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Cardano ADA

crypto

Price History

$0.0306$0.945$1.86$2.77
2017-11 · DCA start$0.120

Time underwater

How far below its previous all-time high the price sat, each month. 0% means a new high.

-95.8%-63.8%-31.9%0.0%
2017-112026-08 · -93.4%

Worst drawdown: −96%, peaking Dec 2017 and bottoming Mar 2020 — 38 months below the prior high before recovering.

DCA Backtest

Invested
$10,600
Value today
$12,625
Return
+19.1%
Months invested
106

Scenarios

Inflation — the same contributions merely keeping pace with CPI would be $12,432 today, so the real (inflation-adjusted) return is +1.6%.

Lump sum instead — $10,600 all at once in Nov 2017: $16,128 (+52.2%) — lump sum came out ahead.

Worst timing — same monthly amount started at the all-time high (Aug 2021): $2,646 on $6,100 invested (-56.6%).

Backtests use monthly closing prices. Stock dividends aren’t reinvested, so long-run equity returns are understated.

If this saved you a spreadsheet — buy me a coffee.

Every start month at once

Each cell is the return-to-date of £/$/€100-a-month DCA started that month. Click a cell to load it in the backtest above. The ringed cell is the all-time-high start — the worst timing scenario.

JFMAMJJASOND
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Legend:−50%−20%0%+50%+200%+1000%worst timing (ATH)Selected 2017-11: +19.1%

About Cardano

Cardano is a blockchain platform built on academic research that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications while using significantly less energy than traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. What sets Cardano apart is its methodical, research-driven approach — every major feature is peer-reviewed by scientists and cryptographers before being added to the network. This careful process aims to create a more secure and stable foundation compared to platforms that prioritize speed over thorough testing. (CoinGecko)

It's a cryptocurrency categorised under layer 1, with a market cap of about $7.5B.

It rates Medium-High Risk at 2.6/5, meaning real but ordinary risk — the kind most mainstream assets carry, with some factors scoring poorly.

What pushes the score up: market / volatility (3.7/5) and smart contract / technical (3.0/5).

Scoring well: governance / team at 1.0/5.

Not yet researched: supply & concentration. These are excluded from the score rather than guessed, so the real risk may be higher than what’s shown.

Ratings summarise sourced facts against fixed rules — not investment advice, and no substitute for your own diligence.

Risk Profile

Medium-High Risk(2.6/5)85% rated

How these ratings work

Market / Volatility3.7/5 · weight 30%
  • Annualised volatility (3yr)3/598.7
  • Max drawdown from ATH5/595.8
  • Beta vs BTC3/51.3
Liquidity1.7/5 · weight 10%
  • 24h volume / market cap3/52.6
  • Top exchange % of volume1/57.0
  • Significant listings1/548.0
Supply & Concentrationunrated · weight 15%
  • Top 10 wallets % of supplynot yet researched
  • Unlocks in next 6mo, % of supplynot yet researched
  • Annual supply growth %not yet researched
Smart Contract / Technical3.0/5 · weight 12%
  • Audit status3/5unaudited long track record
  • Admin key / upgradeabilitynot yet researched
  • Share of its mining algorithm (PoW)not yet researched
Custody / Bridge1.0/5 · weight 10%
  • Bridge reliance1/5no bridge dependency
Governance / Team1.0/5 · weight 10%
  • Team1/5doxxed track record
  • Largest staking operator, % of stake1/53.0
Regulatory3.0/5 · weight 10%
  • Regulatory profile3/5significant premine centralized issuer
Systemic / Correlation3.0/5 · weight 3%
  • Correlation to BTC3/50.64

Linked Assets

Same sector, or return-correlated — worth knowing what else might move if this one does.