wrapper exposure. The institutional demand that drove Bitcoin ETFs, pension funds, endowments, and registered investment advisors seeking regulated access to an asset they could not otherwise hold, may simply not exist at scale for a $0.20 token that remains down more than 90 percent from its all-time high of $3.10.

There is also a structural question about what an ADA ETF would actually hold. Unlike Solana and Ethereum, which have attracted issuers partly because staking yields can offset management fees and generate a positive carry for the fund, Cardano staking within a US ETF wrapper remains untested. Grayscale’s Solana Staking ETF and its Ethereum Staking Mini ETF both offer yield as a differentiator. A plain vanilla ADA spot product without staking would compete for capital against yield-bearing alternatives, a disadvantage that grows more acute as the ETF market matures and investors become more sophisticated about total return.

The fee question compounds the problem. Morgan Stanley launched Ethereum and Solana ETFs at 0.14 percent, setting a new floor for the industry. Any ADA ETF entering the market would face pressure to match or undercut that rate, further compressing the already thin revenue projections for a fund that might attract only a fraction of the assets that Solana products have gathered.

The October 23 decision window, if a filing activates promptly after August 9, will be the first real test. If an ADA ETF launches and attracts meaningful flows, the altcoin ETF thesis survives. If it launches to the same tepid reception that greeted HBAR, the market will have its answer.

The opposing case at full strength
The bearish reading of Grayscale’s withdrawal, that altcoin ETFs are a dead end and institutional demand for anything below the top four crypto assets is negligible, deserves a serious challenge.

First, the timing may not be as significant as it appears. Grayscale could have decided weeks earlier to withdraw and simply waited for a convenient filing window. The proximity to August 9 may be coincidental rather than calculated.

Second, Grayscale’s withdrawal is a single data point from a company with specific financial pressures that do not apply to every issuer. Bitwise, for example, operates a leaner business model and has built its brand around altcoin exposure. A product that does not pencil out for Grayscale, with its overhead and IPO-related cost scrutiny, might be perfectly viable for a smaller issuer willing to accept thinner margins in exchange for market positioning.

Third, the altcoin ETF market is young. Bitcoin ETFs attracted modest flows in their first weeks before institutional allocators gradually built positions over quarters. The same pattern could repeat with ADA, particularly as the October decision date coincides with a period when institutional investors typically make fourth-quarter allocation decisions.

Fourth, Cardano’s fundamentals have continued to develop. The network processed its highest transaction volumes in early 2026, governance mechanisms are active, and the Ouroboros consensus protocol remains one of the few proof-of-stake systems with formal academic verification. An ETF issuer could reasonably argue that the market has not yet priced in these fundamentals.

Fifth, and most important, the thesis would be invalidated if an ADA ETF launches in October and attracts more than $200 million in its first 90 days. That would suggest institutional demand exists and that Grayscale simply miscalculated. It would also likely prompt Grayscale to refile, as the company has shown no reluctance to reverse course when market conditions shift.

The 190-second signal the market missed
There is a detail in the withdrawal filings that has received less attention than it deserves, and that a competitor publication is unlikely to have noticed.

The three Form RW filings were submitted in a specific order: Cardano at 4:33:37 p.m. ET, Hedera at 4:34:55 p.m., and Polkadot at 4:36:47 p.m. The gaps between them, 78 seconds and then 112 seconds, suggest a single operator submitting sequential EDGAR filings, not three independent decisions happening to arrive at the same conclusion.

This matters because the order tracks roughly with market capitalization at the time of filing. ADA, the largest of the three at $6.55 billion, went first. HBAR, at roughly $3.1 billion, went second. DOT, at approximately $1.5 billion, went last. If Grayscale had withdrawn in alphabetical order or reverse chronological order by filing date, the sequence would have been different.

The implication is that even the largest of the three, Cardano, was not considered worth salvaging. Grayscale did not withdraw DOT and HBAR while keeping ADA alive for another few days to see how the seasoning milestone played out. It treated all three as a single portfolio decision, suggesting that the threshold for “worth pursuing” sits somewhere above ADA’s $6.55 billion market cap and below the market capitalization of the assets for which Grayscale is still filing, such as Solana at roughly $80 billion.

That threshold has implications far beyond Cardano. If the cutoff for a viable standalone crypto ETF sits at tens of billions in market capitalization, then the long tail of altcoin ETF filings currently working through the SEC, covering everything from Chainlink to Worldcoin, may face the same economic headwinds. The broader question of whether altcoin ETF demand can sustain product expansion is one the industry has been reluctant to confront.

What to watch
October 23 decision window: If an issuer activates a spot ADA ETF filing promptly after August 9, the SEC’s 75-day review period points to late October. The size of first-week inflows will reveal whether institutional demand for Cardano exists at scale or remains a community aspiration.

Canary and Bitwise filing amendments: Watch for S-1/A amendments from the remaining ADA ETF applicants. Active amendments signal continued commitment. Silence or withdrawal notices would confirm Grayscale’s assessment that the market is not ready.

HBAR ETF flow trajectory: The Canary HBAR ETF’s performance over the next 60 days serves as a leading indicator for ADA. If HBAR flows stabilize or reverse, it suggests growing comfort with altcoin ETF exposure. Continued outflows would validate the bearish thesis.

Grayscale IPO pricing and product roadmap: When Grayscale sets its IPO price and releases an updated product strategy, look for whether altcoin ETFs feature in the forward plan or are quietly dropped from the narrative. The company’s selective approach to new filings, prioritizing niche products with differentiation over large-cap altcoin duplicates, may become the template for the industry.

ADA price action relative to ETF catalysts: If ADA fails to rally on actual ETF approval after failing to rally on eligibility, the disconnect between community expectations and market reality will be impossible to ignore. A sustained move above $0.30 on ETF-related news would challenge the thesis that the token lacks institutional appeal.

The information presented in this article is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk, including the potential loss of all invested capital. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified financial advisors before making any investment decisions. Crypto.news does not endorse the purchase, sale, or holding of any cryptocurrency or financial instrument. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Published August 14, 2026.

Is the ADA ETF still happening without Grayscale?
Yes. Five other issuers, including Bitwise, Canary Capital, VanEck, and 21Shares, have active spot ADA ETF filings. Grayscale’s withdrawal is a business decision by one company, not a regulatory barrier. The August 9 seasoning milestone remains valid for any issuer that chooses to proceed, and the earliest SEC decision window falls around October 23, 2026.

Why did Grayscale withdraw all three at once instead of keeping the Cardano filing?
The coordinated withdrawal, completed in 190 seconds, suggests Grayscale treated ADA, DOT, and HBAR as a single portfolio decision rather than evaluating each asset independently. The most likely explanation is that none of the three met an internal threshold for projected demand, and the company chose to reallocate resources toward products with stronger revenue potential.

What is the CME futures seasoning period and why does it matter?
The SEC’s generic listing standards require a crypto asset to trade on a regulated futures market for at least six months before it can qualify for streamlined spot ETF review. CME launched Cardano futures on February 9, 2026, and the six-month period ended on August 9. Meeting this threshold allows an ETF to list in approximately 75 days rather than the 240 days required under the old per-product approval process.

How much would a Cardano ETF need to attract in assets to be commercially viable?
Based on the Canary HBAR ETF’s experience, a fund with under $50 million in assets generates less than $1 million in annual fee revenue, even at a 2 percent management fee. A standalone ADA ETF would likely need at least $200 million to $300 million in assets under management to cover operating costs and generate meaningful returns for the issuer. By comparison, XRP ETFs have attracted roughly $1.5 billion and Solana funds about $1.15 billion.

Could Grayscale refile for a Cardano ETF later?
A voluntary withdrawal under SEC Rule 477 carries no penalties, waiting periods, or stigma. Grayscale could refile an S-1 registration statement for a Cardano Trust ETF at any time. The company has previously shown willingness to adjust its product strategy based on market conditions, and a surge in ADA institutional demand could prompt a reversal.

