Cardano Climbs in Grayscale Rankings as ADA ETF Decision Looms

The race toward a U.S.-listed Cardano exchange-traded fund (ETF) appears closer than ever, and the market is responding. Over the past week, ADA climbed into the third spot in Grayscale’s “Top 10 Crypto Assets by Weekly Returns,” overtaking many high-profile competitors. 

The jump comes as analysts tip the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to deliver its decision on a proposed ADA ETF before the end of August.

Cardano Momentum Returns After a Sharp Rebound

Grayscale’s “Top 10 Crypto Assets by Weekly Returns” snapshot placed Cardano in third place for the week after posting a 6.3% gain between July 31 to August 7, 2025. 

This marks a significant recovery from the previous week’s 8.1% slump that had pushed it down to ninth place. That rebound narrowed its year-to-date growth to 6.8% but helped lift its market capitalization to $28.7 billion. 

Furthermore, Grayscale’s latest rankings placed XRP at the top with a 9.7% weekly gain, followed by Stellar in second place. Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX), and Solana (SOL) occupied the middle ranks. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) posted a modest 1.5% increase, falling to eighth place. BNB and Hyperliquid completed the top 10.

ADA ETF Speculation Builds

Cardano’s momentum was fueled by the successful launch of Midnight, a privacy-focused protocol built on its network. The project has attracted significant attention within the Cardano community, adding to the positive sentiment around the asset.

For investors, the bigger story is regulatory. Grayscale’s request to launch an ADA ETF is now being reviewed by the SEC. 

Betting data from Polymarket shows a 75% chance it will be approved. Recent statements from U.S. regulators saying some types of staking may not count as securities have also increased optimism. Still, the SEC could delay its decision until October 23.

Nevertheless, if approved, the ADA ETF could bring more big investors to Cardano and increase trading activity. Last month, the SEC cleared Grayscale to convert its Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and ADA large-cap fund into ETFs called the GDLC Fund. 

Charles Hoskinson’s Audit Report Incoming

While market anticipation builds, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson is preparing to release an audit on Input Output Global’s (IOG) 2021 ADA token management. 

The review comes three months after he faced accusations of misappropriating ADA. He has denied the claims and hinted that a defamation lawsuit remains possible after the report is made public. 

The timing of the audit’s release could prove significant as the market awaits potential SEC approval for a Spot ADA ETF. At the time of writing, ADA is trading at 0.774, down by 2.29% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data. Despite this downturn in momentum, sentiment around ADA has remained positive.