Cardano whales increase holdings as CME adds 24/7 ADA futures

Large Cardano holders increased their share of ADA supply through May while CME Group moved its crypto futures to 24/7 trading and included ADA on May 29. The same day a Cardano Foundation vote to fund a summit did not reach the required supermajority. Daily active addresses rose roughly 14% in the days after the changes.

Holders with 10 million to 100 million ADA raised their share of supply from 36.48% on May 11 to 37.23% by early June. That three-week accumulation began 18 days before the May 29 summit vote.

On May 29 the Cardano Foundation asked for 7.8 million ADA to fund a summit. The request received 65.21% support, below the 66.67% supermajority required, and the event was cancelled. The same day, CME moved its crypto futures to 24/7 trading and listed ADA alongside Bitcoin, Ether and Solana.

On-chain metrics show coins were not widely moved after the vote. Mean coin age increased across the 90-day, 180-day and 365-day cohorts into June 1, indicating that coins remained in place rather than shifting between age bands.

Network usage rose during the same window. Daily active ADA addresses climbed from 15,347 on May 31 to about 17,500 in the days following, an increase of roughly 14%, while Cardano’s price remained under pressure in late May.

ADA futures first began trading on CME in February. The six-month mark after that debut approaches in August and is relevant for spot ETF eligibility timing.

The CME change applied across its crypto futures suite and did not single out ADA. The data describe holder behavior and network activity around the May 29 events but do not identify a single cause for those patterns.