What does Grayscale’s withdrawal mean for DOT and HBAR prices?
The immediate price impact was modest: ADA fell about 2 percent, DOT dropped nearly 2 percent to $0.805, and HBAR slipped 2.24 percent to $0.068. The withdrawals removed a potential catalyst for these tokens but did not change their underlying fundamentals. For HBAR, the Canary ETF already exists, so the loss of a Grayscale competitor may actually reduce selling pressure from fee competition.

Are altcoin ETFs still worth pursuing for issuers?
The market is splitting into tiers. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have attracted tens of billions. Solana and XRP funds have crossed the $1 billion mark. Below that level, flows are sporadic and concentrated among a handful of products. The question is whether assets like Cardano can reach the second tier or whether the viable ETF universe stops at four or five cryptocurrencies.

Should investors buy ADA ahead of a potential ETF approval?
Every previous crypto ETF approval in the United States has followed a pattern where the token price rallied on anticipation and was flat or lower on actual approval day. ADA has already failed to rally meaningfully on its eligibility milestone, suggesting the market may have priced in the possibility. Any investment decision should account for the significant gap between ETF eligibility and actual investor demand for an ETF product. This is educational analysis, not investment advice.

Cardano ecosystem wallet project SecondFi has announced the launch of a wallet migration tool and unveiled a recovery plan for assets affected by the June 2026 incident. SecondFi stated that as the project will cease operations, users need to migrate remaining assets still held in SecondFi wallets. The migration tool is scheduled to go live on August 13, supporting eligible ADA, Cardano-native tokens, and NFTs to be transferred to new Cardano wallets created by users’ chosen service providers. The tool currently only supports Cardano network assets; non-Cardano assets must be transferred separately via their respective networks and wallet processes. SecondFi noted that the migration tool has passed an independent security assessment by security firm Bitdefender, and users should read the official usage instructions and security tips before proceeding. Additionally, for assets affected by the June 2026 security incident, SecondFi plans to launch a recovery portal by September 10. Users can verify wallet ownership via zero-knowledge proof (ZK Proof) and submit claims for affected assets. SecondFi reminds users to only use links from official channels, including @secondfiapp, @secondfi_jp, and the official support website, to avoid phishing sites and impersonation accounts that have emerged recently.

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TLDR ADA price trades near $0.1856, about 11.91% below its recent high of $0.2107. Cardano reached a key spot ETF eligibility milestone after six months of regulated ADA futures trading on CME. Grayscale withdrew its Cardano ETF filing, but other asset managers could still pursue ADA-focused ETF applications. Cardano’s DeFi expansion received 120 million ADA through the approved Cardano PRIME proposal. Leios and Hydra upgrades aim to increase Cardano’s transaction capacity while maintaining network security. Cardano is expanding interoperability through a testnet IBC connection with Injective. Cardano investors remain focused on new network developments as the ADA price trades near $0.1856 after a recent correction. ADA fell about 11.91% from last week’s high of $0.2107. Despite the pullback, attention has shifted to ETF eligibility, DeFi activity, scaling upgrades, interoperability, and Bitcoin integration.

ADA Price Faces Pressure as ETF Eligibility Improves Cardano reached an important ETF-related milestone on August 9, 2026. CME Group launched regulated ADA futures on February 9, giving the token six months of futures trading under a regulated U.S. market structure.

Grayscale withdrew its S-1 filing for a Cardano ETF last week. However, ADA still met a key condition linked to the SEC’s streamlined spot ETF review process. This could leave room for other asset managers to submit Cardano-focused ETF applications.

Cardano is also extending its reach through interoperability. A testnet connection with Injective uses an on-chain IBC rail that allows users to transfer ADA to Injective and move INJ back to Cardano.

The network’s DeFi push also gained support after the community approved AlphaGrowth’s Cardano PRIME proposal. The plan allocates 120 million ADA to support DeFi growth. Cardano’s RealFi testing phase has also recorded more than 3,000 active wallets and over 36,000 on-chain actions.

Leios and Hydra Target Higher Network Capacity Cardano developers continue work on Ouroboros Leios and Hydra. Both projects aim to increase transaction capacity while keeping Cardano’s base-layer security and decentralization model in place.

Leios is expected to reach mainnet this year, while Hydra does not yet have a confirmed launch date. These upgrades form part of Cardano’s effort to handle more network activity as its DeFi and cross-chain services expand.

Bitcoin Bridge Adds Another Cardano Catalyst Cardano is also developing a Bitcoin DeFi link through a BitVM-powered bridge. Charles Hoskinson recently reported major efficiency gains in the bridge’s testing process.

According to the update, data requirements fell from 40 GiB to 0.0281 GB. Execution time dropped from 354 seconds to 0.149 seconds, while costs declined from $14,211 to $37 using the mainnet proof.

The ADA price remains below last week’s high, but Cardano investors continue tracking these network changes. ETF eligibility, DeFi funding, scaling tools, interoperability, and Bitcoin integration now remain key areas to watch in the coming months.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson identified RealFi as the ecosystem’s strongest candidate to help push Cardano’s total value locked (TVL) to $1 billion within the next 12 months.

Hoskinson made the bullish projection during a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) session while discussing RealFi’s potential. According to the Cardano founder, the project could attract substantial new capital to Cardano’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem by connecting blockchain-based finance with real-world economic activity.

Hoskinson Identifies RealFi as Cardano’s Best Path to $1B TVL During the AMA, Hoskinson described RealFi as the Cardano ecosystem’s most promising product for reaching the ambitious $1 billion TVL milestone.

He pointed to the project’s structure and focus on real-world financial applications as key advantages. In his view, these characteristics could give RealFi a stronger opportunity to attract significant liquidity than other products currently being developed across the Cardano ecosystem.

Moreover, Hoskinson described RealFi as the “bank the unbanked” component of Cardano’s broader vision. The project seeks to connect DeFi with real economic activity, potentially giving users in underserved markets greater access to financial services.

Nonetheless, Hoskinson acknowledged that RealFi still has considerable work ahead. The project must complete several development stages, make necessary adjustments, and implement further technological improvements before it can reach its full potential.

Cardano Faces a Significant TVL Gap Hoskinson’s $1 billion projection appears particularly ambitious when compared with Cardano’s current TVL.

Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem currently holds $67.9 million in TVL, according to data from DeFiLlama. That represents only a small portion of the $1 billion target. Furthermore, Cardano’s TVL has declined by about 2.72% over the past 24 hours. 

The gap becomes even more evident when Cardano is compared with other major blockchain networks. Ethereum currently leads with approximately $41.24 billion in TVL, while BNB Smart Chain, Solana, and Tron hold roughly $4.93 billion, $4.83 billion, and $4.79 billion, respectively.

Consequently, Cardano would need to increase its current TVL by approximately 1,372% to reach $1 billion.

Cardano TVL RealFi Builds Momentum Through Testnet Although RealFi is yet to launch on Cardano’s mainnet, the project has already begun generating activity through its testnet.

On August 5, RealFi marked one month since the launch of Phase 1 of its testnet and highlighted strong participation from its Pioneer community. The project reported that more than 3,000 wallets had become active since launch, while users had completed over 36,000 on-chain actions.

Additionally, more than 1,200 users had completed the full quest line, which includes activities such as swapping, staking, unstaking, and claiming. Meanwhile, RealFi’s Discord community had grown to approximately 930 members. 

The testnet allows participants to experiment with test USDr and RealFi’s efficiency layer. As a result, users can explore how diversified direct lending backed by real economic activity could improve capital efficiency.

In the meantime, RealFi remains in its testing phase, with its mainnet launch expected later this year. Therefore, the project’s development progress could play a significant role in determining whether Hoskinson’s $1 billion TVL thesis becomes achievable. 

DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

Grayscale withdrew registration statements for three planned U.S. altcoin exchange traded products on Aug. 7, ending the current registration process for its Cardano, Hedera and Polkadot funds. 

Summary

Grayscale withdrew Cardano, Hedera and Polkadot ETF registrations through three Form RW filings on Friday. All three filings state registrations never became effective and no securities were issued or sold. NYSE Arca and Nasdaq had already withdrawn corresponding listing proposals during September and November 2025. SEC generic listing standards now let qualifying crypto products bypass separate exchange rule change filings. Bittensor, Aave, BNB, NEAR and Zcash registrations remained preliminary in recent SEC filings reviewed. SEC records show the three Form RW submissions were accepted between 4:33:37 p.m. and 4:36:47 p.m. ET, a span of exactly 190 seconds.

The filings are withdrawal requests, not SEC rejections. Grayscale said it no longer intends to proceed with the planned distribution of shares under those registration statements. It also confirmed that none had become effective and that no securities had been issued or sold.

Grayscale withdraws three S-1 registrations The Cardano filing sought withdrawal of registration statement No. 333-289948, originally filed in August 2025. The Hedera request covered No. 333-290129, first filed in September 2025, while the Polkadot filing covered No. 333-289949, also first filed in August 2025.

Grayscale Withdraws Registration Applications for ADA, HBAR and DOT ETFs

According to SEC filings, Grayscale filed three Form RW submissions on August 7, withdrawing the S-1 registration statements for the Grayscale Cardano Trust ETF, Grayscale Hedera Trust ETF and Grayscale… pic.twitter.com/haXOpqcOuE

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 10, 2026 Each request gives the same core explanation: the sponsor does not intend to proceed with the planned share distribution. The documents provide no separate commercial, demand related or regulatory reason. They also state that no preliminary prospectus had been distributed.

Meanwhile, the latest withdrawals follow earlier exits on the exchange listing side. SEC records show NYSE Arca withdrew its proposed rule change for the Grayscale Cardano Trust on Sept. 29, 2025. Nasdaq’s proposed rule changes for the Grayscale Polkadot Trust and Grayscale Hedera Trust were both withdrawn on Nov. 3, 2025.

Those exchange proposals were separate from the S-1 registrations withdrawn on Aug. 7. The Cardano review was covered as previously reported, while Nasdaq’s Polkadot proposal appeared in earlier related coverage. The Hedera review also entered the SEC process in March 2025, as crypto.news reported in its earlier coverage.

New SEC rules changed the crypto ETF approval route The regulatory backdrop changed after those original exchange proposals were filed. In September 2025, the SEC approved generic listing standards allowing qualifying commodity based trust shares, including digital asset products, to list without a separate Section 19(b) rule change for each fund.

The faster exchange route does not replace Securities Act registration. A sponsor still needs an effective registration statement before selling shares. That distinction matters here because Grayscale withdrew the S-1 layer itself. A current overview of the U.S. ETF process explains how exchange listing and registration now operate separately.

What happens next for Grayscale’s altcoin ETF slate Under Rule 477(b), an application to withdraw an entire registration statement before effectiveness is deemed granted when filed unless the SEC objects within 15 calendar days. The three requests therefore take effect without a separate approval order unless the Commission intervenes during that window.

The withdrawals do not establish that the SEC rejected ADA, HBAR or DOT products, and they do not prevent Grayscale from filing again later. For now, SEC records reviewed Aug. 10 show preliminary registrations for Bittensor, Aave, BNB, NEAR and Zcash at different stages. The Zcash registration received its third amendment on July 31.

Grayscale also has altcoin products further along. The SEC declared the Grayscale Avalanche Staking ETF registration effective on March 11 and the Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF registration effective on June 2. Those differing statuses show the Aug. 7 filings are not evidence of a companywide retreat from altcoin exchange traded products.

What remains unknown is why Grayscale ended these three registrations together. The filings give no explanation beyond the decision not to proceed, leaving claims about investor demand, economics or regulatory resistance unconfirmed.

Cardano (ADA) is displaying renewed bullish momentum after reclaiming a crucial support trendline, drawing positive attention from market analysts. The network’s recent achievements in cross-chain interoperability, particularly the launch of its inaugural IBC bridge with Injective, are further bolstering confidence in both its on-chain development and market outlook.

Market Structure Strengthens, Analysts Eye Key LevelsADA is currently trading at $0.2015, supported by a 24-hour volume of $827.85 million and a market capitalization of $7.35 billion. The stabilization of ADA’s price action over the past day, along with network expansion, points to the potential for a bullish reversal.

Technical analysts, including The Boss, emphasized that Cardano’s price is forming a pattern of higher lows above its longstanding ascending trendline. This development suggests buyers are gradually regaining control after a period of consolidation.

The prospect of a renewed rally has led traders to focus on resistance levels at $0.2242, $0.3136, $0.3825, and $0.4488. Maintaining momentum above the key trendline would affirm the bullish outlook, while a decisive breakout could signal a transition from accumulation to a new expansion phase.

Buyers have managed to reclaim ADA’s recent trading range, strengthening the market structure and supporting the case for further upside, according to The Boss. The formation of higher lows highlights increasing investor confidence in the ongoing recovery.

Cardano and Injective Complete Live IBC ConnectionData from crypto analyst Mintern indicated that Cardano has completed its first live cross-chain bridge, connecting with the Injective blockchain through the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol. This integration enables seamless transfers of assets between the two networks, eliminating the need for centralized intermediaries and enhancing cross-chain liquidity for users of both ecosystems.

This bridge not only expands Cardano’s reach beyond its native blockchain, but also provides Injective with access to one of the largest proof-of-stake ecosystems. Such technological developments underscore the industry’s focus on blockchain infrastructure, capital efficiency, and multi-chain innovation.

The live IBC bridge empowers ADA and Injective assets to be utilized across both networks, marking a significant milestone for blockchain interoperability and decentralized finance access.

With momentum building around ADA’s price and network capabilities, traders are closely monitoring how Cardano manages upcoming resistance levels. A strong move above these points could further strengthen market sentiment and attract additional buyers.

Simultaneously, increasing activity on the Injective IBC bridge may positively impact Cardano’s DeFi landscape by facilitating broader asset integration and cross-chain financial services.

Tools for Real-Time Crypto Market TrackingAs technical setup and real-time data have grown vital for traders following ADA’s trend, platforms like CryptoAppsy have emerged to streamline market monitoring. Without requiring users to create accounts, CryptoAppsy centralizes portfolio management, live prices, personalized alerts, and macroeconomic insights, enabling investors to stay agile and quickly respond to price movements, news, and Fed policy changes.

The ability to filter coin-specific updates and receive alerts as assets approach resistance or support levels is increasingly valued by both institutional and retail participants as Cardano and Injective continue to broaden their interoperability and reach within the blockchain sector.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

$ADA is trading at $0.202, up 6.2% on the day and 18.4% on the week, with 24-hour volume surging 78% to $747M. The token has cleared the $0.20 resistance level that capped every recovery attempt this year, with market cap now sitting at $7.37B.

The Dijkstra Era Takes Shape The rally has a clear catalyst. Development on the Dijkstra era has officially begun, according to Intersect, the organisation that oversees Cardano's open-source development and governance. The announcement follows the successful activation of the van Rossem hard fork on July 18, which upgraded the blockchain to Version 11 and introduced improvements to Plutus performance, ledger consistency, and node security.

Unlike previous upgrades, the Dijkstra era will be rolled out in multiple phases. Planned features include Nested Transactions, Linear Leios, and Peras, all part of the broader Ouroboros Leios research initiative. The Haskell node team aims to deliver Nested Transactions and Linear Leios to mainnet by the end of 2026. Cardano researcher Dr. Cuadrado has framed the distinction clearly: van Rossem improved core performance and security, while Dijkstra addresses significantly higher transaction volumes and more sophisticated on-chain applications.

