Cardano Futures Volume Jumps 380% as Whales Accumulate ADA
Key Takeaways
- •Whales accumulated 240 million ADA over five days, according to Santiment data.
- •Ali Martinez said the buying activity helped Cardano rise 25% and overtake Monero to reenter the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market value.
- •Cardano futures volume climbed from $150 million to $650 million in one week, and open interest also increased.
- •The price move triggered short-position liquidations, with $0.1953 identified as a concentration point that could liquidate about $1.12 million.
- •Traders are watching $0.20 as the immediate level to hold, while $0.17 is cited as the main support level.
Blockchain explorer data from Santiment indicates that large crypto investors, often referred to as whales, accumulated 240 million Cardano (ADA) over five days.
Technical analyst Ali Martinez said the buying activity helped lift Cardano’s price by 25%, allowing the layer-1 blockchain to move past Monero (XMR) and return to the top 15 cryptocurrencies by global market capitalization.
Trader interest in Cardano $ADA is accelerating. Futures volume has surged by 380% from $150 million to $650 million in just one week. pic.twitter.com/crMIl2EQ64 — Ali Charts (@alicharts) August 5, 2026
Trader interest in Cardano $ADA is accelerating. Futures volume has surged by 380% from $150 million to $650 million in just one week. pic.twitter.com/crMIl2EQ64
Cardano’s recent price gain also appears to have triggered a wave of short-position liquidations in futures markets. ADA had held near a local bottom of $0.15 since mid-July, even as some market observers expected that support level to break, which helps explain why the move drew close attention in leveraged trading.
Cardano’s Open Interest Rises in a Short Squeeze
Instead, Cardano reversed course and climbed to $0.1985, marking a notable 30-day milestone. If ADA can hold above $0.20, the next plausible target could be the three-month high at $0.28. Beyond that, bulls would be looking toward the yearly high of $0.43, which was reached on January 14, 2026.
Martinez said Cardano drew significant attention across leveraged markets during last week’s move. Based on Glassnode’s weekly data, he noted that futures volume jumped from $150 million to $650 million. He also pointed to a concentration of short-position liquidations at $0.1953, which could wipe out about $1.12 million.
For Cardano bulls, the main support level is around $0.17. If that support holds, the upward move could continue.
Open interest has also increased, pushing the long-to-short ratio to 1.07, which suggests traders are leaning toward another ADA price advance. Binance remains the largest venue for Cardano futures with $181 million in open interest, and its users are showing a long-to-short ratio of 1.6344.
At the moment, traders are watching the $0.20 level closely, along with developments around Cardano’s Midnight upgrades.