Cardano has gained 25.03 percent over the past seven days, posting the highest weekly rise among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market value.

The blockchain outlet The Crypto Basic reported on Aug. 4 that ADA briefly rose to $0.1956. It outperformed major altcoins over the same period.

The gap with peers was also large. Algorand (ALGO) rose 13.99 percent, Pi (PI) 11.06 percent, Ethena (ENA) 10.34 percent and Polkadot (DOT) 9.79 percent, while Pump.fun (PUMP) gained 7.38 percent and Monero (XMR) 6.75 percent. Assessments said Cardano's weekly performance was effectively nearly double that of the second-ranked asset, highlighting stronger upward momentum.

The market is focusing on the fact that this rally came amid an overall sluggish trend. On-chain analytics firm Santiment named Cardano as one of the assets showing the strongest momentum recently. Santiment said ADA's rise continued despite anxiety and a wait-and-see stance among retail investors.

The holder trend moved opposite to the price rise. Santiment said the number of wallets with balances on the Cardano network is down by 7,070 from two months ago. Such gains often draw in new investors, but it suggests small holders did not actively join in during this upswing.

Instead, the share held by large investors appears to have grown. Santiment said the divergence points to accumulation by large investors with high conviction. Supporting that view, Cardano whale wallets bought an additional 240 million ADA over five days, lifting total holdings to 14.5 billion ADA.

Beyond supply and demand, progress in ecosystem development was also cited as a factor behind the rebound. Santiment said Cardano's recovery is better explained by "real ecosystem progress" than by purely speculative trading. Work is under way on the Leios testnet, and improvements continue to Hydra scaling technology and the Mithril protocol.

It also cited the integration of Pyth Network's oracle infrastructure and new funding support through the Catalyst innovation program as factors strengthening the network. The market sees such technical progress as supporting Cardano's long-term development roadmap and affecting the recovery of investor confidence.

The trend is seen as a case in which supply and demand and development progress worked together rather than a short-term price spike. With retail investors still watching from the sidelines, market attention is focused on whether ADA's relative strength will be sustained if large-investor accumulation and network updates continue.

Live Chart: https://t.co/Q1Mg3jpRTJ $ADA just reached $0.195 for the first time since July 4th. Its market cap is up 24% over the past week, making Cardano one of the cleanest standouts in an otherwise disappointing and choppy altcoin market. This market cap growth is… pic.twitter.com/u9OKHZbnzO