Cardano (ADA) is caught in an identity crisis. The ADA price is trading near multi-month lows, and debates over its future direction have split its community. Founder Charles Hoskinson now says the answer is a radical pivot: Cardano should position itself as a core smart contract layer for Bitcoin DeFi.
But Cardano critics like former BitMex co-founder Arthur Hayes aren’t letting Hoskinson off the hook.
Where’s the apology for predicting thousands of dApps in 2022, while Cardano has 59 in 2025 with any real volume? Where’s the apology for saying Chainlink integration in 2021, but you’re still at the negotiating table in 2025?
Cardano’s largest dapp, a dex aggregator, has less than 1k daily active wallets. The chain has no volume, no liquidity, and doesn’t even have usable stablecoins. Is Cardano a dead chain walking like Hayes suggests?
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Hoskinson admitted this week that Cardano faces a “narrative void.” Despite years of technical upgrades, including Leios, Hydra, Midnight, and the Glacier Drop, the network is still dogged by criticism that it lacks a clear mission.
“Cardano has tremendous innovation but continues to suffer from perception problems,” Hoskinson said in a recent Twitter post.
For all you $ADA believers, what dAPP on this list originally launched on Cardano, or has a Cardano offering that is heavily used? From my very limited knowledge, looks like none of them do. That's why $ADA is dog shit. @IOHK_Charles pls educate me.
Yachtzee
pic.twitter.com/riQORI6Ipy
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) February 21, 2024
Because Cardano is a ghost chain in terms of Dapps, Hoskinson has argued that Bitcoin DeFi, powered by wallets like Lace and new stablecoins such as USDM, could tap into Bitcoin’s $2 trillion liquidity pool and give ADA new relevance.
But critics remain unconvinced: “Who gives a f*ck? Zero?” said Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, in an interview last year with Coin Bureau when asked about Cardano.
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Cardano’s struggles are visible on-chain. According to CoinGlass, ADA open interest has slumped compared to Solana and Ethereum, showing limited institutional traction.
DeFiLlama data shows how far Cardano lags its rivals. Total value locked is about $380M, compared with $11Bn on Solana and $97 billion on Ethereum. Daily DEX volume is under $3M, while Solana clears more than $1 billion.
The gap has fueled skepticism about ADA’s place in the market. Cardano counts just 59 working dApps in 2025, well short of Charles Hoskinson’s 2022 forecast of “thousands.”
Hayes drove the point home by publishing a list of the world’s most popular decentralized apps (Dapps): none of them originated on Cardano. “That’s why ADA is dog shit,” he said.
Now, to be fair, Hoskinson argues Cardano’s future depends on pulling Bitcoin’s capital into decentralized applications. If Bitcoin DeFi develops into a stable market, Cardano could position itself as a neutral smart contract layer built to complement BTC rather than compete with it.
ADA is holding a steady climb, building higher lows as the day goes on. Key support rests at $0.859 on the 200 SMA, with $0.855 beneath it, while $0.865 caps the upside. A breakout could send the token toward $0.87.
Momentum indicators lean bullish. Bollinger Bands expanded with the rally, and the ADA price us currently hugging the upper band. A decisive push above $0.865 would keep the rally intact.
But it’s not enough. If ADA doesn’t narrow down a narrative in the sea of L1 blockchains, it will lose. It’s already far behind the competition of Ethereum and Solana. Soon, younger, faster chains like Sei Crypto, Sui Crypto, and Kaspa will eclipse it as well.
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