With nearly every crypto down in 2022, Cardano (ADA -3.09%) has been no exception. Cardano is now down 77% for the year and is trading at just $0.32. It is now at very real risk of losing its status as one of the top 10 cryptos in the world as measured by market capitalization.
The problem, quite simply, is that fear surrounding the FTX contagion continues to overshadow any of the recent good news coming out of Cardano. However, Cardano could be ready to pop in the final month of the year as investors and traders finally begin to digest this news and what it could mean for Cardano's prospects in 2023.
Development activity
First and most importantly, development activity at Cardano remains strong. According to the latest developer metrics for November, Cardano actually posted the highest development activity of any major crypto. Development activity at Cardano was 18% higher than for its next closest rival.
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As a result, there has been a surge of activity on Cardano. There are now almost 4,000 smart contracts on the Cardano blockchain, representing a 300% increase over the past 12 months. This surge in activity reflects the two big upgrades that Cardano has had over the past 12 months -- first, the Alonzo upgrade in 2021 and then the Vasil upgrade in September.
New products on the way
Moreover, as Cardano showcased at its recent developers' conference in mid-November, there are some exciting new products on the way. Cardano has not one but two stablecoins planned for early 2023. Given the importance of stablecoins in decentralized finance (DeFi), this is going to have a huge impact on the role that Cardano can play in the future of DeFi.
Getting involved in DeFi is very important for Cardano because it is the easiest way to boost the amount of activity happening on the blockchain. There will be new borrowing and lending products, and perhaps even new debit and credit card offerings featuring Cardano, if initial reports are to be believed. And all of this will immediately show up in the key total value locked (TVL) metric, which is the easiest way to see at a glance how much activity is happening on a blockchain. Right now, Cardano ranks 29th among all blockchains, which is not very impressive, so this news is very much welcome.
Cardano skeptics still abound
There are still a lot of high-profile Cardano skeptics out there. For example, billionaire Mark Cuban openly criticized Cardano earlier this year for the lack of activity happening on the blockchain. And Sam Bankman-Fried, former chief executive officer of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, refused to give Cardano a listing, something that was always of much consternation to the Cardano community. (In hindsight, of course, this might be good news for Cardano!)
There are also plenty of skeptics who are wary of those new Cardano stablecoin projects. Cardano already had one stablecoin project (Ardana) shut down, and there are very real concerns that the Cardano blockchain might not be ready for two new stablecoins in 2023. Moreover, the implosion of Terra Luna (LUNA -5.03%) and its stablecoin earlier this year is still very fresh in people's minds.
Time to buy Cardano
Yes, Cardano can be a polarizing crypto, but at $0.32, it's just too cheap. While some Cardano bears are convinced that Cardano could fall to the $0.10 level, there are just as many Cardano bulls who think Cardano could regain its previous level of $0.50 by the end of the year. And, if you trust deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms more than humans, then the latest AI forecast for Cardano is $0.42 by Dec. 31. That might not sound like much, but it's a 30% return on your investment in less than 30 days.
Taking a long-term view, Cardano is a trusted, stable, and secure blockchain project that has been around since 2017. Its co-founder, Charles Hoskinson, a co-founder of Ethereum, (ETH -1.13%)is one of the most recognizable voices in the crypto community. Cardano is not going away anytime soon. Get in now at a rock-bottom price of $0.32 before other investors wake up to the great value that Cardano represents.
