Cardano price crash: ADA bulls face whale pressure as bears tighten grip

Cardano ADA is one of the worst performers among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap, down by 5% in the last 24 hours.

The cryptocurrency remained under pressure on Wednesday, slipping below $0.175 and extending its losing streak to four consecutive sessions. 

Mounting selling activity from large holders, weakening derivatives sentiment, and a fragile technical structure suggest the cryptocurrency could remain vulnerable to additional losses in the near term.

The latest decline comes as investors continue to reduce exposure despite broader signs of stabilization across parts of the cryptocurrency market.

Whales sell nearly 190 million ADA tokens

On-chain data indicates that major Cardano investors have resumed distributing their holdings after last week's brief recovery.

According to Santiment's Supply Distribution metric, wallets holding between 100,000 and 1 million ADA, 1 million to 10 million ADA, and 10 million to 100 million ADA have collectively offloaded approximately 190 million ADA tokens since July 1.

The renewed selling by these large holders has added significant downward pressure on ADA's price and signals that institutional or high-net-worth investors remain cautious about the token's short-term outlook.

Cardano's derivatives market is also showing signs of weakening confidence among traders.

Data from CoinGlass reveals that ADA's long-to-short ratio has fallen to 0.79, approaching its lowest reading in more than a month. 

A ratio below one indicates that bearish positions outweigh bullish bets, suggesting more traders are expecting further price declines.

Additional pressure comes from funding rates. The derivatives data also show that Cardano's open interest-weighted funding rate has turned negative, falling to -0.0060%. 

Negative funding rates mean short sellers are paying long traders to maintain their positions, a signal that bearish sentiment currently dominates the perpetual futures market.

Together, these derivatives indicators reinforce the view that traders remain defensive despite recent market volatility.

Cardano price outlook: Key resistance levels continue to cap recovery

The ADA/USD chart remains technically fragile, with a bullish reversal pattern forming on this timeframe. 

Cardano is trading around $0.170, remaining below several major Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) that continue to define the broader downtrend.

The 50-day EMA at $0.185, 100-day EMA at $0.216, and 200-day EMA at $0.289 all remain above the current price, creating multiple layers of resistance that bulls must overcome before any sustained recovery can develop.

While momentum indicators show modest improvement, they have yet to confirm a bullish reversal. 

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) has turned positive, and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is hovering near 51, suggesting momentum is stabilizing but remains insufficient to shift the overall bearish trend.

The first resistance level sits near $0.173, followed by the 50-day EMA at $0.185.

If buyers regain momentum, the next upside targets are the $0.195 resistance, followed by a stronger supply zone between $0.213 and $0.217.

However, if the bearish trend persists, immediate support is located around the psychological $0.150 level. 

A break below this area could expose the Fibonacci cycle low at $0.138, increasing the risk of a deeper correction.

For sentiment to improve meaningfully, Cardano will need to reclaim and sustain trading above the $0.173 resistance zone.

Until then, the technical outlook continues to favor the bears.