Cardano’s toughest test yet? ADA sinks as projects fold

Cardano (ADA) fell below $0.16, hitting its lowest price since December 2020. This came when Charles Hoskinson stepped back from public appearances. However, TapTools also announced it would shut down. The situation worsened because of the weak crypto market. This led to ADA dropping over 70% from its peak near $1.00 in 2026.

Now, with no strong leadership and facing the risks of a volatile market, people are asking if Cardano can hold on. It also tests whether its decentralized governance can handle crises without an outspoken leader like Hoskinson. 

Cardano braces for more project failures

Cardano founder retreat and project closures point to growing pressure across the network. Hoskinson made it clear that he’s stepping back from public appearances because of relentless personal attacks. He also highlighted an overall toxic online atmosphere. Though he stated he wasn’t focused on raising ADA price, he vowed to keep working on the Midnight privacy sidechain, just with less fanfare.

Right before going into hiding, Hoskinson also dropped a bombshell. He predicted there’d be more project closures in the second half of 2026. This reportedly came shortly after NFT marketplace JPG Store and analytics platform TapTools shut down. Hoskinson warned there’s a “wave of failures” headed towards the ecosystem. He went on to note that the community hasn’t shown much interest in using treasury funds to save failing projects.

Bitcoin weakness and liquidations accelerate ADA breakdown below key support levels. ADA wasn’t the only coin to take a nosedive. Bitcoin dropped below $70,000 for the first time since early April. BTC price is down by more than 26% over the last 24 hours. It is trading at $60,210 at press time. 

ADA buzz surges as fear spreads

Lower-liquidity large-cap tokens, such as ADA, can have larger percentage drops compared to BTC when the important support levels fail to hold. The drop below the $0.247 support level for ADA triggered more liquidations. Shorts account for about 75% of the liquidated. Analyst Ali Martinez provided two further targets for downside action in ADA; the two price levels are $0.11 and $0.051. These would correspond to falls of over 70% in price from recent levels.

Selling pressure for ADA was also fuelled by Cardano’s governance issues.  The Cardano Foundation cancelled the 2026 Cardano Summit that was supposed to be held in Singapore after a revised funding request of 7.8 million ADA failed to be passed by the two-thirds majority required, receiving only 65.2% support. Separately, a request for 32.9 million ADA for Input Output Global’s research and development budget failed to pass, with over 80% opposed; this raised questions about how upgrades will be funded going forward. 

Social media discussion of Cardano hit a 2026 high. ADA reached around 0.52% social dominance (more than one in every 190 crypto-related posts mentioned the token), according to Santiment. Daily active addresses surged to 28,459, the highest level in four months. But Santiment noted the activity was driven by bearish sentiment and volatility rather than adoption.