Cardano Faces Make or Break DeFi Push

• Cardano’s DeFi struggles are tied to late smart contract adoption and lack of key integrations.
• Hoskinson sees 2026 as make-or-break, with Bitcoin, XRP DeFi and stablecoins as turning points.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson publicly framed 2026 as a do or die year for the Cardano network during appearance on the Wolf of All Street show on Sunday. Discussion with host Scott Melker centered on future relevance of ADA within decentralized finance.

Cardano is the tenth largest cryptocurrency by market value, with a capitalization of $13.88 billion. Despite this large size, decentralized finance activity on Cardano remains limited. Smaller and newer networks record higher locked value, user counts, and daily transfers.

Hoskinson described a clear mismatch between valuation and decentralized finance usage. Late arrival to smart contracts slowed early adoption. User activity, locked value, and transaction flow stayed weak. Connections with major DeFi networks and access to leading stablecoins also remain absent. He stated, 

“Cardano is not yet integrated with a lot of the big bridges and oracles and stablecoins and these types of things. So it’s been able to build a nice kernel of a DeFi ecosystem, but it’s dormant.”

Bitcoin, XRP DeFi and Upgrades Advance Cardano

Gradual progress remains underway according to Hoskinson. Work over recent years focused on resolving early delays. Planned additions include decentralized finance links tied to Bitcoin and XRP, both expected to expand participation beyond current Cardano users.

Another planned step involves Midnight, a project approaching mainnet launch after entering the Kukolu phase. Hoskinson added, 

“We got Bitcoin DeFi coming, XRP DeFi coming, Midnight connects us to all of the other blockchains and we add privacy to all those connection points, so we have a lot to add and offer.”

Scalability also featured prominently. Hoskinson pointed to Hydra testing that reached one million transactions per second, alongside the Ouroboros Leios upgrade. Combined changes promise a sixty times increase in transaction handling compared with earlier network performance.

Strategic Funding and Integrations Drive Cardano DeFi

Governance systems and decentralization structures now sit in place, leading Hoskinson to label 2026 as a turning point for decentralized finance growth on Cardano. Community backing also exists, with approval granted for 1.5 million ADA dedicated to supporting decentralized finance projects.

Hoskinson said that planned integrations include the Pyth Oracle, bridges to other blockchains, and efforts to attract established stablecoins such as USDT and USDC. He linked such additions with stronger liquidity and broader user interest.

Moreover, Hoskinson ruled out the possibility of any near term challenge to Ethereum’s leadership while maintaining confidence in growth. He said,

“Do I think we’re going to eclipse Ethereum by the end of the year? No. But I do think we’re going to see a huge growth in the DeFi side of the ecosystem, which should translate to a healthy growth in the ecosystem as a whole.” 

At report time, ADA traded at $0.39, down 1.08% over twenty four hours.