- Cardano’s development activity remains high, despite the price action not reflecting it yet
- Could this disconnect be setting the stage for ADA to finally play the long game against ETH?
Zooming in, Cardano [ADA] posted a solid 7% intraday gain on the charts. In fact, it is now one of the best among top caps, even edging out Ethereum [ETH], which rose by “just” 5%. On the contrary, the bigger picture doesn’t seem to be as bullish.
The ADA/ETH chart has been on a steady downtrend since late April, with the ratio back at pre-election levels at press time. This relative weakness seemed to align with Ethereum’s standout Q2 return of +36%, while ADA closed the quarter down -13%.
Source: TradingView (ADA/ETH)
Such a divergence that not only underscores ADA’s underperformance, but also points to Ethereum’s strength as a major driver behind ADA’s broader structural weakness this year.
Why does this matter? The ADA/ETH ratio is a critical gauge of capital rotation into Cardano. Consider November’s rally as an example here. ADA rallied by 286% from its election-day low to a December high of $1.32.
In contrast, ETH posted gains of 68% during the same period, while the ADA/ETH ratio spiked by 166%. This hinted at a clear inflow of capital favoring Cardano over Ethereum.
Therefore, until this ratio shows signs of reversal or stabilization, Cardano is likely to remain on the sidelines in terms of relative momentum and market positioning.
Cardano builds quietly as Ethereum cools
There’s no doubt, for Layer-1 blockchains, the real endgame isn’t short-term price pumps. Instead, it’s building resilient infrastructure that solves real problems. That’s what ultimately pulls in institutional capital.
Cardano seems to be leaning into that vision.
Based on GitHub data, Cardano is now ranked 4th in developer activity, far ahead of Ethereum at 13th. This suggested that Cardano has been prioritizing protocol refinement, scalability, and on-chain utility.
Source: Santiment
True, Cardano hasn’t delivered a headline-grabbing upgrade like Ethereum’s Pectra, which drove ETH’s 36% rally in Q2. However, its developers are steadily building under the surface.
That quiet momentum is starting to show on-chain – Daily active addresses on Cardano jumped by 24.6% over the past week, while Ethereum saw a 14% drop to 453k.
Structurally, this shift could be significant.
While Ethereum captured the spotlight with its Pectra-driven “hype,” Cardano’s underlying activity has been gaining strength. If this trend persists, it would strengthen the case for a mean-reversion in the ADA/ETH pair.
