Over the course of 2023, the movement of Cardano (ADA) has been more on the bullish side. Despite the reversal over the last few weeks, the bullish momentum has not completely died out. However, what is most interesting about this trend is the fact that the smaller investors seem to be the major driver behind it, not the large whales.
Cardano Small Investors Continue To Accumulate
Through the course of 2023, the smaller Cardano investors have been at the forefront of the ADA accumulation. This is seen from January through to May where their collective holdings have continued to rise. These investors holding between 1,000-10,000 coins and 10,000-100,000 coins have steadily grown their holdings over the last six months.
Where the whales were skewed toward selling than buying, these retail investors were heavily on the buy side. As a result, their collective holdings have grown from around 17% of the total supply to over 18.1%. As a result, these smaller wallets holding between 1,000-100,000 coins now account for 6.29 billion out of the 34.79 billion total supply.
Their accumulation trend also coincides with the rise in the price of ADA over this time which is illustrated in the chart below. There were dips in their holdings where there was presumably some profit-taking. However, the general trend continued toward the upside, bringing their holdings to new highs.
Small ADA holders increase holdings in six months | Source: Santiment
During this time, the holdings of larger investors holding between 10,000,000-100,000,000 coins dropped drastically. This suggests that while the smaller holders were responsible for the price increase, larger holders were the culprits behind the price crash as their total holdings went from 12.1% of the total supply to 11.11% in April.
What Will Trigger The Next ADA Rally?
Currently, the price of ADA is still down, suggesting that investors are very wary about buying the token. However, if the accumulation trend among smaller wallets continues, there could be more upside to come. An added advantage of small wallets leading the accumulation trend is that it enables a broader distribution of the token, which helps to sustain bull rallies.
ADA is still seeing significant resistance at the $0.38 level, but given that bears are still weak at this point, its inability to beat this resistance can be explained by the general low momentum in the market. When the price of Bitcoin picks up once more, $0.38 will be quickly surpassed with the next important level sitting at $0.4.
At the time of writing, ADA is changing hands at a price of $0.37. It’s down 0.21% on the 24-hour chart but seeing gains of 1.73% on the weekly chart.
ADA price trending at $0.37 | Source: ADAUSD on TradingView.com