Cardano Joins Mastercard's Crypto Partner Program in Major Payments Push

Crypto markets remain volatile due to Fed policy, CLARITY Act failure, and rising Treasury yields. Bitcoin fell 2.5% to $75,600, with other major coins also lower. The Senate's 49-50 vote against the CLARITY Act increased regulatory uncertainty. Higher yields and oil prices added pressure on risk assets, according to XS.com's Simon-Peter Massabni and Global Settlement Network's Ryan Kirkley.

Cardano's ADA token rose 3.8% to $0.2087 intraday, despite a 2.3% weekly decline. The Midnight Foundation shifted its developer strategy to AI tools, while AlphaGrowth launched a funding initiative for Cardano's DeFi infrastructure. Cardano's market cap is $7.827 billion with a 24-hour trading volume of $553.603 million.

Cardano (ADA) price rose 2% to $0.208, aligning with broader crypto market gains. The network completed the Hydra 2.4.1 security upgrade, patching a fund-stealing vulnerability. Despite upgrades, network activity weakened, with TVL dropping below 300M ADA and active addresses declining. Futures data shows mixed sentiment among traders. Cardano's price defended key support, forming a double bottom pattern, but needs to close above $0.229 to confirm a bullish outlook.

Cardano (ADA) price rose 5% to $0.2282, outperforming Bitcoin, as traders focused on resistance at $0.25. The increase occurred despite Fed rate hike fears. Cardano released Node 11.1.1, preparing for the Dijkstra upgrade, with key features expected in Node 11.2. The upgrade is estimated to occur between December 2026 and March 2027. ADA's open interest increased 5.37%, indicating growing market participation.

Cardano's ADA token rose 4.8% to $0.2214, increasing its market value by $382 million. RealFi plans to launch a stablecoin on Cardano's mainnet in October, pending dependencies. ADA's 24-hour trading volume was $445 million, with a seven-day gain of 10.2%.

Kalshi, a US-regulated prediction market, launched perpetual contracts for Cardano (ADA) and Binance Coin (BNB), among others. ADA rose nearly 10% and BNB gained over 5% following the announcement. The platform now offers perpetuals for Bitcoin and 17 altcoins, with varying leverage limits. The move provides US traders with more regulated options for crypto derivatives.