The Dijkstra roadmap also advances @Cardano's on-chain governance model. With attention turning from van Rossem to the Dijkstra era, a new parameter update action has opened for voting, the Constitutional Committee election is on-chain, and the Constitutional Amendment Portal has opened for community alpha testing. The community treasury funding model positions Cardano as one of the few chains where core development is financed directly by token holders through on-chain governance.

IBC Bridge and Whale Activity Add to Momentum Interoperability progress is adding further fuel. Cardano and Injective activated the first Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) testnet connection on August 4, establishing a direct bridge between the Cardano and Cosmos ecosystems and allowing assets like ADA and INJ to move trustlessly between chains for the first time. Unlike Injective, which is built on the Cosmos SDK and supports IBC natively, Cardano required custom infrastructure to achieve compatibility. Developers built specialised modules that translate between Cardano's Extended UTXO accounting model and Injective's account-based architecture.

On the demand side, whale wallets have added 240M ADA over recent days, per Santiment data cited in the original reporting. Roadmap announcements do carry execution risk, and Cardano upgrades have frequently generated initial enthusiasm followed by consolidation when timelines stretch. Sustained price gains will likely require measurable adoption, with developer activity, new applications, and rising total value locked mattering more than announcements alone.

Sources:
BeInCrypto: ADA Price Jumps While Cardano Turns Toward Its Next Big Upgrade Era
The Crypto Basic: Cardano Expands Interoperability as First IBC Integration With Injective Goes Live
TokenPost: Cardano Price Jumps as Dijkstra Roadmap Fuels ADA Bullish Outlook

Altcoin Analysis

Cardano held onto its late-July recovery on August 3 despite weakness across the broader crypto market.

Key Takeaways ADA is testing resistance between the 100-day SMA at $0.1984 and $0.20. Price remains above the former wedge boundary and support near $0.1848. Large Cardano addresses added more than 240 million ADA over five days. Derivatives flows have strengthened more consistently than spot demand. The Injective connection and Leios scaling system remain in testing. ADA climbed to an intraday high near $0.196 before giving back part of the move, leaving the token around $0.19 at the time of writing.

The 100-day simple moving average sits at approximately $0.198, close to the previous swing high and the psychological $0.20 level. This places Cardano directly beneath the first major resistance area of its late-July recovery.

ADA is still forming higher lows and higher highs, but it has not yet produced a daily close through the barrier overhead.

ADA’s Wedge Breakout Meets the 100-Day SMA Cardano remains above the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement near $0.18, the rising trendline formed during the latest advance and the upper boundary of the falling wedge that contained price through much of 2026.

Cardano long-term market structure chart and the falling wedge. The move above the wedge ended a descending boundary that had repeatedly limited Cardano’s recoveries. Holding above the former trendline and $0.18 would preserve that improvement during an ordinary pullback.

A daily close through $0.19–$0.20 would reclaim the 100-day SMA for the first time since May. Price would then need to remain above the same area during a later pullback to show that former resistance had become support.

The current session fell short of that. ADA approached the moving average before sellers erased part of the intraday gain.

A break below $0.185 would weaken the short-term structure and increase the risk of price returning inside the wedge. The next support sits near the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement around $0.175, followed by the 50-day SMA near $0.165.

Cardano daily price chart, showing Fibonacci resistance The 200-day SMA near $0.24 remains the next major longer-term obstacle, although it is not an immediate test while ADA trades below $0.20.

Daily RSI stood near 67. Momentum remains strong after the recent advance, but the indicator is approaching the traditional overbought threshold of 70.

Large-Address Balances Rose by 240 Million ADA Analyst Ali Martinez, citing Santiment data, reported that large Cardano addresses added more than 240 million ADA over five days.

At approximately $0.19 per token, the increase represents around $46 million in ADA and coincided with a price gain of roughly 20%.

The figures show that balances within the monitored large-address group increased. They do not reveal whether the tokens were purchased on the open market, withdrawn from exchanges or simply transferred between related wallets.

Custodial movements and exchanges reorganizing their holdings can also change address balances without creating new demand. A simultaneous decline in exchange balances or clearer wallet attribution would provide stronger evidence of genuine accumulation.

If the increase came from purchases followed by withdrawals into longer-term storage, less ADA could remain readily available for sale. Internal or custodial transfers would have little direct effect on supply or price.

The data therefore points to increased large-address activity during the rally, but it cannot establish that those wallets caused the advance or are preparing to hold through the resistance near $0.20.

Derivatives Flows Are Ahead of Spot Demand CoinGlass data shows positive ADA futures flows across the latest three-, five- and seven-day periods. The seven-day total reached approximately $41.8 million.

Spot flows remained slightly negative across the one-, three-, five- and seven-day windows. Only the latest four- and eight-hour readings had turned positive.

This shows that capital entered ADA derivatives more consistently than the spot market during the rally. The flow figures do not reveal whether the new futures positions were long or short.

ADA CoinGlass Flows Overview (Futures vs. Spot) Time Window Futures Net Inflow Spot Net Inflow Futures Net Inflow / MCap Spot Net Inflow / MCap 4 Hour +$1.16M +$1.02M 0.017% 0.014% 8 Hour +$7.74M +$948.94K 0.11% 0.014% 12 Hour +$13.27M +$201.27K 0.19% 0.0029% 24 Hour +$7.81M -$1.42M 0.11% -0.020% 3 Day +$23.81M -$1.37M 0.34% -0.020% 5 Day +$30.69M -$1.33M 0.44% -0.019% 7 Day +$41.79M -$320.78K 0.60% -0.0046% Funding rates, open interest and long-to-short positioning would be needed to determine whether traders were building a clear bullish bias. The rising price alongside stronger futures activity is consistent with leverage contributing to the move, but it does not show how much of that activity came from directional buying.

Spot demand matters because direct purchases require buyers to acquire ADA, while futures positions can be closed without buying or selling the underlying token. A rally relying heavily on derivatives can therefore reverse quickly when traders reduce exposure or face liquidations.

The latest positive short-term spot readings are an improvement, but the longer windows remain negative. Continued spot inflows would give the breakout a less leverage-dependent source of demand.

The Injective Connection Is Still Limited to Testnet The Cardano Foundation announced on August 3 that Cardano and Injective are connected through the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol, or IBC, on testnet.

JUST IN: Cardano and @Injective are now connected via @IBCProtocol on testnet.

Injective is the first chain with a live on-chain IBC rail to Cardano.$ADA is coming to @Injective.$INJ is coming to Cardano.

Both assets will be usable across the two ecosystems. pic.twitter.com/VExYG999gN

— Cardano Foundation (@Cardano_CF) August 3, 2026

The connection currently allows test ADA and test INJ to move between the two development environments. It also lets developers examine applications that exchange information across the networks.

IBC provides a common communication standard, reducing the need to build a separate bridge or messaging system for every application.

The Cardano Foundation has published a guide showing developers how to transfer test ADA between Cardano’s preproduction network and Injective’s testnet.

The price rally was already underway before the announcement, so the development cannot explain the gains recorded during the preceding days. It also creates no immediate demand for mainnet ADA because test tokens have no market value and users cannot yet move real ADA or INJ through the route.

The announcement follows the Van Rossem hard fork, which activated on July 18 and moved Cardano to Protocol Version 11. It was the network’s first hard fork proposed and approved entirely through its onchain governance process.

Van Rossem introduced additional cryptographic functions and new capabilities for Plutus smart contracts while preparing the protocol for later upgrades, including the Dijkstra era and Ouroboros Leios.

Leios is operating on a public testnet where developers and stake pool operators can examine its planned approach to increasing Cardano’s processing capacity without replacing the existing consensus system.

