Why Cardano Is Quietly Setting Up for Explosive $10 Target Amid Massive Whale Buying and ETF Buzz ⋆ ZyCrypto

Cardano (ADA) continued to trade under pressure on Tuesday, showing weak follow-through after a recent rebound.

Notably, the crypto asset has been trading just above a key support zone around $0.38 after facing a firm rejection at the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) last week. Even so, underlying on-chain signals are strengthening with rising long positioning and renewed whale accumulation point to growing conviction beneath the surface.

Santiment’s Supply Distribution data shows that wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million ADA snapped up roughly 180 million tokens during the recent pullback, suggesting that larger players may have used the sell-off as a capitulation-driven opportunity to accumulate at a discount.

Elsewhere, several analysts also remain aggressively bullish on Cardano’s longer-term outlook.

In a recent tweet, popular crypto analyst Javon Marks highlighted what he described as a major technical breakout forming on the ADA/USD chart.

According to Marks, price is compressing within a long-term ascending triangle pattern that has been developing since 2018. A confirmed move above the $0.45 resistance zone, he argued, could trigger a measured move toward $2.97, implying upside of more than 680% from early January 2026 levels near $0.39.

Elsewhere, analyst Quantum Ascend stated that his conservative arget for Cardano sits around $5, while his primary objective is closer to $10. 

His analysis was based on Elliott Wave structures, historical price fractals, and momentum indicators such as bullish divergence on the Relative Strength Index (RSI). The analyst compared the current setup to Cardano’s early-cycle structure before its explosive 2017 run, suggesting that a broader 2026 market recovery and a renewed “altcoin season” could amplify upside potential.

Beyond technicals, institutional developments are also supporting the bullish narrative. On Monday, digital asset investment firm Cyber Hornet filed with the U.S. SEC for the Cyber Hornet S&P Crypto 10 ETF, which would track the top ten digital assets by market capitalization. Cardano is included in the proposed index alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP, potentially increasing its exposure to traditional investors seeking diversified crypto access.

At the same time, expectations are building around Grayscale’s proposed Cardano spot ETF, GADA. While regulatory delays have pushed timelines back, market participants now anticipate a possible approval window in early 2026. Adding to that, Grayscale’s latest rebalance of its Smart Contract Fund placed ADA as the third-largest holding, with an allocation of roughly 18.5%, underscoring sustained institutional interest.

Fundamentally, Cardano’s roadmap continues to improve. Speaking on the “The Wolf Of All Streets” channel Last weekend, founder Charles Hoskinson emphasized 2026 as a pivotal year for decentralized finance on the network, particularly through the launch of the Midnight protocol.

Designed to enable privacy-preserving interoperability, Midnight aims to connect Bitcoin and XRP assets to Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem, potentially expanding liquidity and use cases. Hoskinson described the initiative as a step toward positioning Cardano as a “fourth-generation” blockchain, focused on cross-chain infrastructure rather than isolated competition.

At press time, ADA was trading at $0.40, up 3.56% in the past 24 hours.