Cardano (ADA) Surges 12% as Whales Accumulate 819M Tokens and Grayscale Increases Allocation

TLDR

Table of Contents

Cardano recorded an impressive single-day surge of more than 12%, climbing from roughly $0.26 to above $0.31
Whale addresses accumulated around 819 million ADA tokens over the last six months
Grayscale’s Smart Contract Platform fund increased Cardano’s weighting to over 20%
Chart patterns suggest an ABC wave formation with potential targets around $0.38
Futures open interest surged approximately 30% in a single day, signaling fresh capital inflows

Cardano (ADA) posted a remarkable 12% gain on February 26, climbing from the $0.26 mark to break above $0.31. The upward movement was accompanied by trading volume that approached four times the normal daily levels.

The rally marked the end of a prolonged consolidation phase around key support levels between $0.24 and $0.26. This particular price range corresponds to the same area where ADA found its floor during the previous bear market.

During early February, ADA dipped to $0.220 on the 6th before bouncing back. Since that low, the cryptocurrency has successfully defended the $0.24–$0.26 zone as its primary support base.

On-chain data indicates that large wallet holders purchased approximately 819 million ADA tokens over the past six months. This sustained accumulation throughout a downtrend suggests that major players viewed lower prices as strategic entry points.

🐳🦈 Cardano's key whales & sharks have quietly been accumulating over the past 6 months. While its price has fallen over 71% from $0.90 to $0.26, wallets with 100K-100M $ADA have added +819.4M more ADA ($213.9M) & +1.6% of the total supply. pic.twitter.com/rmyfi8E0XV
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 24, 2026

Asset management firm Grayscale expanded Cardano’s representation in its Smart Contract Platform Select Capped Index fund to surpass 20%. This modification makes ADA the third-largest holding in the fund.

Institutional and Whale Buying

Although Grayscale’s portfolio adjustment aligns with standard index rebalancing procedures, it nevertheless highlights ADA’s standing among premier smart-contract blockchain networks.

Futures market data reveals that open interest increased by roughly 30% within a 24-hour period. Analysts view this surge as an indicator of fresh capital entering ADA positions, as opposed to mere short position liquidations.

The Relative Strength Index remains beneath overbought territory, implying that additional upward price action could materialize according to technical metrics.

ABC Pattern and Key Price Levels

Technical analyst SmellyTaz identified a bullish ABC corrective wave pattern forming on the ADA/USDT four-hour chart. The initial Wave A climbed from $0.22 to $0.28 in early February. Wave B then pulled back to $0.25 by February 11.

Wave C began from that pullback level but met resistance around $0.30 on February 15. ADA then corrected to a consolidation zone between $0.26 and $0.27, identified by analysts as the BC retracement area.

The Wednesday high of $0.31 fell short of the full wave C projection. Following that peak, ADA has retreated approximately 6%.

The chart analyst expects Cardano to return to a “reload” support zone between $0.27 and $0.28. A successful rebound from this level could complete the ABC formation with an upside target near $0.38.

The pattern would be invalidated if ADA drops below the BC2 support area.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has recently highlighted the upcoming Midnight privacy project, which has established initial partnerships and targets enterprise adoption while maintaining regulatory compliance standards.

Total value locked within Cardano’s decentralized finance protocols remains below previous all-time highs despite the recent price recovery.

Near-term support for ADA sits around $0.31, while resistance emerges near $0.34, aligning with the 50-day moving average.