TL;DR

Whales accumulated almost $160 million worth of ADA in the span of only 48 hours. Continuous buying efforts, paired with non-declining demand, could trigger a price rally.

Increasing Exposure

The renowned analyst Ali Martinez revealed on X that Cardano whales (those having between 100 million and 1 billion tokens) scooped up more than 200 million ADA in the last 48 hours.

This quantity equals around $157 million (at current rates), while these investors now collectively hold 3.72 billion coins, or 10.3% of the assets circulating supply. 

ADAs price has increased by approximately 6% over the past week, reaching around $0.78, and the whales activity suggests another pump might be incoming. After all, such purchases leave fewer tokens on the open market, which can be followed by a rally (if demand doesnt decline). In addition, the accumulation may encourage smaller players to hop on the bandwagon with fresh capital.

Crypto X is rammed with analysts who believe ADA has yet to post substantial gains. JRNY Crypto thinks the $1 target will be reached soon, whereas Chris believes the valuation could spike to $2 this cycle.

For his part, Martinez argued that ADAs price chart has been mirroring the structure of the bull run witnessed in 2021, but unfolding more slowly.

It looks like were at the very start of an explosive move, he claimed.

Are They Waiting for Something?

Its a common belief that crypto whales often have access to inside information for an important event that can have a major impact on the price of a certain asset. So lets check what the big ADA investors might be waiting for.

Perhaps it is the potential approval of the first spot ADA exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. The entity that wants to introduce such an investment vehicle is Grayscale. The product will let people gain exposure to Cardanos native token without purchasing it from exchanges or worrying about self-custody methods. This could have a positive effect on the price in the long term.

The approval odds before the end of 2025 dropped below 60% on August 6; however, they are currently around 75% (according to Polymarket).

ADA ETF Approval Odds, Source: Polymarket