Cardano's native token ADA has breached the psychologically significant $0.60 support level, trading at $0.5965 despite experiencing a remarkable 30% surge in 24-hour trading volume. The price decline comes amid mounting controversy surrounding founder Charles Hoskinson's ultimatum to the Cardano community regarding a proposed $100 million treasury overhaul that could determine his future with the project.
Charles Hoskinson has delivered his sharpest ultimatum yet to the Cardano community, telling viewers of a June 16 white-board livestream that he will "simply retire" if the network rejects his plan to overhaul its 1.7 billion ADA treasury - now worth about US $1.1 billion at the current market valuation.
The controversial proposal involves swapping $100 million worth of Cardano tokens for Bitcoin and native stablecoins USDM and USDA to strengthen the ecosystem. Hoskinson's plan specifically targets converting a portion of the treasury into diversified assets including Bitcoin, stablecoins, and cash, with profits to be reinvested in either ADA or additional strategic investments.
Hoskinson argues that a potential solution will be to convert 140 million ADA into stablecoins from a slice of the Cardano Treasury. His proposal involves converting ADA into USDM, Cardano's fiat-backed stablecoin, to "fill a significant vacuum in the ecosystem."
The founder's frustration was evident during his recent YouTube broadcast, where he appeared "tired" and suggested that if the governance vote fails, he would conclude that he doesn't "provide value to the ecosystem" and would therefore retire from active involvement in Cardano's development.
Technical Analysis Reveals Mixed Signals Amid Volume Surge
Despite the negative price action, ADA's technical indicators present a complex picture that suggests potential accumulation activity beneath the surface volatility. The token traded within a 3.9% range between $0.589 and $0.612 over the past 24 hours, with the final hourly candle closing at $0.5965, confirming the break below the critical $0.60 threshold.
The 30% spike in trading volume above the seven-day moving average stands out as a significant anomaly, indicating heightened market engagement during the price decline. This elevated activity, combined with reports of reduced exchange netflows, suggests that long-term holders may be accumulating ADA despite the short-term bearish sentiment.
Market structure analysis reveals that ADA initially formed higher lows intraday, creating a potential accumulation pattern. However, the failure to maintain support at $0.60 has disrupted the upward trend structure, weakening immediate bullish momentum. After testing support at $0.590, buying pressure emerged to push the price near $0.609, followed by consolidation between $0.597 and $0.603 before the eventual breakdown.
The Cardano price is currently trading at $0.5978, down 0.17% intraday as sellers continue to dominate short-term price action. ADA is sitting just above a critical demand region between $0.588 and $0.615, which has acted as a liquidity pocket in recent weeks.
Despite the current price weakness, Cardano's ecosystem fundamentals continue to demonstrate robust growth. The network currently hosts over 2,000 decentralized applications and has deployed 10.8 million native tokens, positioning it as one of the most active blockchain ecosystems in the cryptocurrency space.
The treasury overhaul proposal comes at a crucial time for Cardano's DeFi ecosystem development. Hoskinson's plan aims to address what he perceives as liquidity constraints within the network by introducing more stablecoin liquidity through strategic asset diversification. The USDM stablecoin, mentioned specifically in the proposal, has recently formed partnerships that could enhance its utility within the Cardano ecosystem.
Price Outlook Amid Leadership Uncertainty
The live Cardano price today is $0.600452 USD with a 24-hour trading volume of $774,323,701 USD. We update our ADA to USD price in real-time. Cardano is down 0.69% in the last 24 hours. The current CoinMarketCap ranking is #10, with a live market cap of $21,234,774,321 USD.
The market has reacted negatively to Hoskinson's retirement threat, with ADA falling approximately 9% since the founder posted his ultimatum video on Monday. The token remains down 12% over the past week and 18% for the month, though it maintains a respectable 54% increase year-over-year, reflecting its position as the 11th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Technical indicators suggest ADA remains in oversold territory, with the RSI dropping to 30 after spending most of 2025 below 50. The MACD has also sunk below the baseline, indicating continued bearish momentum in the short term. However, these oversold conditions historically present potential rebound opportunities for contrarian investors.
Currently, no formal plans exist to hold a governance vote on Hoskinson's treasury proposals, though industry observers suggest such plans may emerge during the upcoming Rare Evo conference scheduled for August. The timing of any potential vote could coincide with broader market recovery patterns, potentially amplifying ADA's price reaction regardless of the outcome.
According to our Cardano forecast, the price of Cardano will increase by 0.35% over the next week and reach $ 0.636062 by June 20, 2025. According to our Cardano forecast, the price of Cardano will increase by 26.18% over the next month and reach $ 0.79977 by July 15, 2025.
Market analysts suggest several scenarios for ADA's price trajectory depending on the treasury proposal outcome. Approval of Hoskinson's plan could restore confidence and potentially drive ADA toward $1 by August, with optimistic projections suggesting $2 by Q4 and $3 by year-end if broader market conditions remain favorable.
Conversely, rejection of the proposal and Hoskinson's potential retirement could create significant uncertainty around Cardano's future development roadmap, though the decentralized nature of the ecosystem suggests continuity of operations would likely persist through community governance mechanisms.
Risk Factors and Investment Considerations
The current situation presents multiple risk factors for ADA investors. Hoskinson's potential departure would remove a key figurehead and technical visionary from the project, though Cardano's research-based approach and distributed development model may provide some insulation from founder risk.
Geopolitical tensions, including the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict mentioned in recent market analyses, could continue to pressure cryptocurrency markets broadly, potentially delaying any technical rebound in ADA's price action.
The success of the treasury diversification strategy itself remains untested, with questions surrounding the optimal asset allocation mix and timing of any potential conversions. Market volatility in Bitcoin and stablecoin segments could impact the effectiveness of the proposed diversification approach.
Cardano stands at a pivotal moment, with technical price weakness coinciding with fundamental questions about its leadership structure and treasury management strategy. The 30% volume surge suggests institutional and retail interest remains elevated despite the price decline, potentially indicating accumulation activity at current levels.
The resolution of Hoskinson's ultimatum will likely serve as a key catalyst for ADA's medium-term price trajectory, with implications extending beyond immediate market reactions to influence long-term ecosystem development and governance precedents. Investors should monitor governance vote announcements and community sentiment indicators as key factors in assessing ADA's investment potential through the remainder of 2025.