Cardano is at a significant milestone with the impending Chang hard fork. This pivotal moment follows the recent upgrade of its node validation software before the upgrade goes live. As the Cardano ecosystem gears up for this major update, the network is experiencing a surge in activity that could determine its trajectory in the coming weeks.

Amidst this heightened activity, Cardano’s cryptocurrency, ADA, has demonstrated an interesting price performance. ADA has seen positive price action in the past 24 hours, reflecting growing market optimism. This uptick in price comes on the heels of increasing transaction volumes, particularly from whales or large ADA holders. According to recent on-chain data, this cohort of traders has significantly ramped up their transactions, with transaction volume recently reaching a peak of 17 billion ADA tokens.

Whales Making Moves

This movement from large holders was noted on IntoTheBlock’s dashboard through a metric which follows the number and volume of transactions greater than $100,000 in a 24-hour period. Interestingly, this metric shows that the number of large transactions has been on a decline since the beginning of the week. However, an activity spike created a trading volume of 17.78 billion ADA on Friday, coming to $7 billion worth of tokens exchanged among whale addresses. 

The increase in activity continues to linger, with 15.43 billion ADA tokens worth $6.28 billion moved among large holders in the past 24 hours. 

While the surge in activity and trading volume could also be large transfers to crypto exchanges for potential selloffs, on-chain data suggests otherwise. Insights from IntoTheBlock’s Large Holders Inflow metric reveal that ADA whales have been rapidly accumulating tokens instead. This metric specifically tracks the influx of ADA tokens into wallets that hold at least 0.1% of the circulating supply, providing a clear picture of large holder behavior. 

The data shows that these wallets have experienced a 579% increase in inflows over the past seven days and a 173% increase over the past 30 days. This significant accumulation has led to a corresponding rise in net flow, which accounts for both the inflow and outflow of tokens from large addresses. Specifically, there has been a staggering 720.62% increase in net flow over the last seven days and an even more dramatic 2580% increase over the past 30 days.

Cardano Recovery Imminent?

These figures suggest that large holders are not only acquiring more ADA but are also retaining their holdings, resulting in a substantial net positive flow. This trend reflects a strong accumulation phase among ADA whales, indicating their growing confidence and long-term commitment to the Cardano network. 

Much of this accumulation can be attributed to the upcoming Cardano hard fork, which will herald the Voltaire era. Voltaire is the last phase of Cardano’s original roadmap in creating a fully decentralized blockchain ecosystem. As the Chang hard fork approaches, the crypto community is closely monitoring these developments, anticipating how they will influence the overall landscape of the Cardano network and its market performance.

Additionally, there are rumors that Cardano might be the next cryptocurrency to secure its own Spot ETFs following the recent approval of Spot Ethereum ETFs. At the time of writing, Cardano is trading at $0.4171, up by 1% in the past 24 hours. The next feasible step is breaking above $0.42.