Cardano just delivered one of its strongest on-chain sessions ever and, almost at the same time, started flashing classic distribution signals. The contrast is sharp enough that both the bulls and the bears have fresh ammunition.
A brand-new transaction record lands
Cexplorer data shows Epoch 660 processed 1,780,896 transactions — a clear all-time high that smashed the previous record of 1,566,974 set all the way back in Epoch 304.
Average transactions per block hit 83.83 and the network generated roughly ₳337,720 in fees. That is not quiet usage. Something is actively happening on Cardano (ADA) right now.
Whales aren’t convinced, still selling
While the ledger was printing a record, large holders were selling.
Ali Martinez also flagged that whales offloaded more than 110 million ADA over the past five days. That is meaningful distribution into strength (or at least into elevated activity).
When the biggest wallets reduce exposure at the same time retail or organic demand is showing up in transaction counts, it often creates the exact kind of divergence that precedes sharper pullbacks.
Active addresses are rolling over hard
The second warning is even cleaner. Daily active addresses have dropped 41.36%, falling from 27,248 to 15,977.
Record transactions with shrinking active addresses usually means the same set of participants (or automated activity) is driving the volume, not a broadening user base.
That combination: high throughput, fewer unique addresses, and whale selling — is the textbook setup for a corrective phase.
The technical line that actually matters
Ali’s chart puts the rising channel support near $0.24 as the decisive level.
Hold it and the Cardano record transaction print can still be framed as accumulation or healthy network growth. Lose it with conviction and the next magnet becomes the lower boundary of the channel near $0.21.
Below that, the structure starts looking properly corrective rather than a routine shakeout.
$0.24 is no longer just another support level. It is the point where these two narratives collide. Hold it down and the transaction record keeps its bullish glow. Break it and the correction Ali Martinez is warning about gets a clear runway.
