Cardano’s ADA price has fallen to its lowest value in a year after slight declines in decentralized finance activity on the blockchain network.

As per data from CryptoSlate, ADA is currently trading at $0.245, marking a 1.06% decline on the year-to-date metric. Interestingly, this price point represents the lowest value ADA has reached since the beginning of the year, effectively nullifying all the gains it had accrued throughout the year.

Why is ADA price struggling?

When the crypto market was experiencing a steady upward trajectory early in the year, ADA’s value greatly benefited from this run, peaking at around $0.45 in mid-April. However, since that peak, the cryptocurrency has been on a downward trend, with only a minor uptick noted in July.

The total value of assets locked (TVL) in liquid staking projects has continued to climb despite the overwhelming bearish sentiments present in the market.

DeFillama’s data reveals an impressive surge in the category’s TVL, which has reached almost $20 billion in the past year. Notably, this growth has outpaced other sectors in decentralized finance, including lending and decentralized exchanges, during the same timeframe.

Liquid staking protocols, such as Lido (LDO), Frax Ether (FXS), and Rocket Pool (RPL), offer users the unique opportunity to earn staking rewards while retaining liquidity for other crypto activities. The sector’s growth is largely due to the Ethereum (ETH) Shanghai upgrade, which allowed stakers to withdraw their staked ETH easily.

This upgrade reignited enthusiasm within the crypto community for these protocols. For context, Nansen’s Ethereum Shanghai dashboard shows a trend of  ETH staking deposits outpacing withdrawals since the process began. These deposits are concentrated on liquid staking platforms, with Lido dominating.

Earlier this week, Bitcoin broke above the $27,000 barrier on the news about Grayscale’s court victory against the SEC.

The decision marks a pivotal win for Grayscale and carries profound ramifications for upcoming spot Bitcoin ETF applications. As highlighted by CryptoSlate earlier, the court’s verdict on this case might influence the outcome of several spot Bitcoin ETF applications submitted earlier in the year.

Grayscale’s victory also seems to have bolstered the confidence of Bitcoin traders. This renewed confidence is seen in the futures market, where on-chain indicators have shown a notable uptick in leverage.

The Estimated Leverage Ratio (ELR) is a crucial metric that offers insights into the level of risk traders are willing to assume. It represents the ratio of the open interest in Bitcoin futures contracts to the Bitcoin balance of the corresponding exchange. A rising ELR suggests that traders leverage their positions more, indicating an increased appetite for risk.

The Estimated Leverage Ratio (ELR) experienced a jump from 0.22 to 0.25 on Aug. 30, following Bitcoin’s jump from $26,100 to $27,700.

Grayscale’s victory against the U.S. Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC) triggered over $90 million in liquidations during the past four hours, significantly impacting traders betting on the further decline of the market.

Digital asset investment products recorded significant outflows totaling $168 million last week, marking its largest outflow since March, according to CoinShares’ latest weekly report.

CoinShares analyst James Butterfill attributed the substantial deficit mainly to recent delays by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in deciding a multitude of pending spot BTC ETF applications.