The economic effect of these developments will remain difficult to measure until they reach mainnet. The relevant evidence will come from applications using the infrastructure, assets transferred through it, available liquidity and sustained transaction activity.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Moving averages, Fibonacci levels, wallet balances, exchange flows and technical patterns do not guarantee future price performance. Methodology: The analysis uses the ADA/USD daily Coinbase chart dated August 3, 2026, including the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day SMAs, Fibonacci levels, volume, RSI and the long-term falling wedge. Market positioning is based on CoinGlass futures and spot flows, while large-address balance changes use Santiment data shared by Ali Martinez. Development context comes from Cardano Foundation publications covering the Injective IBC testnet connection, the Van Rossem hard fork and the Ouroboros Leios public testnet.

Author

Reporter at Coindoo

Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.

10h05 ▪ 4 min read ▪ by Fenelon L.

Summarize this article with:

Intersect unveiled the first steps of Cardano’s Dijkstra hard fork, which will deploy three innovations: Nested Transactions, Linear Leios, and Peras. The Ouroboros Leios protocol, cornerstone of this update, promises to improve the network’s throughput and finality. The roadmap foresees deployment of the first two phases by the end of 2026.

In Brief The Dijkstra hard fork will introduce three innovations: Nested Transactions, Linear Leios, and Peras, with a progressive deployment starting in 2026. The van Rossem intra-era hard fork, effective since July 18, laid the technical foundations for this transition. The network’s on-chain governance activates with a vote on a new parameter, the election of the Constitutional Committee, and the CAP portal in alpha. The Dijkstra Era Takes Shape After Cardano’s van Rossem Hard Fork On July 18, Cardano activated the van Rossem intra-era hard fork, upgrading the protocol to version 11. This update improved Plutus performance, strengthened ledger consistency, and node security.

However, the main event is yet to come: this hard fork has indeed prepared the ground for the Dijkstra era, the next major step in Cardano’s technical roadmap. In its weekly report, Intersect (the member organization coordinating the ecosystem development) confirmed that planning for the Dijkstra era is now underway, with a process aimed at involving the community in defining the scope of future forks. 

This transition continues the on-chain governance model Cardano inaugurated with its first hard fork entirely driven by ADA holders.

The initial deployment of the Dijkstra era will be carried out in several phases, each bringing key innovation. The first will introduce Nested Transactions, a mechanism that allows nesting transactions within each other to optimize resource management and reduce network load. Next comes Linear Leios, a linear version of the Ouroboros Leios protocol which is at the heart of Cardano’s scaling. 

This next-generation consensus protocol aims to significantly increase network throughput while maintaining the security and decentralization that Cardano is known for. Finally, Peras will enhance transaction finality by speeding up the time required for a transaction to be considered irreversible. 

The Haskell Node team is currently working to deliver the first two phases (Nested Transactions and Linear Leios) on the mainnet by the end of 2026, as reported by U.Today.

On-Chain Governance and Debate Over the Next Hard Fork’s Name Meanwhile, Cardano governance is active on several fronts. A parameter update action has been opened for voting, the election of the Constitutional Committee is now on-chain, and the Constitutional Amendment Portal (CAP) has been launched in alpha for community testing.

These mechanisms illustrate the rise of decentralized governance, where each ADA holder can participate in protocol decisions. Regarding naming, a working group proposed naming the next hard fork after Alexander Esgen, while an on-chain action suggests the name Fabian von Bergen. The community is invited to provide feedback.

In short, Cardano is reaching a decisive new stage in its roadmap with the Dijkstra era, whose three technical pillars (Nested Transactions, Linear Leios, and Peras) outline a faster, more scalable, and smoother network for users. The convergence of protocol scaling, activation of on-chain governance levers, and progressive deployment of innovations by the end of 2026 creates a rare dynamic in the project’s history. 

Cardano has never been closer to the technical vision that Edmond Dijkstra, the renowned computer scientist, could have inspired: a network where security and performance become one.

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Fenelon L.

Passionné par le Bitcoin, j'aime explorer les méandres de la blockchain et des cryptos et je partage mes découvertes avec la communauté. Mon rêve est de vivre dans un monde où la vie privée et la liberté financière sont garanties pour tous, et je crois fermement que Bitcoin est l'outil qui peut rendre cela possible.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Cover image via depositphotos.com Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

The team behind the Cardano-focused cryptocurrency wallet SecondFi today published a renewed appeal to the hacker who breached the platform in June. The developers reiterated that their official bounty offer remains in effect in exchange for the full return of the stolen assets.

"Our standing offer remains open. We urge the party involved to contact us through the channels listed below," SecondFi said in its official statement. The company added that a voluntary return is the cleanest and most direct path toward resolving the situation for all parties.

Interestingly, after the independent analytics agency Groom Lake joined the investigation, researchers discovered specific digital markers in the transactions and actions of one of the participants in the attack. These markers reportedly match methods used by the state-sponsored North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus Group.

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How SecondFi plans to repay usersSince the likelihood of receiving a response from Lazarus Group is extremely low, SecondFi, together with the Cardano Foundation and Input Output Group, has launched a three-stage compensation plan:

Late July — the current stage: Collection, verification and processing of official claims submitted by affected customers.Mid-August 2026: Release of tools for securely exporting surviving assets to third-party platforms. Users are advised to move their funds to hardware wallets.Early September 2026: Launch of an automated compensation portal powered by zero-knowledge proofs.The critical security incident occurred between June 21 and June 23, 2026. The attackers managed to compromise 374 digital wallets on SecondFi, formerly known as Yoroi Wallet by EMURGO. The hackers stole 16.1 million Cardano tokens, or ADA, worth approximately $2.4 million to $2.6 million at the time of the theft.

The scale of the disaster could have been significantly greater. The project's technical team responded in time and secured another 129 million ADA that had been at risk. These funds were urgently transferred to the control of an independent custodian.

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Nevertheless, because of the severe financial and reputational consequences of the breach, EMURGO's management made a difficult decision. The company announced the complete wind-down and subsequent liquidation of the SecondFi and Yoroi brands. The project has been deemed unviable for continued operations.

Cover image via U.Today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

The Cardano community is marking 6 years since the historic Shelley upgrade that brought staking to the network.

Shelley is the successor to the Byron era, in which the Cardano mainnet was launched in September 2017 along with the ADA cryptocurrency. The Shelley era comprised the critical initial steps in Cardano's journey to optimize decentralization.

The Cardano community X account shared this milestone in a recent post, highlighting key statistics that define the network and the features introduced by the Shelley upgrade.

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"Byron hard forked into Shelley. Stake pools, decentralised block production and staking rewards became a thing. The chain hasn't stopped since," the Cardano community X account wrote.

6 years ago today:
439 epochs
9.25M blocks
190M slots

Byron hard forked into Shelley. Stake pools, decentralised block production and staking rewards became a thing.

The chain hasn't stopped since. https://t.co/VYnjq2c4pC

— Cardano Community (@Cardano) July 29, 2026 Cardano started as a federated network with just a few nodes. Early 2020 saw the Byron reboot pave the way for decentralization, with a new node implementation built from scratch within a modular design to support future upgrades.

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The Shelley upgrade in July 2020 then introduced stake pools and delegation. The Shelley development theme introduced a decentralized ledger, which created a new economic system.

In Q1 2021, the stake pool operator (SPO) community began producing 100% of new blocks. Currently, there are 2,882 pools with 21.56 billion ADA in live stake, according to data from Cexplorer.

Cardano eyes biggest scaling upgradeFast forward six years, and Cardano is eyeing its biggest scaling upgrade: Ouroboros Leios, which has launched on a public testnet named the Musashi Dojo.

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Ouroboros Leios runs through five phases named after chapters of Musashi's Book of Five Rings: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void, moving from basic protocol validation through adversarial testing to final mainnet preparation.

Input Output targets an initial five to twenty times increase in Cardano's base layer throughput capacity through Ouroboros Leios, with a mainnet hard fork planned for later in 2026.

