TLDR
- Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson confirmed a DeFi partnership with Litecoin
- ADA price consolidated around $0.74-0.75 while maintaining support at $0.72
- Whales purchased over 80 million ADA in 48 hours, showing strong confidence
- Market anticipation grows for potential Cardano spot ETF, with approval odds at 64%
- Technical indicators suggest ADA could break out above $0.78 and potentially test $1
Cardano (ADA) has been consolidating around the $0.74-0.75 range following a weekend of tepid price action, even as competitors like Ethereum and Solana posted gains. The ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap is showing signs of renewed momentum after Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson confirmed speculation about a DeFi partnership with Litecoin.
Trading volume for ADA declined from $934 million on Friday to $620 million on Monday, according to Coingecko data, reflecting lower weekend activity. Despite this temporary dip in trading interest, on-chain metrics and recent developments point to potential upside ahead.
The confirmation of the Litecoin partnership came after months of speculation. Hoskinson responded directly to social media discussions, stating: “Love the Litecoin community and have known Charlie and Bobby for over a decade. Great community!” This comment appears to confirm development efforts may be underway to integrate Litecoin into Cardano’s expanding DeFi ecosystem.
Love the litecoin community and have known charlie abd Bobby for over a decade. Great community! https://t.co/I3tsOcQK4j
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) May 18, 2025
Whale Activity Boosts Confidence
Large wallet holders have been accumulating ADA at a rapid pace. According to data from Santiment, whales purchased over 80 million ADA within just 48 hours, suggesting strong confidence in Cardano’s prospects among major investors.
This accumulation comes at a time when Cardano’s price is finding support above the $0.72 level, which has served as a floor since early May. The token is currently trading around $0.725, with a market capitalization of approximately $23.5 billion.
Analyst Ali Martinez notes that ADA has been moving within an upward channel since mid-April. He suggests that if Cardano maintains its position above $0.74 and continues to follow this trend pattern, it could retest previous highs near $0.88 or potentially push toward the $1 mark.
If the current structure on #Cardano $ADA is an ascending channel, holding above $0.72 could pave the way for an upswing toward $0.92. pic.twitter.com/vgNNfuudPd
— Ali (@ali_charts) May 18, 2025
The partnership between Cardano and Litecoin would represent a rare cross-chain collaboration between two established Layer-1 blockchains. Such integration would likely occur through Cardano’s forthcoming privacy protocol, Midnight, and could enhance multi-chain liquidity while broadening DeFi participation options.
Technical Analysis Points to Potential Breakout
From a technical perspective, Cardano is consolidating just above its 50-day moving average at $0.7199, which has repeatedly served as short-term support. The next resistance level is the 7-day simple moving average at $0.7702, with a daily close above this level needed to confirm renewed bullish momentum.
The Parabolic SAR indicator turned bearish on May 17 and remains above the current price at $0.8558, suggesting caution among momentum traders. However, the absence of aggressive selling pressure, as evidenced by low volume delta readings, indicates ADA may be in a technical cooldown phase rather than starting a prolonged decline.
If Bitcoin maintains strength above $104,000, it could provide broader market confidence that would allow ADA to retest the $0.78 level in the near term. A breakthrough above this resistance could pave the way toward $0.85 and potentially the psychologically important $1 level.
On the downside, a daily close below $0.7199 might expose ADA to a deeper retracement toward the 100-day SMA support at $0.6859.
ETF Prospects Improve
Cardano’s regulatory outlook has seen improvement, with Polymarket data showing that the probability of a Cardano spot ETF approval this year has jumped from 45% to 64% in just one day. This rapid shift in sentiment suggests growing market confidence that Cardano could soon gain greater institutional exposure through traditional financial products.
If the Litecoin-Midnight-Cardano integration rolls out in late 2025 as some analysts expect, ADA could experience renewed momentum heading into Q4 2025. This timeline would align with previous surges in ADA price during major protocol launches such as the Shelley and Alonzo upgrades in recent years.
ADA has outperformed many peers on a monthly basis, and analysts expect that a DeFi-enabled Litecoin bridge could drive institutional adoption, enhance liquidity, and attract developers to the ecosystem.
Technically, if ADA can flip the $0.78 level into support and break past $0.85, a rally toward $1.00 becomes increasingly likely in the short term. The functional DeFi ecosystem partnership with Litecoin could potentially push ADA as high as $1.40 in 2025 according to some market observers.
Cardano’s price opened at $0.74 on Monday, May 19, with the 24-hour upper wick pressing against the 7-day average. With positive sentiment surrounding the Litecoin partnership announcement and continued whale accumulation, market participants are watching for a potential breakout above the $0.78 resistance level to confirm bullish continuation.
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