Messari Report Highlights Cardano's Q3 Performance
Cryptocurrency data platform Messari has published its new report for Cardano (ADA), revealing significant momentum in both technical infrastructure and ecosystem growth during the third quarter of the year. The report indicates that Cardano experienced one of its strongest quarters since 2022, with notable advancements across various sectors including DeFi, NFTs, governance, and overall network activity.
DeFi Ecosystem Sees Substantial Value Locked Increase
The Cardano DeFi ecosystem demonstrated a robust quarter-over-quarter increase of 28.7% in its total value locked (TVL), reaching $423.5 million. This marks the highest level the network's DeFi sector has achieved since the beginning of 2022, signaling renewed confidence and activity within decentralized finance applications on Cardano.
Governance Transition to Voltaire Era Achieved
A pivotal development in the quarter was Cardano's successful transition to a fully community-elected Constitutional Committee. Following a DQuadrant audit, seven new, fully elected members assumed roles previously held by organizations such as IOG, EMURGO, and the Cardano Foundation. This significant step officially ushers in the Voltaire era on Cardano's roadmap, representing a major milestone in the network's ongoing journey towards a decentralized governance model.
NFT Market Experiences Significant Recovery
The cultural aspects of the Cardano ecosystem also witnessed a substantial recovery. The average trading volume in the Cardano NFT market surged by 561.7% quarter-over-quarter, reaching $262,450. Messari attributes this impressive growth to a combination of new collectible launches and increased market liquidity driven by the rise in ADA prices during the period.
Technical Innovations and Privacy Enhancements
On the technical front, the Input Output Engineering team released the Halo2–Plutus verifier, a development that has garnered significant attention. This verifier enables Plutus smart contracts to validate zero-knowledge proofs, which is instrumental in simplifying the development of privacy-focused applications on Cardano. Furthermore, it enhances Cardano's interoperability capabilities with its privacy-focused sidechain, Midnight, and other blockchain networks.
Network Fees and Transaction Dynamics
Network fees saw an increase of 16.1 percent in dollar terms, totaling $841,000. However, in ADA terms, fees experienced a slight decrease of 2.2 percent, amounting to 1 million ADA. Messari explains this divergence by attributing it to the appreciation of ADA's price and a 14.6 percent reduction in app usage during the quarter.
Staking Metrics and Treasury Performance
Regarding staking, the total staked ADA saw a minor decrease of 0.5%, settling at 21.8 billion ADA. Despite this, the USD equivalent of staked ADA increased by 40% to $17.6 billion, primarily due to the rise in ADA's price. This increase in USD staked value was recorded before the subsequent drop in ADA's price. Cardano's treasury experienced a decline of 10.9% in ADA terms, reaching 1.6 billion ADA. However, in US dollar terms, the treasury rose by 24.6% to $1.3 billion. Following the Plomin hard fork, the community now has complete control over the treasury through on-chain governance, with 20% of transaction fees allocated to the treasury.
Resurgence in Network Activity
Network activity regained considerable momentum throughout the quarter. The number of daily transactions increased by 15.7 percent, reaching 36,112. Concurrently, the number of active addresses grew by 19.2 percent to 26,909. Although the address-per-transaction ratio saw a slight decrease to 1.34, the overall network utilization showed a strengthening trend across the quarter.
Cardano's privacy-focused sidechain Midnight has entered into a significant partnership with Google Cloud.