More Upside For Cardano (ADA) in Anticipation of Upcoming Alonzo HFC

Early on Monday, Cardano (ADA) is climbing back above the $1.40 level after the steep decline experienced on Sunday, and is enjoying support from a bullish mood among investors towards the overall crypto market as well as positive developments surrounding the upcoming Alonzo upgrade. At the time of writing, ADA/USD is trading at around $1.431.

Late last week, IOHK – the firm behind Cardano, confirmed that the Purple phase of the Alonzo hard fork was completed successfully and that its testnet was up and running. The firm also offered a timeline for the HFC (hard fork combinator), indicating that by the end of this month or early next month, the Ethereuk killer could see the all important smart contracts feature roll out.

With the upcoming upgrade to Cardano’s network, it will be more prepared to take on Ethereum and other competitors in the DeFi space, offering improved levels of transaction processing, higher scalability, lower energy consumption and lower transaction costs. The blockchain network’s Co-founder, Charles Hoskinson, has confirmed that as soon as the HFC occurs, developers can start coding smart contracts on to the network using Plutus code.

Several analysts remain bullish about ADA’s prospects in the coming weeks. For instance, the head of Coin Bureau who goes under the pseudonym ‘Guy’ expects Cardano’s token to go as high as $4-$5 by the end of 2021 following the key upgrade to the network. However, he has cautioned that the uptrend in this cryptocurrency depends on market leader Bitcoin continuing its upward climb.

Meanwhile, another crypto strategist Michaël van de Poppe has offered a somewhat cautious forecast on Cardano, warning that it continues to be in a downtrend against Bitcoin for now. However, he does expect a bullish divergence after it tests support levels before a new breakout to the upside.

Key Levels to Watch

Taking a look at the 4-hour chart of ADA/USD, we can detect a strong bullish bias among most of the moving averages as well as the momentum indicator. Although, the MACD is suggesting some selling interest in the cryptocurrency as well.

Cardano’s price has crossed over the pivot point at $1.395 and increased buying interest can take it past the key $1.50 level soon. However, buyers could then run into some resistance at $1.527 and then again at $1.627 if the bullish momentum continues for some more time.