The biggest use case of a third-generation cryptocurrency is Decentralized Finance, on which Cardano has built its reputation and hype for years.
Unfortunately, the result was not particularly impressive. Especially because in just under a year, the network has only launch of 93 projects. Now, while another 1048 projects are under construction, investors still know which one is on its way to launch.
Cardano takes small steps
With the Vasil hard fork, DeFi is expected to see an overhaul on the network. However, the arrival of the same was a difficult journey for many, because after weeks of delay, Vasil has again been delayed.
Cardano’s development team has reassured everyone that it’s almost there, but no definite date has been given. In their most recent update, the development team stated:
“A new dedicated pre-production environment has been set up for the final stages of testing Vasil’s functionality. This environment offers improved chain density and a better developer experience.”
Cardano’s experience with DeFi hasn’t been the best, and with just $94 million locked on the chain after the May and June crashes, Vasil must be a major event. This week, nearly $50 million was wiped from the network when the Decentralized Exchange (DEX) Wingriders TVL fell 68%.
Cardano Total value locked | Source: DeFi Llama – AMBCrypto
On the investor front, the situation is no better either.
Cardano holders suffering from a lack of growth hit their 12-month low this week as more and more investors continue to opt out of the chain.
As a result, the total number of active users on a daily basis dropped from 234k in January to a paltry 64k at the time of writing.
Cardano active users | Source: Coinmetrics – AMBCrypto
Now it can be expected that this will continue as long as the market value of the asset does not improve. Right now, however, it’s better than a month ago, with the ADA still below 1.0. Unfortunately, this is not enough to attract investors to the chain.
Cardano market value | Source: Coinmetrics – AMBCrypto
So, unless there is actual improvement, either in terms of price or in terms of network development, Cardano will remain as it is now.