Arthur Hayes Sparks Debate on Cardano’s dApp Ecosystem

• Arthur Hayes criticizes Cardano calling it “dog shit” for lacking native DeFi dApps on its blockchain.
• Cardano community member, Dan Gambardello defends Cardano’s unique liquid staking system, emphasizing flexibility and efficiency.
• Gambardello highlights Cardano’s Ouroboros protocol, which secures liquid staking without locking coins, appealing to long-term investors.

A Twitter (X) conversation between Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, and Dan Gambardello, a Cardano community member, sparked a debate about the state of the Cardano ecosystem and its decentralized applications (dApps). Hayes sparked the conversation with a critical tweet about the absence of established DeFi dApps built on Cardano’s blockchain. 

Hayes’ initial tweet criticized Cardano, stating that none of the popular DeFi dApps listed in his chart were native to the Cardano blockchain. He argued that this lack of native dApp adoption was a weakness of the Cardano ecosystem. The chart showcased popular DeFi applications, none of which are native to Cardano, and declared, “That’s why $ADA is dog shit.”

Gambardello countered Hayes’ argument by highlighting Cardano’s unique liquid staking system which allows users to stake their ADA tokens without locking them up for a fixed period. Cardano’s liquid staking system is different from other platforms where users have to lock their tokens for staking and it offers greater flexibility and efficiency without relying on separate dApps like Lido Finance.

Cardano’s liquid staking system is built into its Ouroboros protocol. This is why it does not require locking coins for a certain period. It does not allow coins to be confiscated (slashed) for staker behaviour that does not conform to the needs of the protocol. Gambardello also emphasized the security and efficiency of the Cardano protocol, which he believes are attractive to long-term investors.

Despite predictions of ADA token price to rise to $3, based on the technical analysis, Cardano’s (ADA) price has experienced a volatile ride with bulls and bears competing for dominance in the market. The chart reveals a series of fluctuations with ADA’s price surging by 10% in early February before encountering resistance at $0.5331. This was followed by a period of consolidation with the price range remaining between $0.4756 and $0.5331 for eleven days. 

Another surge saw ADA’s price climbing by 16% only to be rejected again at $0.6178. After some sideways movement, bulls pushed the price up by 12.45% which led to the current trading range of $0.6178-$0.6400.