Cardano’s $ADA price is trading near $0.1702, up by 2.4% in the last 24 hours. This follows the news of the network activating its latest major upgrade. Moreover, the move highlights the key question for investors: can the Van Rossem hard fork turn Cardano’s technical progress into real adoption? Can it trigger a sustained $ADA recovery?
Van Rossem Goes Live Through On-Chain Governance
Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, upgrading the network to Protocol Version 11. The transition was completed smoothly, with only a brief 10-minute block gap and no reported disruption to user funds.
The upgrade brings faster Plutus smart-contract execution, new built-in functions, updated cost models and stronger node security. These changes are designed to make smart-contract development cheaper and more efficient. As a result, this could potentially support growth across Cardano’s DeFi, NFT and real-world asset ecosystems.
However, the biggest milestone is governance. Van Rossem is the first major Cardano hard fork to be proposed, debated and fully ratified through the Voltaire on-chain governance system. There was participation from DReps, stake pool operators and the Constitutional Committee. More than 77% of delegated representatives and 52% of stake pool operators supported the upgrade.
$ADA Price Still Needs Real Growth
Despite the technical milestone, the upgrade has not yet triggered a sustained $ADA rally. There was a little bounce today. Technically, $ADA is still showing a bearish setup. The 50-week EMA is below the 200-week EMA. $ADA has an RSI of 34 pointing to weak momentum. The Average Directional Index (ADX) signals a strong downtrend. Even so, traders remain bullish. $ADA futures open interest is at around $193 million and a 2.84 long-to-short ratio. This suggests most are betting on a price rebound.
That means rising developer activity, new dApp launches, higher DeFi total value locked and growing daily user activity will be crucial. Upcoming developments, including Ouroboros Leios, Hydra scaling upgrades, Mithril progress and Pyth oracle integrations, could provide additional catalysts.
Santiment Highlights Whale Accumulation
On-chain analytics firm Santiment reported that wallets holding between 100,000 and 100 million $ADA now control more than 25.6 billion tokens. This is the highest level since February 2023.
✍️ TL;DR: Cardano’s key stakeholder holdings reach a 3.5 year high
📊 Metrics Used: Supply Distribution
🔗 Live Chart: https://t.co/9lzM6kxdcb🦈 Cardano’s 100K to 100M $ADA wallets now hold more than 25.6B coins, their highest level since February, 2023.
📉 Retail is doing the… pic.twitter.com/7iHLl5xyHT
— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) July 13, 2026
While smaller retail wallets holding fewer than 100 $ADA have reduced their holdings by around 0.7% over the past four months, larger holders have continued accumulating. Santiment said these strong hands are absorbing supply while retail sentiment remains weak.
The upgrade also comes ahead of Input Output’s planned handover of core infrastructure, including Plutus and Daedalus, to external firms from August. Ultimately, the Van Rossem upgrade strengthens Cardano’s fundamentals. $ADA’s next major move will depend on whether that technology translates into real users, capital and on-chain activity.
