Cardano is showing signs of a potential major macro breakout despite continued criticism that the cryptocurrency has become a dead coin, according to market analyst Eric Van Tassel.
After reviewing Cardano’s long-term chart, Van Tassel argued that the asset is forming a massive multi-year compression structure. He noted that the pattern resembles structures developing across several other cryptocurrencies, potentially signaling a broader expansion phase for the altcoin market.
ADA Maintains Nine-Year Rising Support
In a recent X post, Van Tassel highlighted that, excluding the sharp market disruption caused by the COVID-19 crash, ADA has respected a rising macro support trend for roughly nine years.
At the same time, it has remained below a descending resistance line established after its 2021 peak. Together, these trendlines have created a large compression structure as rising support and descending resistance gradually converge.
The chart showed ADA trading around $0.25 as the two trendlines approach their apex. Van Tassel divided the structure into four key phases:
2018–2021: Major price expansion
2021–2026: Multi-year compression
2025: Failed or false breakout
2026: Support holding alongside another breakout attempt
Notably, ADA previously moved above the descending resistance in 2025 and climbed above $1. However, the breakout failed, sending the price back inside the long-term structure.
At the time of the analysis, Cardano was attempting to break above the upper trendline, which Van Tassel considers significant.
However, he does not regard the latest move as a confirmed breakout. Instead, he argued that ADA would need to post a sustained weekly close above the descending resistance and successfully retest that level as support to provide stronger confirmation.
Van Tassel Challenges the Dead Coin Narrative
Another notable feature of the chart is the increase in trading volume as ADA approaches the apex of its long-term structure. The displayed volume reached $307 million, highlighting increased activity as ADA tests major macro resistance.
Based on ADA’s long-term structure, Van Tassel does not view the cryptocurrency’s prolonged underperformance as evidence that it is a dead coin.
Instead, he highlighted similar multi-year structures across several crypto assets. In his view, the similarities could indicate that altcoins are approaching a period of increased market activity.
He also linked this broader development to the continued growth of blockchain applications and decentralized finance. According to him, wider adoption could expand the utility of blockchain networks beyond Bitcoin’s primary role as a store of value.
Meanwhile, ADA remains above the $0.25 psychological level. At the current price of $0.2516, ADA is up 3.17% over the past 24 hours and 1.66% over the past week. Its 24-hour trading volume has also climbed 41.98% to $721.44 million, indicating increased market activity around the current breakout attempt.