Cardano CEO Urges Calm as ADA Falls to 2020 Low

On Friday, Cardano’s ADA fell about 15% in 24 hours to roughly $0.16, its weakest level since late 2020. The token declined about 30% over the prior week, pushing its market capitalization below $6 billion and leaving ADA ranked 17th by market value.

Trading volume topped $1.1 billion during the drop. The token remains about 95% below its September 2021 peak of $3.09. Search interest for the term “ADA price” rose about 73% since late May.

On-chain metrics showed active addresses increasing even as the price fell, indicating continued network use despite the selloff.

Frederik Gregaard, who became Cardano Foundation CEO in 2020, urged investors to separate short-term price moves from network developments. He pointed to on-chain governance operating at scale, a growing number of decentralized finance projects, treasury transactions and identity work, and cited a program involving 20,000 farmers in India. “What matters long term is not short-term market sentiment, but whether an ecosystem continues to build meaningful infrastructure and attract real adoption,” he added.

The price decline coincided with a series of leadership changes and project closures. Analytics platform TapTools announced on June 3 it would wind down operations within two weeks after losing five senior executives this year, including both co-founders. The leading Cardano NFT marketplace JPG.Store closed in May. Founder Charles Hoskinson reduced his public engagement, citing online toxicity. A community vote failed and the planned 2026 summit was canceled.

The Cardano Foundation has emphasized governance, infrastructure and adoption in public statements and pointed to on-chain activity and project work as evidence of progress.