The price of Cardano (ADA) is edging higher as the network’s privacy sidechain, Midnight, draws fresh attention amid token hoarding rumors.
Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson has denied claims of insider hoarding, while on-chain and derivatives data signal improving sentiment.
Hoskinson hits back at ‘hoarding’ talk
The debate around the alleged hoarding of NIGHT airdrop tokens ignited after a meme on X insinuated that most NIGHT tokens could loop back to Hoskinson.
However, Hoskinson was quick to call out the post for misinformation and pointed to live claim metrics to rebut the claim.
Midnight airdrop claims build despite scepticism
Midnight’s airdrop opened in early August and topped 250 million claimed within the first 24 hours.
According to the Glacier Drop snapshot on August 19, over 69,000 wallets had claimed 1.3 billion NIGHT. That accounted for about 5.5% of the total supply only weeks after launch.
However, some analysts still say the Midnight airdrop uptake looks slower than frothy, speculative campaigns seen elsewhere. They argue the 60-day claim window could delay momentum but promote fairness across cohorts.
That structure may also front-load claims near the deadline, lifting totals late in the window. It explains why snapshots can understate eventual reach during the middle of airdrop schedules.
The Midnight Foundation has partnered with Fireblocks
The Midnight Foundation has partnered with Fireblocks to support custody and transactions for NIGHT. The tie-up lets institutional clients claim, store and move tokens using established security workflows.
NIGHT launched as a Cardano Native Asset, aligning the project with the ADA ecosystem. Distribution reserves 50% of the 24 billion supply for ADA holders and 5% for XRP holders.
The remainder is earmarked for users on other chains and for Bitcoin holders. The approach anchors Midnight inside Cardano while courting liquidity from the wider market.
Cardano whales bought the ADA price dip
Amid the Midnight airdrop controversy, the price of the native token of Cardano, ADA, saw a modest dip to a low of $0.8411, according to Coingecko data.
Nevertheless, on-chain data from Santiment shows selective accumulation through the week. Wallets holding 10 million to 100 million ADA added about 130 million tokens from Tuesday to Thursday. Mid-tier cohorts, however, shed roughly 20 million tokens across the same period.
This split suggests bigger holders used the pullback to add at a discount.
Derivatives positioning has also shifted, with Coinglass’s OI-weighted funding rate flipping positive to about 0.0078% on Thursday, implying longs are paying shorts.
Historically, OI-weighted funding rate flips from negative to positive have preceded sharp ADA rallies, including on July 6. While not a guarantee, the shift supports a constructive backdrop for further gains.
Cardano price outlook: $1 back in sight
Notably, the price of Cardano (ADA) has rebounded from daily support near $0.84 on Wednesday and traded around $0.88 on Thursday.
Momentum has also improved, with the daily RSI rising to about 56 as the MACD lines converge.
If funding and spot demand stay aligned, Cardano cryptocurrency could hit the psychological $1 level. However, market analysis by CoinLore suggests that it must first break the resistance $0.8786, $0.9323, and $0.9735, before making an attempt at $1.
Conversely, failure to sustain the bounce would expose a return to the $0.84 support area. That zone capped this week’s slide and remains the first level to watch on weakness.