Cardano Stalls at $0.29: Bears Take the Lead as Funding Flips Negative
Cardano stalls under $0.29 as funding turns negative and open interest slides, while whales add 240M ADA and social dominance still fades near $0.28 today.
Grace Amelia 
TLDR
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Cardano stuck near $0.28 as $0.29 rejects, with negative funding and lower OI.
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Open interest falls to $436M and funding flips red, signaling short bias now.
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Whales buy 240M ADA since Feb 11, but social dominance keeps sliding into mid-Feb
Cardano price action stayed capped under $0.29 on Wednesday, and Cardano kept trading near $0.28. Sellers defended the 38.2% Fibonacci level, while derivatives data showed weaker demand. Meanwhile, whale wallets added tokens, but shrinking social dominance kept momentum muted.
Cardano Price Rejects $0.29 and Holds Near $0.28
Cardano failed to clear $0.29 over the weekend, and it returned to the $0.28 area. The move followed a rejection near the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level around $0.29. As a result, the market printed a sharp down day on Sunday and then stabilized.
ADA traded near $0.2853 during the latest session and posted a modest daily gain. The market cap stood near $10.27 billion, while 24-hour volume reached about $389.86 million. However, the rebound stayed limited, and price structure remained heavy under resistance.
Pivot data placed first support near $0.2806, with deeper support around $0.2744 and $0.2702. Resistance levels sat near $0.2910, then $0.2952, and then $0.3013. Therefore, a daily close above $0.29 would shift the near-term bias.
Derivatives Show Lower Activity as Funding Turns Negative
Cardano futures open interest dropped to about $436 million and extended a decline from mid-January. The figure moved closer to the February 12 low near $407 million. Consequently, fewer active positions appeared across major derivatives venues.
Funding rates flipped negative and printed near -0.0130% on key tracking dashboards. That reading suggested a tilt toward short positioning and downside expectations. The last comparable funding weakness appeared around February 6 during a sharp selloff.
The Relative Strength Index sat near 44 and stayed below the neutral 50 mark. Still, the MACD kept a bullish crossover that formed on February 13. Even so, price failed to lift, so bearish pressure continued to control break attempts.
Whale Buying Builds a Floor, While Social Interest Fades
Whale wallets holding between one million and 100 million ADA accumulated about 240 million tokens since February 11. This buying appeared as price held near support and volatility cooled. As a result, large holders signaled demand at lower levels.
Cardano still needs follow-through, because accumulation has not produced a clean reversal. A break below $0.2806 would expose lower pivots and raise the chance of a slide. After that, the $0.24 area would act as the next major downside marker.
Social dominance for Cardano trended down since late December and reached about 0.038% on Wednesday. The metric reflected a smaller share of crypto discussion and less online attention. Therefore, sentiment support weakened, even as whales added supply.
