Cardano’s (ADA) price is down today, reflecting traders’ cautious mood ahead of the blockchain’s first hard fork in two years.
Chang hard fork will bring onchain governance to Cardano
ADA’s price has wobbled between gains and losses in the past 48 hours. On Aug. 30, it was down by 1.5% to $0.35, wiping almost all the gains it had secured in the day prior.
ADA/USDT daily price chart. Source: TradingView
This impasse between bulls and bears reflects traders’ uncertainty about the potential impact of Cardano’s Chang hard fork on ADA markets.
The network upgrade will go live on Sept. 1, bringing users to participate in onchain governance, an otherwise available feature across Cardano’s top rivals, including Solana (SOL) and Ether (ETH).
Related: Cardano (ADA) loses top 10 crypto spot as Tron sees growth
That said, ADA holders will be able to elect Delegate Representatives (dReps) to vote on improvement proposals and future technical changes to the Cardano blockchain, which should theoretically improve the network, potentially increasing the token’s demand.
However, ADA has underperformed the broader crypto market in 2024, especially its blockchain rivals. The Cardano token has dropped by 45% year-to-date compared to Solana’s 26.75% and Ethereum’s 6.75% gains in the same period.
Year-to-date performances of top-15 crypto assets by market cap. Source: Messari
Falling wedge pattern pushes down ADA price
Cardano’s intraday losses are part of a multimonth falling wedge pattern characterized by two descending, converging trendlines alongside declining volumes.
Earlier in August, ADA retested the wedge’s upper trendline as resistance and has since dropped 15% ever since, including today’s 1.5% decline. As shown below, the cryptocurrency may keep falling until it reaches the wedge’s apex point at around $0.26.
ADA/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView
However, falling wedges typically result in bullish reversal trends when the price breaks above the upper trendline and rises by as much as the maximum distance between the upper and lower trendlines.
Applying the same technical rule to ADA’s falling wedge would bring its upside target to the $0.47-0.65 range by October, depending on the breakout point.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.