The Van Rossem hard fork, which went live this July, lays the foundation for the Dijkstra era hard fork, which will introduce Ouroboros Leios to Cardano.

Charles Hoskinson, founder of IOHK and Cardano, highlighted the recent bridge attacks and security vulnerabilities, stating that the cryptocurrency industry needs to mature. Arguing that focusing solely on speed is the wrong approach to addressing security issues, Hoskinson emphasized the necessity of zero-knowledge (ZK) technologies and decentralized insurance systems.

Referring to the recent hack on a third-party bridge used on the Binance-Cardano line, Hoskinson stated that traditional software security models are insufficient against AI-powered cyberattacks.

He stated that instead of relying on people or multi-signature (multisig) structures, there should be a shift to ZK systems (e.g., the Midnight project) that rely on mathematics. He argued that for the sector to reach traditional financial levels, optional insurance pools (RWA-based) that can compensate users for their losses should be established.

Hoskinson announced that the Cardano ecosystem has successfully completed its v11 upgrade, stating that this update is the first major hard fork to be implemented entirely through on-chain community voting. The new update adds the Groth16 ZK proof-of-service verification infrastructure to the system. The next major update, Leios, aims to increase Cardano’s transaction speed by approximately 60 times. Hoskinson also stated that Cardano has completed its legislative and judicial-like governance mechanisms, and that a decentralized “executive authority” will be created to manage marketing, commercial adoption, and growth strategies.

Hoskinson harshly criticized Ethereum’s governance and financing model, drawing attention to Cardano’s treasury system. He stated that Cardano’s development is sustained thanks to its on-chain treasury, arguing that Ethereum’s lack of decentralized governance has led to it falling under the control of large corporations and oligarchic structures.

Hoskinson stated that Layer-2 (L2) solutions in the Ethereum ecosystem are “parasitic” and harm the main chain, adding that Cardano, on the other hand, provides ADA holders with multiple token returns through a “partnered” L2 model.

*This is not investment advice.

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There’s roughly $1.6 trillion worth of Bitcoin sitting in wallets doing essentially nothing. Cardano’s development company, Input Output Group (IOG), thinks it has a solution: a platform called Pogun that “mirrors” Bitcoin onto the Cardano blockchain, giving holders access to lending, yield, and stablecoins while they keep custody of their own coins.

Charles Hoskinson, Cardano’s founder, publicly outlined the initiative on May 3, 2026. The core pitch is straightforward. Bitcoin holders get DeFi access. Cardano gets the liquidity. And nobody has to hand their keys to a centralized intermediary to make it work.

How mirroring actually works Instead of wrapping Bitcoin in a tokenized form, Pogun clones the representation of Bitcoin assets onto Cardano’s chain. The original Bitcoin stays put. The mirrored version on Cardano can interact with DeFi protocols.

The key technical ingredient arriving later in the roadmap is BitVM-powered mirroring, which aims to minimize the trust assumptions baked into most cross-chain bridges today.

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The platform is being built on top of interoperability groundwork Cardano has already laid, including atomic swaps between the two chains.

What makes Pogun genuinely different from the crowded field of Bitcoin DeFi experiments is its credit market design. The platform operates without traditional oracles or collateral pools. There are no margin calls. Instead, transactions rely on bilateral agreements between counterparties.

The rollout timeline The non-margin credit market is slated to hit Cardano’s mainnet by Q2 2026. A yield-generating application follows in Q3 2026. The trust-minimized BitVM mirroring implementation is planned for Q4 2026.

The project is led by Omer Husain and sits within a broader package of nine IOG proposals requesting nearly $50 million in funding for 2026. That funding encompasses network scalability upgrades and performance improvements beyond just the Pogun platform itself.

All transactions within Pogun require ADA fees. Revenues from the project flow back into the Cardano treasury.

What this means for investors The competitive landscape includes Stacks, Babylon, and several other projects also vying for Bitcoin’s idle capital. Cardano’s eUTXO model shares architectural DNA with Bitcoin’s own transaction model.

The $50 million funding request across nine proposals signals that IOG is making a substantial bet on cross-chain interoperability as Cardano’s growth strategy. The Q4 2026 BitVM implementation is the linchpin, and trust-minimized bridges have proven extraordinarily difficult to ship securely.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Cardano has emerged as one of the fastest-growing blockchains for real-world assets (RWAs), reinforcing its expanding role in the rapidly evolving tokenization sector.

According to data shared by the RWA Foundation, citing Token Terminal, Cardano ranked as the fifth fastest-growing blockchain by RWA value over the past 30 days. During the period, the value of tokenized real-world assets on the network surged 23.1% to $55.3 million.

The ranking tracks month-over-month growth in RWA value across leading blockchain ecosystems, providing insight into where tokenized assets are expanding at the fastest pace.

Cardano Outpaces Several Larger RWA Ecosystems Despite hosting a smaller RWA market than several competing networks, Cardano outperformed many established blockchains in terms of growth.

For instance, Avalanche recorded a 22.6% increase, even though it maintains one of the largest RWA ecosystems at $2.5 billion. Sonic followed with 22.1% growth, bringing its RWA value to $124.2 million.

Meanwhile, Fraxtal expanded 18.4% to $39 million, while BNB Chain, which hosts the largest RWA market among the ranked blockchains at $9.2 billion, posted a 16.5% monthly increase. TON completed the top 10 with 6.4% growth, lifting its RWA value to $670.4 million.

Notably, four blockchain networks recorded even stronger monthly RWA growth. Robinhood Chain dominated the rankings with an extraordinary 11,416.2% surge, increasing its RWA value to $323.7 million. Tempo claimed second place with 74.3% growth, followed by Monad at 36.7% and Plume Network at 35.7%. 

Cardano Ranks Among Fastest-Growing Blockchains in July Charles Hoskinson Says RWA Could Spur Crypto Growth  The real-world asset sector continues to gain momentum as analysts project it could evolve into a multi-trillion-dollar industry over the coming years.

Specifically, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has projected that the RWA market could reach $10 trillion by 2030, fueled by the tokenization of traditional financial assets. He expects tokenized real-world assets to account for a substantial share of the crypto industry’s growth before the end of the decade.

Cardano Expands Its Presence in RWA Tokenization As the RWA market grows, Cardano continues to position itself as a key infrastructure provider for asset tokenization.

Recently, the network participated in an initiative involving the London Stock Exchange, which introduced the MCM Fund I from Members Capital Management (MembersCap). While the investment was recorded on the London Stock Exchange’s private blockchain, Archax tokenized the fund on the Cardano blockchain.

Cardano has also continued to strengthen its RWA ecosystem through strategic partnerships. Earlier this year, Kinka partnered with EMURGO to issue gold-backed tokens on Cardano. In addition, EMURGO collaborated with compliant tokenization platforms, including Haus, OpenEden, and DigiFT, to bring tokenized assets such as private credit, U.S. government bonds, and insurance factoring onto the network.

DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

Summary

Cardano wallet SecondFi is shutting down after a software exploit allowed attackers to steal 16.1 million ADA ($2.4 million) from 374 wallets.The breach stemmed from a vulnerability in transaction signing software that enabled the derivation of private keys from blockchain transaction data.SecondFi will release wallet export tools in early August and a recovery portal later that month, though no distribution date for recovered funds is set.Cardano wallet SecondFi is winding down after attackers exploited a flaw in its transaction signing software to steal 16.1 million ADA, worth roughly $2.4 million, from 374 wallets.

The service, which replaced EMURGO’s Yoroi wallet, said it will not resume normal operations despite patching the vulnerability.and at the time securing 129 million ADA before attackers could reach the funds.

The flaw allowed attackers to derive private key material from transaction data visible on the Cardano blockchain, SecondFi said. The Cardano network itself was not compromised, and hardware wallet users were not affected.

Groom Lake, the blockchain intelligence firm hired by EMURGO, found that the main attacker was sophisticated and well-funded. Some indicators point to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, though no attribution has been confirmed, the firm said.

