Cardano is trading just above $0.1399 as bulls aim for stable prices after a 6% pullback.
Cardano’s price against the US dollar fell roughly 6% over the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, buyers have recovered part of the losses recorded in the most recent trading session and are targeting a return to $0.1400.
The latest price action for Cardano contrasts with the excitement seen in the days leading up to the Shelley launch, the network’s proof-of-stake protocol for smart contracts.
Shelley Launch
The Shelley release marks Cardano’s transition into a genuinely decentralized staking platform.
As Cardano’s team noted previously, the Shelley protocol reorganizes the network’s decentralization and staking mechanisms.
The hard fork means the platform, often described as an “Ethereum killer,” is now prepared to host many projects and support diverse blockchain use cases.
Token holders can now interact with on-chain staking pools. The protocol allows users to delegate their token holdings to pools and earn rewards for participating in the network’s consensus and governance.
Currently, around 485 staking pools are registered on the network, and an additional 515 pools are required for Cardano to reach the targeted consensus equilibrium.
Cardano Price Outlook
In recent days the ADA/USD pair saw a solid upward trend, with the token reaching a 52-week high of $0.1537 earlier in the month.
The rally—at one point making Cardano one of the best-performing crypto assets—saw ADA/USD clear major resistances at $0.13, $0.14 and $0.15.
However, buyers encountered strong resistance last week amid a broader altcoin market pullback following Bitcoin’s advance past $11,000, which pushed Cardano below $0.15.
ADA/USD has since corrected below the $0.14 area and could retest support near $0.1350 if the breakdown persists in the coming days. Below that, support sits near $0.1300, corresponding to the 50% Fibonacci retracement level calculated from the $0.1537 high to the $0.1307 low.
On the daily chart, the MACD has begun to show bullish signs, suggesting improving momentum could push prices higher. On the upside, bulls face resistance near $0.1420, $0.1480 and the 76.4% Fibonacci retracement level.
If the recovery breaks through those levels, ADA/USD could retest resistance at $0.1500 with potential for a further move toward the prior high.