- Charles Hoskinson said Cardano’s current weakness comes from low DeFi usage, not from the chain’s tech stack.
- A market analyst called that an “expected” and “limited” defense, noting ADA is down 47% in three months and TVL is stuck around $240 million.
- Cardano users are mostly holding and staking, not touching the DeFi, AI and protocol features the ecosystem has shipped.
According to Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, the blockchain solution’s latest challenges are due to the low usage of the Cardano DeFi by users.
He argued the chain is capable, the tooling is there, and the ecosystem is “fertile,” but users are not flowing into DeFi at the pace critics expect. That was his way of separating “no one can build on Cardano” from “not enough people are using what’s built,” and he framed today’s TVL drop as something that can be fixed by better participation, not by a new base-layer overhaul. This keeps his long-term viability story intact.
Related: Cardano (ADA) Critical Warning: Why Losing $0.52 Could Trigger a Crash
Analyst Calls The Defense “Expected” And Points To The Data
A cryptocurrency analyst and podcast presenter who discussed the issue acknowledged the declining Cardano DeFi usage identified by Hoskinson, as well as the drop in the project’s total value locked (TVL). According to the analyst, the numbers are not looking good for Cardano, which leaves most supporters concerned about the blockchain solution’s future.
In the meantime, the analyst recognized Hoskinson’s defense of the Cardano project, describing it as an expected response from the project’s leader. Despite acknowledging the low Cardano DeFi usage, Hoskinson considered that a different situation from claims across the crypto ecosystem that “no one is using Cardano.”
According to Hoskinson, Cardano has a fertile ecosystem that is attracting many users, including those who hold data and own Cardano wallets. He considered the project’s declining TVL a non-technical limitation. According to him, many Cardano users are staking or holding ADA, suggesting that they believe in the project’s long-term viability.
Users Are Holding And Staking, Not Engaging Core Features
The podcast presenter considers Hoskinson’s defense of Cardano to be limited in a way that the usual narrative for the blockchain project revolves around users actively engaging the blockchain.
He highlighted some of Cardano’s enablements across DeFi Protocols, Agentic AI Contracts, and other features where usage has dropped.
Cardano’s TVL And Price Both Reflect The Slowdown
It is worth noting that Cardano ranked in the 24th position among DeFi chains, according to data from DeFiLlama, with a TVL of approximately $240 million, something the analyst considers unimpressive.
Meanwhile, the declining price of ADA sums up Cardano’s current challenges, with TradingView’s data showing that the cryptocurrency traded for $0.5359 at the time of writing, reflecting a 47% drop in less than three months.
Related: Cardano Price Prediction: ADA Price Faces Extended Weakness as Sellers Retain Control
