Cardano has been called “The most useless network in crypto” because ADA has dropped by 92% from ATH

The analyst who made this claim also identified the most important levels of ADA support going forward.

Well-known crypto market watcher and commentator Ali Martinez took it to X to criticize the popular blockchain network Cardano for not fulfilling many of its promises.

Given the popularity of the project, many comments under the post objected to his harsh words, but some agreed with his statement.

The most useless blockchain?

In a post titled “The Most Useless Network in the Crypto Market,” Martinez began by pointing out that the Cardano DeFi ecosystem has never exceeded the $1 billion cap. He added that it “has historically only been a fraction of what has been locked in on competing platforms like Ethereum.”

A quick check on DeFiLlama confirms his words, as Cardano TVL in DeFi reached nearly $700 million last year. However, its value has been reduced to 136 million dollars. In comparison, Ethereum’s TVL is currently $55 billion, down from nearly $100 billion last year.

Solana’s TVL reached more than $12 billion in September 2025, but now it’s down to $6.6 billion. Martinez also compared Cardano’s TVL to newer chains like SUI, which has already surpassed $568 million after reaching $2.5 billion last year.

“Unlike Ethereum, which has built a dominant position in DeFi, or Solana, which has achieved high-speed consumer applications, Cardano still lacks a clear use case that consistently attracts users, developers and investors,” Martinez said.

He added that Cardano was officially launched nine years ago, but smart contracts were introduced in 2021, allowing its competitors to “create stronger network effects with more developers, applications and liquidity.”

He believes that Cardano’s research-based model, which favors academic review and formal verification, slows the product’s proliferation compared to other blockchains.

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As mentioned above, the community was divided after his post, with some extolling Cardano’s fluid abilities, while others somewhat agreed with what he said.

ADA Life

Martinez also explained that blockchains that gain early scale attract more capital and talent because this market is driven “by adoption and network activity.” This “makes it difficult for competitors to gain a foothold in slow-growing networks,” which may be a major reason for ADA’s struggles.

The token reached over $3 in 2021, but has since fallen from grace and currently trades 91.7% away from those levels. Even the bull rally in 2024/2025 managed to push it to $1.30 and now it is around $0.25.

Martinez also assessed the performance of the ADA and suggested that if it breaks the support of $0.245, it could fall to the others at $0.112 or $0.021, which would indicate another 50% to 80% decline.