The Cardano (ADA) price is experiencing a notable decrease, dropping by 12% since the start of the week, with a 2.6% dip recorded today alone. Despite this, with a market capitalization of $20.27 billion, ADA maintains its position as the 9th largest cryptocurrency.
This recent downturn comes amidst a broader crypto market experiencing mostly sideways to downward movement, with ADA recording more significant losses compared to its peers like ETH, which is down by 7.4%, BNB by 6.4%, Solana by 6.3%, and XRP by 6.1%.
Grayscale Dumps Cardano From GDLC
A pivotal factor behind Cardano’s sharper decline could be linked to the recent liquidation of all ADA holdings by the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC). The fund, which currently boasts assets under management (AUM) worth $579 million, had Cardano constituting 1.62% of its portfolio on January 4, which amounts to approximately $9.4 million.
On Thursday, Grayscale Investments announced the decision as part of its first quarter 2024 review. According to the official press release, the adjustment to GDLC’s portfolio entailed the selling of Cardano and reallocating the cash proceeds to existing Fund Components, proportional to their weightings.
This rebalancing led to the removal of ADA from GDLC’s portfolio. The final composition of the fund as of April 3, 2024, includes Bitcoin (70.96%), Ethereum (21.84%), Solana (4.52%), XRP (1.73%) and Avalanche (0.95%).
The press release detailed, “In accordance with the CoinDesk Large Cap Select Index methodology, Grayscale has adjusted GDLC’s portfolio by selling Cardano (ADA), and using the cash proceeds to purchase existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings. As a result of the rebalancing, Cardano (ADA) has been removed from GDLC.”
Grayscale also highlighted the quarterly evaluations of the GDLC, DEFG, and GSCPxE Fund compositions, aimed at updating existing Fund Components or including new ones based on index methodologies provided by the Index Provider. This practice ensures that the funds’ holdings reflect the most current market trends and asset performance.
Notably, the Grayscale Smart Contract Platform Ex-Ethereum Fund still contains Cardano. The cryptocurrency is the second-largest position after Solana (58.41%), with a weighting of 14.56%.
In response to these developments, Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, offered a terse commentary via X, stating, “Wall Street give; Wall Street take.”
This succinct remark encapsulates the volatile nature of crypto investments and the significant impact that major financial players like Grayscale can have on the market dynamics of digital assets.
Wall Street give; Wall Street take https://t.co/dkyrhHW4WS
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) April 5, 2024
At press time, ADA was trading at $0.57. In the short term, the 100-day EMA at $0.58 is the key resistance that ADA needs to overcome in order to develop new bullish momentum. The 100-day EMA has served as strong support three times since mid-January. After the recent dip below this indicator, ADA is struggling to reclaim it. In the medium term, the bulls need to break above the $0.68 level.
