Cardano price dips post-BitcoinOS demo as whale accumulation persists

Cardano price retreated on Monday, even after BitcoinOS demoed the first bridgeless transfer of Bitcoin between Bitcoin and Cardano.

Cardano (ADA) dropped to $0.6595 on Monday, down 12.3% from its April high and 50% lower than its 2024 peak. This pullback came as Bitcoin (BTC), most altcoins, and the broader stock market declined following Donald Trump’s announcement of a 100% tariff on foreign-made movies.

The drop in ADA also followed a major network milestone, as Cardano aims to become a significant player in Bitcoin staking. In a statement, BitcoinOS revealed that it had successfully demoed the first bridgeless transfer of BTC between the Bitcoin and Cardano mainnets.

The first step was to lock one BTC on Bitcoin Layer 1 using the BitSNARK protocol. They then wrapped it into a new token known as xBTC, which is a non-custodial, cryptographic, and programmable coin that resembles wETH on the Ethereum (ETH) network.

After this, the developers sent its 1xBTC from its Bitcoin wallet to Sundial’s Cardano wallet. This was a major move considering that no bridge or custodian acted as an intermediary. 

Cardano hopes this breakthrough will introduce new capabilities to its network and increase the total value of assets locked on-chain.

This is a key development as Bitcoin staking grows rapidly within the crypto ecosystem. According to DeFi Llama, 58 protocols, with a total value locked of nearly $10 billion, are focused on making idle Bitcoin productive. These include Babylon Protocol, Lombard Finance, and Solv Protocol.

Another bullish signal for Cardano is the continued accumulation of ADA by large holders. On-chain data shows that wallets holding between 1 million and 10 million ADA increased their holdings to 5.76 billion, up from 5.65 billion in April. Wallets with between 10 million and 100 million ADA also grew their balances to 12.8 billion.

Cardano price technical analysis

The daily chart shows that ADA has fallen from a high of $1.328 in November last year to $0.657. It has formed a descending channel and recently failed to break above the upper boundary, a sign that buyers are reluctant to commit above this resistance.

Cardano has also dropped below the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.68 and is now trading under the 100-day Exponential Moving Average. The Relative Strength Index has dipped below the neutral 50 mark, reinforcing the bearish sentiment. As long as ADA remains below the top of the channel and the 100-day EMA, it is likely to stay under pressure. If the bearish momentum continues, a further decline toward the $0.50 support zone is possible.