Cardano: Large Holders Reach Record High, but Price Still Waits
Large Cardano holders continue accumulating and now control a record amount of ADA, while the spot market, retail trader activity, and trading volumes still show no strong momentum in either direction.
Summary:
- Wallets holding more than 1 million ADA reached a record high.
- Large holders now control 67.47% of the supply.
- The spot CVD indicator has remained neutral throughout May.
- Retail investors are not showing strong interest.
- No major whale-sized orders are visible.
Large ADA Holders Continue Accumulating
Data from Santiment shows that crypto wallets holding at least 1 million ADA now control a total of 25.09 billion tokens. This marks a new all-time high for this group and suggests that the largest holders continue increasing their positions despite the relatively calm price action.
This group now controls 67.47% of ADA’s circulating supply, the highest level since July 2020. Put simply, an increasing share of available ADA is becoming concentrated in the hands of large holders, while the amount outside this group gradually declines.
The chart shows this accumulation is not a one-time event. Since the beginning of 2026, their holdings have increased from around 19.21 billion ADA to the current record of 25.09 billion ADA. At the same time, ADA is trading around $0.27 according to CoinMarketCap, suggesting that the accumulation is happening without major price momentum.
The last time whale concentration was this high was in July 2020. Back then, Cardano traded near $0.13 before eventually rallying toward $3 in 2021. That does not mean the same scenario will repeat. The comparison only highlights a similar ownership structure, not a guarantee of identical price action.
What matters more is this: large holders continue buying and holding ADA during a period when the rest of the market shows limited activity.
Spot CVD Shows No Clear Direction
Additional context comes from CryptoQuant and the 90-day spot Taker CVD chart for Cardano.
CVD stands for Cumulative Volume Delta. In simple terms, it measures whether aggressive buyers or aggressive sellers dominate the spot market. If buyers are stronger, CVD tends to rise. If sellers dominate, it weakens. When the indicator is neutral, neither side has a clear advantage.
Right now, ADA’s CVD remains neutral. This is important because it shows that despite record accumulation by large wallets, daily spot trading activity still does not confirm strong bullish or bearish momentum.
The chart reveals three distinct phases over the past year:
Between August and October 2025, sellers dominated while ADA traded around $0.75–$1.00.
During November and December, activity returned to neutral levels.
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In February and March 2026, stronger buyer activity appeared near the local bottom around $0.25.
However, during April and May, that buying pressure weakened again and CVD returned to neutral territory. This does not necessarily mean sellers are in control. Instead, it suggests the market is waiting, without enough strong activity to establish a clear direction.
This is where the divergence appears: large holders continue accumulating ADA, but it is not reflected as aggressive buying in everyday spot trading.
Retail Investor Activity
Another CryptoQuant chart tracks trading frequency among retail investors.
This indicator also remains neutral. That means there is no sudden wave of smaller participants, no widespread euphoria, and no sharp increase in trading activity from everyday investors.
This matters because major upward moves are often accompanied by stronger retail participation. People start buying more frequently, trading volume rises, and social interest around the asset usually increases. At the moment, ADA is not showing those signals.
In other words, whales are accumulating, but smaller market participants still do not appear convinced enough to join aggressively.
Average Order Size
A third spot-market indicator tracks average order size. This helps identify whether unusually large buy or sell orders are appearing in the market.
Data from May 15 shows normal values, with no signs of major whale-sized orders.
Average spot order sizes remain stable, reinforcing the same message from the CVD and activity metrics: the market currently shows no aggressive movement in either direction.
At this point, three separate spot indicators are telling the same story.
Against that backdrop, the record accumulation by large ADA holders becomes even more interesting because it is happening quietly – without hype, euphoria, or visible market pressure.
What This Quiet Accumulation Could Mean
When all four data sources are viewed together, the picture becomes clearer. Large ADA holders continue withdrawing and holding an increasing share of the supply, but they are doing it in a way that creates little visible noise in the spot market.
There is no clear buyer dominance in the CVD data. There is no surge in trading activity. There are also no obvious whale-sized orders. This suggests the accumulation is likely happening slowly, gradually, and without aggressively chasing the price higher.
This type of accumulation phase can often continue for weeks or even months. By itself, it does not guarantee a price rally, because prices usually begin moving more aggressively only once a catalyst appears – whether that is a major news event, broader market momentum, a breakout above a key technical level, or renewed interest from retail traders.
For now, the data suggests that large market participants have already made their decision and continue accumulating ADA. The broader market, however, has not reacted the same way yet.
The first stronger signal of a shift would likely be:
- CVD moving into buyer-dominant territory.
- Trading activity rising above neutral levels,
- Average order sizes showing larger trades consistently over several days.
If that happens while wallets holding more than 1 million ADA continue controlling over 25 billion tokens, the market could gradually transition from a quiet accumulation phase into a genuine price movement.
If, however, all spot indicators remain neutral through the end of May, it would suggest accumulation is still ongoing, but the catalyst needed to turn it into meaningful price action has not arrived yet.
The information presented in this article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or trading advice. Coinspress.com does not promote or advocate for any particular investment strategy, asset, or cryptocurrency project. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and unpredictable – always perform your own research and seek guidance from a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Alexander Stefanov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coinspress and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
