- Cardano climbed 15% after whales accumulated 150M ADA and the ADA Pay plugin expanded payment access to over 7M merchants.
- Rising futures activity also points to growing investor interest as ADA approaches key resistance levels.
Cardano has recorded a strong recovery over the past week, with ADA gaining more than 15% as whale investors continued accumulating during recent price dips. At the same time, a new payment integration has expanded Cardano’s real-world reach by making ADA available to more than 7M merchants worldwide.
The latest developments have strengthened investor confidence, while derivatives data points to growing participation from traders. However, ADA still faces an important resistance zone before a larger breakout can be confirmed.
Cardano Price Climbs as ADA Pay Expands Merchant Access
Cardano traded above $0.160 on Friday after posting gains of more than 15% over the previous 7 days. The rally coincided with the launch of the ADA Pay plugin, which allows more than 7 million merchants across the world to accept ADA as payment.
The plugin offers businesses a simple integration process without requiring extensive technical development. If adoption continues to grow, more consumers could begin using ADA for everyday purchases, increasing Cardano’s utility beyond crypto trading.
The expansion of payment options adds another practical use case for the network and supports its long-term growth strategy.
Whale Accumulation Signals Growing Confidence
Blockchain data from Santiment shows that large Cardano holders used the recent market pullback to increase their positions.
Wallets holding between 100,000 and 100M ADA accumulated roughly 150 million ADA since June 25. Such buying activity during price corrections is often viewed as a sign that major investors believe the current price offers value.
Continued accumulation also reduces the amount of ADA available for sale, which can help strengthen price support if demand remains steady.
Futures Data Points to Rising Market Interest
Activity in Cardano’s derivatives market has also increased.
Futures Open Interest climbed to approximately $403 million, up from around $335 million in mid-June. Rising Open Interest alongside higher prices usually suggests that new money is entering the market rather than existing traders simply shifting positions.
Funding rates also turned positive earlier this week and remained positive through Friday. This indicates that traders betting on higher prices have been willing to pay to maintain their long positions, reflecting improving market confidence.
Meanwhile, technical indicators remain balanced. The Relative Strength Index is close to the neutral 50 level, while the MACD remains slightly above zero, suggesting that buying strength has stabilized instead of accelerating rapidly.
Cardano Faces Key Resistance Levels
Despite the recent gains, Cardano still needs to overcome important resistance before extending its rally.
The first major obstacle sits near $0.173, which aligns with the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level. Additional selling pressure could emerge between $0.185 and $0.245 if ADA continues moving higher.
On the downside, support remains around $0.138, providing a level that buyers may defend if the market experiences another pullback.
Some market analysts believe ADA could target $0.35 over the coming months if it successfully breaks out from its current chart pattern, although such a move will depend on broader market conditions and continued buying interest.
$ADA #ADA
Getting bounce from support in the verge of Falling Wedge.
Breakout could lead a solid recovery towards $0.35 during midterm ✍️ pic.twitter.com/iiLZJEpv4E— Globe Of Crypto (@GlobeOfcrypto1) July 1, 2026
Cardano’s Network Design Continues to Attract Developers
Beyond price action, Cardano’s technology continues to receive attention from developers.
Core developer Dave recently highlighted the network’s Extended Unspent Transaction Output (eUTXO) model, explaining that it allows developers to estimate transaction costs and expected outcomes before execution. This helps reduce failed transactions and offers greater predictability for financial applications that require transparent fees.
Combined with expanding payment infrastructure and continued whale accumulation, these developments are strengthening Cardano’s position as it seeks broader adoption.
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