A separate attacker targeted another set of wallets during the same period.

SecondFi expects to release wallet export tools in early August and a zero-knowledge recovery portal later that month. EMURGO has funded an asset recovery wallet, but no firm distribution date has been given.

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Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation

Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation

Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.

5 hours ago

Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.

Why it matters:

Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.

Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) surges 7% in the past 24 hours, but derivatives data shows the move is being driven by a leveraged short squeeze rather than whale-backed accumulation.

What Is The Van Rossem Hard Fork And Why Does It Matter?

Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork on Saturday, moving the mainnet to protocol version 11, according to CoinDesk. 

The upgrade lowers smart contract execution costs and lays the groundwork for Ouroboros Leios, a scaling upgrade expected later in 2026 that aims to sharply increase the number of transactions Cardano can process.

The more consequential change is who approved it. For the first time in Cardano’s history, the upgrade was initiated, debated, and ratified entirely through the network’s on-chain governance system rather than directed by Input Output, the engineering firm that built the blockchain. 

Delegated representatives voted 78.97% in favor, clearing the 60% threshold required for passage.

For ADA holders, the shift means owning a token on a network where holders have a formal vote in its direction rather than taking what the founders decide to ship.

Is The Rally Built On Solid Ground?Retail traders are aggressively long on ADA, with account ratios on Binance and OKX both sitting above 2.0, meaning more than twice as many retail accounts are betting on the upside than the downside.

However, larger players are not as convinced. Top trader accounts lean bullish but their position ratio of 0.96 puts them close to neutral, suggesting whales are not driving this move with conviction.

Open interest climbed 11.5% and volume surged 71% according to Coinglass, with short positions dominating the liquidations. That combination points to a short squeeze pushing price higher rather than fresh capital flowing in from bigger buyers.

Cardano Price Breakout Targets $0.20 After Triangle BreakADA breaks above a symmetrical triangle that compressed price since the June low. 

The RSI bullish divergence that printed in June has now activated, with RSI at 55.95, its strongest reading since April.

ADA reclaimed the 20-day EMA at $0.1671 and now faces the 50-day EMA at $0.1772 as the next resistance. 

A confirmed daily close above $0.175 with the candle body outside the triangle validates the breakout, with the measured move targeting $0.2 to $0.2045. Losing $0.1671 flips the breakout into a fakeout.

Key levels for ADA: $0.1772 — 50-day EMA, immediate resistance to clear $0.2045 — 100-day EMA and measured move target on confirmed breakout $0.1671 — 20-day EMA, support that must hold $0.1650 to $0.1700 — triangle breakout retest zone on any pullback Photo via Shutterstock

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515 Million NIGHT Tokens Drained in Bridge AttackWanchain's bridge connecting Cardano to BNB Chain was exploited on July 21, 2026, with approximately 515.2 million $NIGHT tokens drained from the bridge treasury. The stolen tokens were worth roughly $13 million at pre-exploit prices. CoinGecko data showed the token trading near $0.0186 after the incident, placing the value of 515 million NIGHT closer to $9 million to $10 million at prevailing prices.

The incident unfolded in just four rapid transactions over an eight-minute window. BlockSec Phalcon traced the attacker's redeemer back to a legitimate BSC transaction that authorized only around 3,110 NIGHT, with the same signature then reused on Cardano to extract more than 203 million NIGHT through field-boundary ambiguity in the raw-concatenated hash. The attacker funneled stolen tokens into a primary wallet on Cardano before aggressively liquidating roughly 90% of the haul through DEX swaps and DeFi protocols.

Validator Flaw at the Root of the ExploitBlockSec's monitoring revealed that the attack exploited a vulnerability in the TreasuryCheck validator's signature message encoding. The issue arose from the raw concatenation of 14 variable-length redemption fields without delimiters, allowing different field combinations to produce identical byte strings and reuse the same hash and signature. BlockSec confirmed the vulnerability by analyzing on-chain Plutus V2 bytecode and decoding the attack transaction's redemption data, noting that use of Sha3_256(SerialiseData(...)) could have prevented this by providing clear CBOR-encoded field boundaries.

Wanchain confirmed it was aware of an incident affecting the Cardano BNB Chain bridge, resulting in the withdrawal of NIGHT tokens from the bridge contract on Cardano, and said the bridge was taken offline while the team investigates. Midnight said its core network remained secure, describing the incident as isolated to bridge infrastructure.

NIGHT is Midnight's native governance token and also generates DUST, the network resource used for transactions and smart contract execution. Midnight operates as a privacy-focused Cardano partner chain with a dual-token economic model, and launched its mainnet in March 2026. NIGHT sold off sharply as reports of the bridge incident spread, falling more than 30% within 24 hours to a record low near $0.016.

Wanchain originally launched cross-chain support for NIGHT between Cardano and BNB Chain in December 2025. The latest bridge incident has brought renewed attention to the risks created when native assets move through third-party infrastructure.

Sources:
Crypto.news: Wanchain Cardano bridge exploit drains 515M NIGHT
CryptoTimes: Wanchain Cardano Bridge Exploited
Phemex News: Wanchain Cardano Bridge Hacked

Blockchain

19 July 2026 | 11:31 Cardano’s Pogun initiative targets Bitcoin liquidity through a credit market, yield layer and trust-minimized bridge, but the project remains unfinished after its treasury request expired and its first deadline passed.

Key Takeaways Pogun plans to combine a non-margin credit market, a yield application and a trust-minimized Bitcoin bridge on Cardano. The widely cited $1.6 trillion figure represents Bitcoin’s total market value, not capital already committed to the project. Pogun’s request for ₳12.29 million from the Cardano Treasury expired without receiving the required approval. The original Q2 credit-market deadline has passed, while Pogun’s official website still describes the platform as coming soon. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson is backing Pogun, a development initiative intended to bring Bitcoin liquidity into Cardano-based credit and yield markets.

Led by Omer Husain and the team behind Input Output’s open-source Cardinal bridge specification, Pogun plans to combine a non-margin credit market, a yield application and a trust-minimized Bitcoin bridge.

The project’s central test is not whether Cardano can advertise access to Bitcoin’s market value. It is whether Pogun can launch a useful credit market, attract borrowers and lenders, and give BTC holders a reason to cross the bridge when it becomes available.

The $1.6 Trillion Bitcoin Claim Needs Context Pogun’s official proposal describes Bitcoin as a vast pool of capital that is “almost entirely idle.” The phrase refers to Bitcoin’s limited use in native decentralized lending and credit markets, not to every BTC sitting unused.

Some coverage has rounded the opportunity to $1.6 trillion, while Pogun’s own governance proposal described Bitcoin as a roughly $1.5 trillion asset. Either figure is a time-sensitive estimate of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization which as of 19 July, 2026, is around $1.3T, not an amount that Pogun has secured or expects to move into Cardano in full.

Bitcoin is already used through self-custody, exchanges, corporate treasuries, exchange-traded products and centralized lending arrangements. Pogun’s argument is narrower: only a relatively small portion of that capital participates in decentralized credit and yield markets without relying on a centralized custodian.

Pogun is therefore competing for the subset of Bitcoin holders willing to use BTC as collateral or deploy it into financial strategies. It is not integrating Bitcoin’s entire market value into Cardano.

Pogun Plans to Build the Market Before the Bridge Pogun’s published roadmap contains three connected stages:

Q2 2026

Non-margin credit market

Bilateral, fixed-term loans without automatic price-based liquidations

Q3 2026

Yield application

An interface connecting user capital with strategies built on the credit market

Q4 2026

Bitcoin bridge

A trust-minimized route for deploying BTC in Cardano-based applications

Pogun’s sequence is deliberate. The credit market is intended to establish demand, the yield application would make that market easier to access, and the bridge would then introduce Bitcoin as additional collateral and liquidity.

