Cardano Pulls Back to $0.252 as Derivatives Show Caution
Cardano (ADA)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
Cardano dropped below the $0.260 mark to trade around $0.252 on Monday, cooling off after an 11% weekly surge, according to trendkia.com. The pullback coincides with a long-to-short ratio of 0.63 on CoinGlass, indicating that short positions outnumber longs for the first time in over a month. CryptoQuant data reveals that sell-side activity continues to dominate futures markets despite visible large whale orders.
This activity has pushed both spot and futures markets into overheated territory following the rapid prior gains. Technical indicators remain constructive, with price holding above the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages. The 50-day EMA is at $0.215, the 100-day EMA at $0.209, and the 200-day EMA at $0.239.
Horizontal support sits at $0.236, with the RSI near 63 and the MACD histogram in positive territory. Analysts suggest consolidation is needed before any sustained bullish continuation, with resistance near $0.299 acting as the next key test. Meanwhile, Bitcoin held above $84,000 with a weekly gain over 4%, and spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a $2.25 billion inflow. Ripple traded near $1.60, while Ondo advanced above $0.5700 on BlackRock-powered portfolio strategies.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ADA, measured when this story was written up on 28 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Whalio spot data shows ADA trading at $0.2551 with a 1-hour buy ratio of 51.9% against a 4-hour ratio of 47.4%. The 24-hour buy ratio sits at 50.1%, indicating a balanced market where buying and selling pressure are nearly equal. Volume delta for the hour is positive at $116,440, suggesting immediate buying interest, while the 4-hour delta is negative at -$454,377, showing recent selling pressure. Over the last 24 hours, the cumulative volume delta closed at -$1,839,184, meaning sellers have dominated the flow over the full day. The buy ratio represents the percentage of trades executed by buyers versus sellers, while volume delta measures the net value of those trades. Current flow shows a slight shift toward buying in the short term, but the daily trend remains net negative.
The latest daily buy ratio of 45.6% sits at the 5th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - among the weakest buying days it has had.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for ADA, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 50.5%, compared to a 24-hour ratio of 50.1%, showing a consistent level of balanced participation. Weekly volume was 0.53x the average, indicating significantly lower trading activity compared to typical days. There were 4 days of net buying out of 7, contrasting with the single 24-hour period of net selling. The price increased by 11.9% over eight days, with a total volume delta of +$3,196,169 for the period. This week shows a divergence between strong price appreciation and relatively subdued volume, with today's activity being lighter than usual.