# Van Rossem upgrade lands on Cardano, yet ADA stays trapped in its $0.165 rut

> Cardano rolled out its Van Rossem hard fork over the weekend, its first upgrade cleared purely by onchain voting, but ADA is still stuck near $0.165 as derivatives traders remain split on direction.

**Type:** article · **Category:** Crypto · **Published:** 2026-07-21 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/crypto/van-rossem-apagreda-laiva-phira-bhi-0-165-dolara-para-ataka-cardano-ka-ada-9245 · **Language:** English
**Tags:** Cardano, ADA, Van Rossem hard fork, Protocol Version 11, crypto price, onchain governance, Plutus, ADA forecast, finance

Cardano quietly crossed a milestone over the weekend, yet its native token barely reacted. ADA was changing hands around $0.165 at the start of the week, holding onto a slim bounce from the previous seven days but showing little appetite to push higher. Live pricing tells a slightly brighter story, with ADA last quoted near $0.1711, up about 3.08% from the prior close of $0.1660, though the token remains a long way from the top of its 52-week range at $0.6052.

## What the Van Rossem hard fork actually changes
The headline event was the activation of the Van Rossem hard fork on Saturday. What makes it stand out is not just the technical payload but how it was approved: this was the first Cardano protocol upgrade signed off entirely through onchain governance, meaning the network's own token-holder voting process, rather than a decision handed down from the top, cleared the change. For a blockchain, that is a milestone in its own right, because it puts the direction of the network directly in the hands of its community.

The upgrade ships Protocol Version 11, which sharpens Cardano's smart contract engine. The improvements center on the Plutus scripting environment and are aimed squarely at cutting the cost of running smart contracts.

For builders and long-term holders, that is a genuinely constructive development. Cheaper, more capable smart contracts make the chain more attractive to developers and could form a solid foundation for ADA over time. In the near term, though, the market shrugged. The upgrade did nothing to lift sentiment, and ADA simply drifted sideways around $0.165 on Monday.

## Derivatives traders can't agree on direction
Part of the reason the rally has stalled sits in the derivatives market, where the signals are pulling in opposite directions. On one hand, funding rates turned positive on Friday and printed 0.0061% on Monday. A positive funding rate means traders holding long positions are paying those who are short, which is usually read as a sign that bullish bets are gaining the upper hand.

On the other hand, the long-to-short ratio told a gloomier tale, sitting at 0.90 on Monday. Any reading below 1.0 means short positions outnumber longs, so more traders are effectively wagering that ADA will fall than rise. With one gauge leaning optimistic and the other cautious, there is no clear consensus, and that indecision is capping ADA's recovery.

## The chart still favors the sellers
Zoom out to the daily chart and the bearish bias is hard to miss. Despite the recent uptick, ADA is trading well beneath its 50-day, 100-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages, a cluster of trend lines stacked roughly between $0.180 and $0.270. Live moving-average readings echo this: the EMA50 sits near $0.1774 and the EMA200 far above at $0.2893, with the shorter average below the longer one, a death cross arrangement that confirms the longer-term downtrend.

The token's early-July bounce has run out of steam. Sellers have been defending the lower Fibonacci retracement levels drawn from the April to June sell-off, refusing to let buyers gain ground. Momentum studies back up the stalemate. The Relative Strength Index is hovering right around the midpoint, flat and just under the 50 line on the story's reading and close to 53 on live data, a picture of a market with no strong conviction either way. The MACD is barely above zero, technically positive but too weak to signal anything more than modest upward pressure against a still heavy overhead structure.

## The levels bulls need to reclaim
For any recovery to gain traction, buyers have a wall of resistance to chew through. The first hurdle sits at the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement at $0.173, immediately followed by the 50-day EMA at $0.177. Together they form a tight ceiling that bulls must clear just to keep the recovery hope alive.

Above that, the 38.2% retracement at $0.195 lines up with the broken downtrend trigger zone near $0.202 and the 100-day EMA at $0.205, turning that pocket into a second layer of resistance. Higher still, a denser band of supply sits between $0.231 and $0.245, and the long-term 200-day EMA looms at $0.273. Until ADA can string together closes above these markers, the path of least resistance stays sideways to lower.

## The bottom line
Cardano's Van Rossem hard fork is a meaningful step for the network's long-term story, delivering community-approved governance in practice and a cheaper, more capable smart contract layer. But upgrades and prices move on different clocks. For now, ADA remains boxed in near $0.165, wedged between an encouraging funding signal, a cautious positioning ratio, and a chart still dominated by sellers. Until those three pictures line up, waiting for a clearer direction looks like the prudent play.

## What this means for you
- **For ADA holders:** The Van Rossem upgrade lowers smart contract costs, a long-term positive, but it has not moved the price, which is still stuck near $0.165.
- **For traders:** With funding rates positive yet the long-short ratio below 1 and price under all key EMAs, the near-term setup stays choppy and skewed to the downside.

## Questions & Answers

### 1. What is the Van Rossem hard fork?
It is Cardano's first protocol upgrade approved entirely through onchain governance, activated on Saturday. It introduces Protocol Version 11.

### 2. How does it help Cardano?
It enhances the Plutus smart contract environment and aims to reduce the cost of running smart contracts.

### 3. Where is ADA trading now?
ADA is around $0.165 on Monday, while live data puts it near $0.1711, up about 3.08% from the previous close.

### 4. Why isn't the upgrade lifting the price?
Derivatives signals are mixed, with a positive funding rate but a long-short ratio of 0.90, and price sits below the 50, 100 and 200-day EMAs.

### 5. What resistance levels matter?
Initial resistance is at $0.173 and the 50-day EMA at $0.177, then $0.195 to $0.205, with heavier supply between $0.231 and $0.245 and the 200-day EMA at $0.273.

### 6. Is ADA bullish or bearish right now?
The chart keeps a bearish bias with RSI flat near 50 and a death cross in place, so momentum remains muted.

---
_TrendKia — Har trend, sabse pehle.. Machine-readable view; canonical HTML at the URL above._