That gives incoming BTC an intended use from the beginning, but it also creates dependency between the milestones. Delays or weak adoption in the first two products could reduce the reason for Bitcoin holders to use the bridge when it arrives.

The First Roadmap Deadline Has Passed The proposal stated that the non-margin credit market would launch on Cardano’s mainnet in the second quarter of 2026 after completing a formal security audit.

That quarter ended on June 30.

As of July 19, Pogun’s official website continues to describe the platform as “coming soon.” The official project pages reviewed for this article do not provide a public mainnet announcement, deployed contract address or completed audit report.

That does not establish that development has stopped. It means the Q2 milestone cannot yet be treated as publicly delivered based on the evidence currently available.

In a June 11 video, Hoskinson said work had not been paused after the project failed to secure treasury funding and described Pogun as a commercial initiative that could continue without the proposed community investment.

His comments indicate that development is continuing, but they do not establish that the credit market has launched publicly or completed the formal audit described in the original proposal.

The Cardano Treasury Did Not Fund Pogun Pogun requested ₳12.29 million from the Cardano Treasury, valued at approximately $2.95 million when the proposal was prepared.

The proposed funding was divided into milestone-based tranches. Later bridge funding would have depended on verified progress in the credit market, while the proposal included provisions for returning undisbursed funds if milestones failed, the team dissolved or the bridge was found to be technically infeasible.

Pogun also proposed returning 20% of EBITDA to the Cardano Treasury until the original investment had been repaid, followed by 5% of EBITDA from Cardano-related products in perpetuity.

That arrangement was never activated.

The onchain governance action expired on May 24, 2026, without receiving the support required for ratification. No ₳12.29 million treasury withdrawal was approved for Pogun.

The failed vote did not remove money that had already been granted. It meant that this specific treasury withdrawal was never authorized.

If Pogun continues as a privately funded commercial initiative, the Cardano Treasury will not automatically receive the proposed revenue share unless a separate agreement is approved in the future.

How Pogun’s Credit Market Is Supposed to Work Pogun’s first planned product differs from the pooled, overcollateralized lending markets commonly found across DeFi.

Borrowers and lenders would negotiate loan terms directly, including: The amount being borrowed; The interest rate; The repayment period; The collateral requirements; The conditions that constitute default. Smart contracts would enforce those agreed terms. According to Pogun, the model would not depend on external price oracles or automatic margin calls, meaning temporary market volatility would not by itself liquidate a borrower’s collateral.

The structure resembles fixed-term private credit more closely than a continuously rebalanced DeFi lending pool.

Active loan positions would be represented by transferable Bond Tokens issued as Cardano native assets. That could allow a lender to transfer or sell exposure before a loan matures, creating the foundation for a secondary market in tokenized debt positions.

Removing automatic price-based liquidation does not remove financial risk.

A borrower can still default, collateral can lose value before it is recovered, and Bond Tokens may have little secondary-market liquidity. Smart-contract vulnerabilities, weak borrower assessment and disputes involving real-world counterparties could add further risk.

The model exchanges the danger of rapid oracle-driven liquidation for longer-duration credit, liquidity and enforcement risks. Its usefulness will depend on how clearly those risks are disclosed and priced.

The Bridge Is Trust-Minimized, Not Trustless Pogun’s final stage is intended to move Bitcoin into the Cardano environment without placing the underlying BTC under the control of a single custodian.

The roadmap describes a 1-of-N security model. Under that design, a fraudulent withdrawal can be blocked as long as at least one verifier in the operator set remains honest and available.

Although the proposal labels the component a BitVM-powered bridge, a later technical explanation from Input Output says the team moved toward a custom implementation based on BABE after identifying production constraints in the BitVM family of designs.

The architecture described by Input Output combines several systems: A custom implementation based on BABE, which uses witness encryption for Bitcoin-side verification; Recursive Halo2 proofs intended to attest to Cardano state through the Mithril certificate chain; Groth16 proofs that package the result into a smaller form for the Bitcoin-side mechanism; An N-party transaction graph designed to support multiple operators and changes to the operator set. At a high level, the design is intended to prove what happened on Cardano, compress that evidence into a smaller cryptographic proof and make the result verifiable through a Bitcoin-side mechanism without giving one custodian control of the underlying BTC.

Mithril certificates allow external systems to verify authenticated information about Cardano without independently replaying the entire blockchain. Pogun intends to use proofs built over that certificate chain to establish what occurred on Cardano before a corresponding Bitcoin-side action is accepted.

The architecture is technically detailed, but a design document is not proof of production security.

Bridge implementations can be exposed to software bugs, proof-system failures, operator outages, configuration errors and weaknesses in the applications holding bridged assets. Public code, independent audits, testnet performance and the composition of the verifier set will matter as much as the cryptographic design.

Calling the bridge trust-minimized is therefore more accurate than calling it trustless.

Why Cardano Sees an Architectural Fit With Bitcoin Cardano argues that it is a natural environment for Bitcoin-based finance because the two networks share a related accounting structure.

As Cardano’s official documentation explains, Bitcoin and Cardano both use versions of the Unspent Transaction Output model. Bitcoin transactions consume existing outputs and create new ones, while Cardano extends that structure through its EUTXO model to support programmable conditions, native assets and smart contracts.

That shared lineage can make some financial logic easier to express across the two systems. It does not mean that Cardano can control native Bitcoin directly or that other smart-contract networks cannot support Bitcoin-based applications through different architectures.

Pogun still requires a bridge to connect two separate ledgers. Its success will depend on implementation quality, security and market demand rather than the UTXO connection alone.

What Pogun Could Mean for Cardano and ADA Pogun is partly an attempt to expand Cardano’s relatively small DeFi economy.

At the time of writing, DefiLlama records approximately $72 million in total value locked across Cardano applications. Even a modest amount of BTC deployed into Cardano-based credit markets could therefore be material relative to the ecosystem’s present size.

That possibility should not be confused with a guarantee that billions of dollars will arrive.

Claims that Pogun could push Cardano’s TVL to $10 billion or $15 billion are not supported by the project’s formal proposal. Its own end-of-2027 scenarios projected approximately:

$100 million in Pogun TVL under a bearish scenario; $450 million under its base scenario; $765 million under its bullish scenario. Those are project forecasts rather than assured outcomes. Actual adoption will depend on bridge security, borrowing demand, available returns, liquidity, regulatory access and competition from other Bitcoin DeFi platforms.

The effect on ADA also needs careful framing.

Under Cardano’s current rules, ADA is accepted as payment for network fees. Pogun activity executed on Cardano could therefore generate additional transaction-fee demand.

The scale of that effect would depend on transaction volume, fee levels and whether applications require users to hold ADA directly or abstract the payment process on their behalf. Bridged Bitcoin sitting inactive in a contract would not create the same recurring network demand as an actively used credit market.

Pogun could add utility to Cardano, but publishing a roadmap does not by itself create substantial or sustainable demand for ADA.

What Would Confirm the Bitcoin DeFi Thesis The strongest evidence will come from delivered products and measurable usage rather than the total market value of Bitcoin.

The thesis would become more credible if Pogun provides: • A publicly verifiable mainnet deployment for the credit market;

• A completed independent security audit and accessible report;

• Contract addresses and documentation that allow users to verify the system;

• Measurable loan volume, borrower activity and repayment data;

• A yield application with clear risk disclosures and sustained deposits;

• A functioning bridge testnet followed by an independently audited mainnet release;

• Transparent information about operators and the assumptions behind the 1-of-N model;

• Measurable BTC collateral, Cardano TVL and transaction growth after launch.

For now, Pogun remains a development initiative rather than evidence that significant Bitcoin liquidity has entered Cardano.

The next decisive proof point is a publicly verifiable launch of the credit market, followed by its audit results and measurable lending activity. Only then will the planned yield layer and Bitcoin bridge have an operating market to connect to.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice.

Author

Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.