Despite today's decline, Cardano is experiencing a surge in interest

As with other top 10 cryptocurrencies, also for Cardano (quotation ADA) was a pretty meager 24 hours. This smart contract network has dropped 2,2% in the past 24 hours, as of 12:15 pm ET. Over the past week, its price performance has remained relatively flat, along with that of many top tokens.

However, it appears that interest in Cardano is growing, thanks to a number of key catalysts. Vasil's hard fork was officially launched last week. This key update aims to improve Cardano's efficiency and scalability. As a result, investors have long hoped that this would improve developer demand as a blockchain of choice. 

This appears to be the case. Over the past month, Cardano has seen more development activity than any other blockchain. The rapid growth potential of decentralized applications has certainly enhanced Cardano's investment thesis, at least for those who believe that the value of a token must represent the aggregate value of all projects on a given blockchain. 

A network designed for the long term

One of the interesting things I've seen about Cardano is that this network is designed for the long term. Founder Charles Hoskinson took a more cautious view of releasing major updates. In this way, the hope is that Cardano's network will remain safe and vibrant, constantly improving over time and avoiding the major disasters that have occurred in recent times in other top-tier blockchain projects such as Terra.

It is noteworthy that Cardano is also one of the oldest blockchains, having been released in 2017. If it is any consolation, with around half a decade of history, the investors in this smart contract platform have a point of reference when it comes to how it works. of Cardano in markets in crisis. 

Cardano app in development

Cryptocurrency valuation is arguably more like an art than a science. There are many different theoretical models that investors use to try to arrive at a baseline of where a token should be traded. However, the ecosystem value of a network is generally a good guide. As a result, Cardano's increased application development is a catalyst that investors should keep an eye on.

There are many reasons why this bear market could continue for some time. In fact, I am of the opinion that this year's selling pressure has not yet worn off. That said, for long-term investors looking for growth opportunities in this bearish market, the fact that Cardano is now trading at an 85% discount from its all-time highs may be too interesting to ignore.