Cardano just posted its biggest weekly performance in months. The token climbed 25.03% over seven days, hitting $0.1956 and claiming the top spot among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. No other major asset came close. Algorand managed 13.99%, Pi squeezed out 11.06%, Ethena gained 10.34%. The gap between first and second place was almost double.
What makes this move unusual is who's actually buying. According to Santiment's blockchain analysis, retail investors aren't piling in. In fact, the number of Cardano wallets with holdings has shrunk by 7,070 over the past two months. The rally isn't driven by fresh money chasing gains. Instead, whales accumulated 240 million ADA in just five days, pushing their combined position to 14.5 billion tokens. These are conviction investors, not tourists.
Smaller holders stayed put while the token climbed. That divergence matters. Normally a 25% move this sharp would spark a retail frenzy. Fear and uncertainty still linger in the retail community even as prices moved up. But the whales kept accumulating. Cardano reached its highest price since July 4, building momentum on institutional conviction rather than retail hype. The market reaction so far shows steady absorption at higher levels.
