Cardano's infrastructure momentum clashes with bearish market signals – here's the latest: • Hoskinson announced major 2026 upgrades including Leios, USDCx privacy stablecoin, and a March launch for the Midnight sidechain (20–22 February 2026) • Institutional confidence grew as Grayscale increased ADA fund weighting twice and Coinbase added ADA to its lending program • LayerZero integration approval connects Cardano to 150+ chains, unlocking access to ~$80B in cross-chain assets • Market shows stress with extreme fear (Index: 8), $140K+ in long liquidations, and a negative funding rate • Retail positioning is extremely bullish (71.3% long on Binance), creating a contrarian bearish signal for near-term price action