ADA price slips to $0.17 as Cardano maps out Dijkstra upgrade

Cardano has outlined a two-stage plan for its next major network upgrade, but that does not seem to have done much for the price of ADA.

ADA traded near $0.174 as of this writing, which is almost 14% below the highest price it saw in August, with the chart showing that it has now lost most of the gains it saw when it went above $0.20 earlier this month.

Cardano sets out Dijkstra roadmap

The team explained that the upgrade means that Cardano becomes quicker while maintaining the security of the network.

In its first phase, it introduces Linear Leios—this increases the number of blocks Cardano can process. It will also introduce a form of nested transactions, something designed to help developers when they are building applications on top of the network, which adds another dimension that helps them be more flexible when developing applications.

The developers hope to finish and test the necessary software in Q4 2026, though that is not a mainnet date. Upgrade will need to go through Cardano’s testing networks first, which allows the main operators time to ensure that their systems are prepared for the changes.

The community would also need to approve the upgrade before it goes live.

A second phase is planned for Q2 2027, for now, and it will introduce Peras, which is planned to help the network achieve faster transaction confirmation.

Intersect has said that both timelines are estimates, as testing, community approval, and preparations by exchanges and other services could push them back.

ADA gives back August rally

ADA climbed to around $0.203 earlier this month but couldn’t establish itself above $0.20 because sellers have since pushed it back towards $0.17.

Buying momentum has now been lost during the time the price dropped, leaving $0.171 as an important area to watch.

It was trading around that level up until its current surge gathered pace, and losing this position opens up the possibility of a move back towards $0.16, the level at which the buyers entered in July.

For now, for the picture for ADA to improve, it would need to first climb back towards $0.193, with the much larger and stiffer test back up towards $0.20, where the August rally stopped.

The planned upgrade enables Cardano to make its next biggest changes, but it will still be months before those changes are applied to the network successfully. Furthermore, for the time being, buying interest is the stronger driver towards ADA’s full recovery.

Final Summary

• Cardano aims for the end of Q4 2026 to complete testing phase one of its upgrade.
• ADA’s move above $0.20 has now failed to hold, and ADA has fallen back to $0.174.