Cardano's ADA Price Dips After Upgrade Fails to Boost Buying Interest

Cardano's ADA token price declined by 0.5% to $0.1652 on July 18, following its major network upgrade known as 'van Rossem'. The hard fork failed to spark immediate buying interest, leading to a profit-taking move due to the market already pricing in the event. This caused subdued volume of -55.5%, indicating a lack of fresh bullish momentum post-event.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 49.28 shows neutral momentum for ADA, which remains well below its 200-day average of $0.256, reflecting a long-term bearish trend. The token is also caught in a broader cautious altcoin environment without strong independent drivers to buck the trend.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has announced a plan to integrate $1.6 trillion of idle Bitcoin into its DeFi ecosystem through a platform called Pogun, which will launch in three phases starting 2026. This aims to establish a new demand mechanism for ADA by enabling Bitcoin lending, yield earning, and trust-minimised bridging, all requiring ADA transaction fees.