[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] DexHunter, a Cardano-based DEX aggregator, has pushed back against a recently spreading market view that 'Cardano is dead'. It argued that despite a steep drop in ADA's price and concerns about an ecosystem slowdown, actual on-chain trading and some token activity are instead continuing briskly.

According to blockchain media outlet Decrypt on June 8 (local time), DexHunter said in recent commentary, "Cardano is more alive than ever", citing network activity and a rise in decentralised exchange (DEX) trading volume.

DexHunter highlighted a recent pickup in transactions within the Cardano ecosystem. The platform said daily Cardano DEX volume surged over the past four days from about 6 million ADA to 25 million ADA. It called it one of the biggest volume increases in recent months.

The volume expansion was analysed as being led by Cardano-based tokens such as NIGHT, STRIKE and SNEK, along with stablecoins such as USDCx. Some tokens posted short-term surges. Based on TradingView, ATLAS rose 18.55 percent in a day, while STRIKE gained 3.13 percent and ASCEND added 1.22 percent.

DexHunter stressed that users are continuing to trade actively within the Cardano ecosystem even as ADA shows weakness. It said that looking only at internal ecosystem activity, a different picture is emerging from market pessimism.

The rebuttal came as negative assessments surrounding Cardano have recently expanded. ADA fell below $0.20 for the first time in several years and at one point slid to $0.1492. Alongside the price drop, questions were raised about whether Cardano's growth potential has hit its limits.

There were also setbacks within the ecosystem. Governance conflict continued, and TapTools, a major data platform, ended its service. Concerns grew as Charles Hoskinson (찰스 호스킨슨), CEO of Input Output, reduced public activity for a time. Some core contributors leaving the ecosystem was also cited as a factor that worsened investor sentiment.

DexHunter, however, argues that network activity is still being maintained even under these conditions. The platform assessed the recent surge in volume and the rise in ecosystem token prices as evidence that investor participation is continuing.

Not all indicators point to a recovery. Cardano DEX volume fell back to about 7.45 million ADA from a recent peak of 25 million ADA. Volume over the past 24 hours was also down 11.3 percent.

DeFi metrics are also weakening. Cardano's total value locked (TVL) fell to about $92.29 million from about $129.07 million on June 1. The drop is about 28.5 percent. Over the same period, ADA's price also fell about 28 percent, showing a similar trend to the TVL decline.

The market remains split in its assessment of Cardano. Some argue that ecosystem trading and demand for certain tokens are still alive, while falling TVL and weak ADA prices are still seen as burdens.

The industry sees it as a key point to watch whether the recent volume spike will remain a temporary rebound or become a signal flare for a recovery in Cardano's DeFi ecosystem.

They say: Cardano is dead We say: Cardano is more alive than ever$STRIKE$ASCEND$ATLAS$SURF$SURGE The ecosystem is exploding pic.twitter.com/aCp8D80jAv