Cardano Called the ‘Most Useless Network in Crypto’ as ADA Down 92% From ATH

Popular crypto market observer and commentator Ali Martinez took it to X to criticize the popular blockchain network, Cardano, for its failure to deliver on many of its promises.

Given the project’s popularity, many of the comments below the post lashed out at his harsh words, but there were some that agreed with his statements.

Most Useless Blockchain?

In a post titled “The Most Useless Network In The Crypto Market,” Martinez began by indicating that the Cardano DeFi ecosystem has never exceeded the coveted $1 billion mark. He added that it has “historically been only a fraction of what is locked on competing platforms like Ethereum.”

A quick double check on DeFiLlama confirms his words, as the Cardano TVL in DeFi peaked last year at roughly $700 million. However, the value has plummeted to $136 million as of press time. In comparison, the TVL on Ethereum is currently at a whopping $55 billion, down from almost $100 billion reached last year.

Solana’s TVL jumped to over $12 billion in September 2025, but it’s down to $6.6 billion as of now. Martinez also compared Cardano’s TVL with newer chains like SUI, which has already surpassed it with $568 million after peaking at $2.5 billion last year.

He added that Cardano was officially launched nine years ago, but smart contracts were introduced in 2021, which allowed its competitors to “build stronger network effects with more developers, applications, and liquidity.”

He believes Cardano’s research-driven model, which prioritizes academic review and formal verification, slows down product rollouts compared to other blockchains.

As mentioned above, the community was split after his post, with some bringing out Cardano’s liquid staking capabilities, while others agreed to a large extent with his words.

ADA’s Survival

Martinez also explained that blockchains that reach scale early tend to attract more capital and talent as this is a market “driven by adoption and network activity.” This makes it “difficult for slower-growing networks to catch up once competitors establish a lead,” which could be the main reason behind ADA’s struggles.

The token peaked at over $3 in 2021, but it has fallen from grace since then, currently trading 91.7% away from those levels. Even the 2024/2025 bull rally managed to drive it to as high as $1.30, and it now sits at around $0.25.

Martinez weighed in on ADA’s performance as well, suggesting that if it breaks the $0.245 support, it could plunge to the next ones at $0.112 or $0.021, which would represent another 50% to 80% decline.

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