Cardano Price Surges Amid $600M ADA Misuse Allegations And Major Bitcoin Integration (UPDATED)

Editor’s note: the story has been updated with a comment from IOHK Media.

Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) is trading for $0.7887, and has risen by 4.13% over the past 24 hours. The token has grown 1.07% over the week, and 25.82% over the past month. The price volatility comes at a time when Cardano founder, Charles Hoskinson, has called for a full audit of Input Output Global (IOG) following severe allegations of the misuse of 318 million ADA tokens.

There were claims that after the Shelley upgrade in 2020, ADA tokens worth $600M were transferred without community consent. Hoskinson has negated any malpractice, and launched a comprehensive audit to assure everyone that Cardano supports transparency and accountability.

IOHK Media responded to a request for comment, saying the allegations are false and nefarious and part of a “coordinated campaign to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt.”

Don't Miss:

• Trade crypto futures on Plus500 with up to $200 in bonuses — no wallets, just price speculation and free paper trading to practice different strategies.
• New to trading crypto? Get up to $400 in rewards for successfully completing short educational courses and placing your first qualifying trade on Coinbase.

Large global firms like BDO International, McDermott Will & Emery, and a blockchain analytics team have been contracted to investigate the matter. The audit results have not been released yet, but the move has been welcomed by the community. It indicates a proactive attitude towards investor trust and community governance.

Open interest in Cardano derivatives has risen to more than $920 million, indicating better confidence among traders. Traders expect a big move and are positioning themselves for it. Cardano’s market cap has risen more than $27.8 billion, and the daily trading volume has surged to $1.2 billion, an increase of 59.37%.

Cardano is building a partnership with BitcoinOS to create a trustless Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) bridge using zero-knowledge proofs. It will allow Bitcoin staking without intermediaries, and make Cardano a DeFi layer for Bitcoin. According to a live test, it successfully transferred 1 BTC onto the Cardano network as xBTC within seconds, using cryptographic proofs. The technology will release over $2 billion in liquidity, higher than an initial estimate of $1.3 billion, due to the upward trend of Bitcoin price.

Cardano is moving into a crowded Bitcoin staking market with big players such as Babylon Protocol (CRYPTO: BABY), Lombard Finance, and Solv Protocol (CRYPTO: SOLV). Platforms such as Stacks and Core have gained significant traction with TVLs of $214 million and $778 million, respectively. 

If Cardano’s solution does not offer significant advantages or gains adoption, its DeFi ecosystem will not get a boost.

Whale movement is still increasing, with addresses between 10 million and 100 million ADA accumulating close to 13 billion tokens. The ongoing accumulation by big holders is a sign of trust in the long-term future of ADA, amid low DeFi statistics. 

Cardano’s DeFi TVL is approximately $400 million, and the network has only $30 million of stablecoins. These statistics fail compared to competitors such as Arbitrum, with $3.2 billion of TVL.

If ADA maintains its current momentum and gets a boost from the Bitcoin integration, it can expect a stronger breakout. The next few days will be important for Cardano as it waits for the audit report and tries to reassure investor sentiment. Cardano appears to be addressing its problems effectively, which can paint a better future for the token in 2025.

More Opportunities:

• Grow your IRA or 401(k) with Crypto – unlock the power of alternative investments including a Crypto IRA within your retirement account.
• Trade, earn, and grow your crypto portfolio with Crypto.com — plus receive up to $500 worth of rewards in the most popular tokens if you're a new customer.

Image: Shutterstock