The Veteran Public Chain Cardano Always Seems to Have a Built-in BUFF

Through the ups and downs of the cryptocurrency market, the veteran public chain Cardano always seems to have a built-in BUFF, performing exceptionally well.

Through the ups and downs of the cryptocurrency market, the veteran public chain Cardano has always seemed to have a built-in BUFF, performing exceptionally well. In this cycle, Cardano's veterans have been revitalized, anchoring the Bitcoin L2 narrative, and recently have frequently made headlines as a U.S. crypto reserve asset, ETF application target, and a popular choice for institutional allocation, significantly increasing its presence.

Ecological indicators crushed, policy BUFF fully loaded accused of being a relationship asset

On March 2, Trump announced that his digital asset executive order directs the presidential task force to advance a cryptocurrency strategic reserve that includes BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and ADA. However, this news was not entirely unexpected. At the end of January this year, Ripple CEO Garlinghouse confirmed that he had discussed the possibility of making XRP a U.S. strategic reserve asset with Trump, emphasizing the need to ensure diversification of reserves. It appears that this game had already begun to be laid out.

Stimulated by this news, the crypto market "revived" overnight. Among them, Cardano's ADA performed particularly well, with CoinGecko data showing a maximum increase of over 78.1% within 24 hours, directly topping the hot search list. However, amidst the soaring market sentiment, there were also doubts: compared to other selected assets, Cardano's technical strength and ecological development seem slightly inferior; why was it chosen as a U.S. reserve asset?

Cardano holders have a high willingness to hold long-term, with over 60% choosing to lock up their assets to support the network, which also increases its network health. According to staking data from Staking Rewards, Cardano is the fourth largest POS blockchain network, with a staking amount of $23.34 billion and a staking rate of 60.1%.

However, according to DeFillama data, as of March 3, Cardano's TVL was nearly $508 million, with an on-chain stablecoin market value of $2.255 million, and application revenue in the past 24 hours was only $3,024. In contrast, Solana's TVL reached $8.38 billion, with daily revenue of about $836,000. From the perspective of ecological indicators, Cardano lags behind many selected assets; despite its impressive staking scale, the staking of ADA has not translated into actual dApp applications, indicating that its ecosystem still has large gaps to fill.

"So does this mean we have to change our name to 'U.S. Digital Assets'?" Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson quipped in a recent tweet.

In fact, the outside world has long labeled Cardano as a "Japanese public chain," while Cardano is an American-made project founded by American Charles Hoskinson, one of the original eight co-founders of Ethereum, who has invested significant funds and energy in blockchain, longevity science, and extraterrestrial exploration. In 2014, Hoskinson left due to differences in development direction with Vitalik Buterin and established Input Output Global, headquartered in the U.S., launching Cardano. The reason Cardano is popular in the Japanese market, even being called the "Japanese Ethereum," is largely related to its early financing model. It is reported that nearly 95% of buyers in Cardano's public offering were Japanese investors, often referred to as "retirement investments," mainly because this public offering was led by the Japanese company Emurgo, and at that time, Japan's regulatory environment was relatively relaxed compared to Europe and the U.S., which led to Cardano being massively misunderstood as a Japanese project. However, as the U.S. crypto policies gradually open up, Cardano is gradually downplaying its Japanese image.

As for the market's speculation on Cardano's selection as a strategic asset reserve, many believe it relies not on technology but on establishing close ties with the U.S. government, especially as founder Charles Hoskinson has hinted multiple times. For example, in November 2024, when there were rumors that Trump was considering appointing him as a crypto policy advisor, he revealed in a conversation that he had a close relationship with a member of Trump's team. He stated that he would work with lawmakers and the government to push for a bipartisan bill. Cardano's development company, Input Output Global, plans to establish a cryptocurrency regulatory policy office in early 2025 and aims to engage with "leaders in certain key positions" in the U.S. government to promote the legislative agenda related to cryptocurrencies. However, as of now, the specific progress of this plan has not been disclosed, and there is no evidence that he has been formally employed by the U.S. government.

Charles Hoskinson also clarified on March 2, stating, "No one has been appointed by the executive branch to a cryptocurrency-related role tonight; the meeting does not imply endorsement