When one thinks of large-cap cryptocurrencies, their minds likely go to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and...Cardano?
If Cardano keeps rising like this, they just might.
ADA, the token of the Cardano blockchain is the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, according to data from Nomics. After a 31% increase in the last week, the price of a single ADA token is now slightly higher than $0.88. The market cap for Cardano was $28.2 billion as of 6:30 p.m. Pacific time on Monday, a smidge higher than Polkadot’s $27.6 billion and Ripple’s $25.8 billion.
Cardano's market cap is up 137% in the last month, with much of that movement coming since February 3, when the price was just under $0.44. And although it actually went above $0.90 a few days ago before dipping slightly, it's managed to hold most of its value.
Like Polkadot, Cardano is a blockchain project from an Ethereum co-founder. Charles Hoskinson, CEO of IOHK, is the main visionary behind Cardano, a proof-of-stake network with a heavy emphasis on smart contracts. Those who old ADA tokens can take part in governance votes over the future of the platform.
The price rise extends out longer than just a week. A month ago, ADA was worth in the neighborhood of $0.35. Then, came the announcement that Cardano would start allowing “Native Tokens” issued by users on the blockchain by the end of February.
“While ada will remain Cardano’s principal currency, Cardano will transform into a multi-asset (MA) blockchain, opening up a constellation of possibilities,” wrote IOHK Marketing & Communications Director Tim Harrison in early February.
Cardano is within striking distance of the perennial third-place token, the Tether stablecoin, which has a market capitalization of $32.1 billion.