Cardano has noted significant whale activity over the past 24 hours, aligning with the broader market recovery. During that period, the total crypto market capitalization has added another $50 billion, signaling renewed bullish momentum.

As bullish pressure strengthens, ADA appears poised to re-commence an upward trend.

Cardano Sees Heavy Whale Accumulation

On-chain data shows that Cardano whales, holding between 100 million and 1 billion coins, have acquired 190 million ADA in the past 24 hours. This cohort of large ADA investors currently holds 3.22 billion coins. 

When whales increase their coin holdings, it signals strong confidence in the asset’s future price potential.

Large-scale accumulation like this would reduce ADA’s available supply in the market, which can drive up its price if demand remains steady. The trend indicates a bullish outlook, as whales typically buy in anticipation of higher prices.

ADA’s Network Realized Profit/Loss (NPL) further supports this bullish outlook. At press time, it stands at -15.87 million. 

This metric measures the net profit or loss of all coins moved on the blockchain depending on their acquisition cost. When an asset’s NPL is negative, many investors are holding at a loss. 

This situation is known to reduce the selling pressure in the market, as traders may choose to hold their assets instead of realizing losses, which could support a potential price rebound. 

The steady dip in ADA’s NPL indicates that many holders are sitting on unrealized losses. To avoid selling at a loss, they may choose to hold onto their investments, reducing selling pressure. The increased holding time could, in turn, drive up ADA’s price as supply tightens in the market.

ADA’s Buying Pressure Increases—Will It Fuel a Price Breakout?

At press time, ADA trades at $0.72. On the daily chart, the coin’s Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) is in an uptrend and poised to cross above the zero line, highlighting the rise in buying pressure.

The indicator measures fund flows into and out of an asset. When it attempts to break above the zero line, it signals a potential shift from selling pressure to buying pressure. 

If the breakout is sustained, it would confirm strengthening bullish momentum in the ADA market and hint at a potential price uptrend. In this case, the coin’s price could rally toward $0.82.

However, if selloffs intensify, this bullish projection will be invalidated. In that scenario, ADA’s price could fall to $0.60. 

The FOMC concluded its latest meeting by announcing that it will not cut US interest rates. This decision was largely priced in, and the crypto market hasn’t seriously suffered.

Rate cuts would’ve provided a bullish narrative to juice fresh investment, which the market desperately needs. Bearish signals are growing alongside fears of a US recession.

Federal Reserve Says No to Rate Cuts

The Federal Reserve just finished its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which determines much of US financial policy. The crypto industry was waiting with bated breath to see if the FOMC would decide to cut interest rates.

However, the FOMC made its report to the public and claimed that no rate cuts would be taking place.

“The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. Uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased. The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate. In support of its goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 4.25% to 4.5%,” it said. 

This news more or less fits with the industry’s expectations. Fed Chair Jerome Powell already clearly stated that the FOMC doesn’t plan to cut interest rates.

The industry hoped that rate cuts could provide a bullish narrative, especially while the markets are afraid. For now, it seems like it’ll need to find an optimistic signal somewhere else.

Rate cuts would be bullish for investors, especially for risk-on assets like cryptoassets. However, this isn’t the Federal Reserve’s only concern. The FOMC alluded to its “dual mandate” when denying rate cuts. In other words, it needs to juggle investor concerns with consumer inflation fears, uncertainty around Trump’s tariffs, and a possible US recession.

If the FOMC were to slash interest rates, it would likely boost US inflation. The most recent CPI report was better than expected, and some in the industry hoped that this would build confidence. Ultimately, the main hopes rested with President Trump, who personally advocated for rate cuts. However, he didn’t make a major intervention.

It’s not all bad, though. The FOMC also announced would slow Quantitative tightening (QT) by reducing the monthly redemption cap on Treasury securities from $25 billion to $5 billion.

Some members of the community were pleased by this news, as slower QT can increase market liquidity. This announcement is at least some consolation for investors.

In any event, this lack of rate cuts was expected and priced in. The FOMC didn’t shock anybody by refusing to cut interest rates, and the market hasn’t been chaotic. A few of the top-performing cryptoassets suffered minor losses, but no substantial drops have materialized.

The crypto industry has been desperate for a bullish narrative, and some major players are visibly cracking at the seams.

The FOMC, however, did not provide this narrative via rate cuts. Hopefully, crypto will find something else to be optimistic about before a full-blown market correction takes hold.

Onyxcoin (XCN) has maintained its downward trajectory, plummeting by 10% over the past week as bearish sentiment grips the market. 

With more traders turning away from the altcoin, its active address count has seen a sharp fall, signaling a loss of interest in the asset and low network participation.

XCN Struggles as Short Sellers Take Control

Since early March, Santiment’s data has revealed an aggressive fall in XCN’s daily active address count. 

According to the on-chain data provider, on March 3, 2,673 unique addresses completed at least one transaction involving XCN. Since then, this figure has steadily declined, hitting a low of 1,044 on March 18. 

This decline highlights waning network activity on Onyxcoin and the reduced demand for its altcoin, reinforcing the bearish sentiment surrounding XCN.

Moreover, the month has been marked by a significant rise in the demand for short positions, as reflected by the altcoin’s predominantly negative funding rate. 

An asset’s funding rate is a periodic fee exchanged between its long and short traders in perpetual futures contracts. When the funding rate is mostly negative, short sellers dominate the coin’s futures markets.

The rising demand for XCN shorts highlights the market’s bearish outlook. Sellers are maintaining control and limiting any potential short-term recovery.

XCN Faces Strong Selling Pressure

The token’s Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) supports this bearish outlook. At press time, the momentum indicator is below zero at -0.19.

The CMF indicator measures fund flows into and out of an asset. When its value is negative, selling pressure outpaces buying activity. This indicates the likelihood of a further price decline as demand remains weak. In this scenario, XCN’s price could slip to $0.0075.

Conversely, the token’s price could rocket toward $0.022 if buyers regain market control.