Can Cardano break $0.20 after whales add 240 million ADA in just five days?

Cardano ADA has climbed nearly 12% over the past week to trade around $0.184, outperforming much of the broader crypto market.

According to on-chain analytics platform Santiment, whale wallets accumulated more than 240 million ADA over the past five days. 

The data showed large investors continued adding to their positions while ADA broke above several short-term resistance levels, reducing the amount of liquid supply available on exchanges.

Purchases of this size can tighten available market liquidity because the acquired tokens are typically moved into long-term holdings instead of remaining on trading platforms. 

Lower exchange supply can amplify price moves whenever fresh buying enters the market, allowing relatively modest demand to produce stronger price gains.

Support for ADA has also come from Cardano's latest development roadmap.

Intersect, the member-based organization coordinating Cardano's decentralized governance, recently outlined the first steps toward the Dijkstra hard fork era after the community approved Protocol v11, also known as the Van Rossem hard fork, through on-chain governance.

The organisation said the next development phase will introduce improvements for smart contract execution, scalability and developer throughput across the network. 

Continued progress through Cardano's governance process has given investors another reason to monitor the ecosystem as infrastructure upgrades move closer to implementation.

The governance update follows a series of protocol improvements that have gradually expanded Cardano's decentralised decision-making process. 

By advancing another major network milestone, the roadmap offers developers and ecosystem participants a clearer timeline for future technical enhancements.

Market participants have responded by increasing activity across derivatives markets.

Data from CoinGlass showed Cardano futures trading volume climbed 33.95% over the past 24 hours to about $773.9 million, while open interest increased 5.64% to $500.6 million.

Rising trading volume alongside higher open interest is commonly interpreted as new capital entering futures markets.

Exchange positioning also leaned toward bullish expectations, although not uniformly across every metric.

CoinGlass reported the overall 24-hour long-to-short ratio stood near 1.00, indicating a relatively balanced market. 

Binance accounts held a long-to-short ratio of 1.79, while OKX traders recorded a ratio of 1.22. 

Binance's top trader accounts showed a ratio above 2.08, suggesting many experienced traders continued favoring long exposure even as the broader market remained more evenly positioned.

During the past 24 hours, approximately $2.1 million worth of ADA positions were liquidated, with short positions accounting for about $1.6 million compared with roughly $484,000 in long liquidations. 

The imbalance indicates many traders betting against the rally were forced to close positions as prices continued climbing.

ADA price analysis

The daily chart indicates that Cardano is attempting to build on its recent recovery, although several technical barriers remain directly overhead.

ADA/USDT 1-day price chart. Source: TradingView.

The Ichimoku Cloud shows ADA trading around the upper boundary of the cloud after spending several weeks below it. 

Price has moved above the conversion and base lines, which are clustered near the $0.173 area, turning that region into the first support zone if buyers defend recent gains. 

The cloud itself now represents the immediate resistance area around $0.184 to $0.185, making the current level an important test for the continuation of the rally.

At the same time, the Supertrend indicator remains below price near $0.158, indicating the broader daily trend continues to favor buyers. 

Maintaining closes above both the Supertrend line and the Ichimoku support region would keep the current recovery structure intact.

ADA has also expanded toward the upper Bollinger Band following its recent breakout, a pattern that often accompanies increasing momentum after a period of relatively tight price movement. 

See below:

ADA/USDT 1-day price chart. Source: TradingView.

The middle Bollinger Band, positioned near $0.169, now acts as another dynamic support level. 

Holding above that area would suggest buyers remain in control despite short-term volatility.

The market structure also identifies multiple overhead supply zones that could limit immediate upside. 

The nearest resistance lies around the current trading range near $0.185, while additional supply areas appear higher on the chart around the mid-$0.20 region. 

A decisive move above the current resistance could open the door for an advance toward those higher levels if buying momentum remains supported by improving fundamentals and sustained futures participation.

Volume has also strengthened during the latest advance, adding confirmation to the breakout attempt. 

Increased trading activity accompanying higher prices is generally viewed by technical analysts as healthier than rallies occurring on declining volume because it indicates stronger market participation.

However, Cardano's ability to extend its rally may depend on whether whale accumulation continues and whether the Dijkstra development roadmap maintains positive market sentiment.