Cardano · ADA
A proof-of-stake layer-1 for smart contracts and staking
A solid must-hold token on a chain the market no longer pays a story premium for.
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You want coins with the best chance to rise. Three forces decide it: inflation (fewer new coins = less selling pressure), narrative (a strong story pulls buyers in), business model (is the token actually needed, and used). Full method →
ADA · the reserve drips out, and now the treasury spends too.
ADA is the token of Cardano, a proof-of-stake network — ~37.3B circulating, under a 45B hard cap. New coins are not minted above the cap; they are released slowly from a fixed reserve, and the on-chain treasury is now paying approved budgets into circulation as well.
Sell pressure. The reserve releases about 185M ADA over 90 days, and the community treasury is spending down roughly 141M — about 326M ADA reaching the market.
Buy pressure. None. No buyback and no burn — transaction fees are recycled to stakers and the treasury, not destroyed.
Net. About +0.9% to market over 90 days — supply growing slowly, with both the reserve drip and the treasury payout easing.
New ADA is never minted above the 45B cap — it is released from the protocol reserve. The reserve drips out at 0.3% of the remaining pot every 5-day epoch, releasing about 185M ADA over 90 days into staking rewards and the treasury. The rate eases as the reserve shrinks toward the cap.
No live vesting. The 2017 public sale, the founding organisations and the Foundation finished distributing their allocations years ago — no team, investor or treasury cliff reaches the market.
The on-chain community treasury (~1.47B ADA, governed by DRep votes) is now being spent down: its balance fell about 141M over 90 days as the 2026 budget's approved proposals disbursed. Treasury ADA was locked and is entering the float, so it reads as real sell pressure. The pace is easing and is capped by a 350M-ADA net-change limit through mid-2027; a June 2026 Summit budget (7.8M) failed its two-thirds vote, while an EMURGO event grant (~3.3M) was approved.
No bankruptcy estate or court-ordered distribution applies to ADA.
Cardano runs no buyback. There is no protocol or treasury program that buys ADA on the open market.
Transaction fees are not burned. They are recycled to stakers and the treasury, so no ADA is removed from supply this way.
No discretionary open-market buying by the foundation or founding organisations — monitored.
Staking is non-locking and non-slashing — delegated ADA stays liquid, so staking does not remove it from circulating supply.
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