Cardano or Solana? The Altcoin to Watch for Massive 2026 Gains

• The race for dominance is still on as analysts tip Cardano (ADA) to outshine Solana (SOL) this cycle due to its better “risk-to-reward potential.” 
• Cardano has been predicted to rise to $3, $5, and $10, while SOL is expected to reach as high as $ 4,000. 

The much-anticipated broad market bull run is fast approaching. Fascinatingly, Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) have been among the most talked-about assets, with some analysts tipping the two to dominate the market from the third quarter of 2025 (Q3 2025) to the first half of 2026.

Recently, Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson hinted at his preparation for this moment by proposing the conversion of 140 million ADA to USDM (Cardano’s premier fiat-backed stablecoin) to solve the existing liquidity problem on the network.

As noted in our earlier post, Cardano’s community members, including a popular Decentralised Representative dubbed Whale, warned that this would rather force traders to exit the market in anticipation of a price decline. Similarly, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko opposed this idea, describing it as a reflection of poor treasury management.

Cardano (ADA) Vs Solana (ADA)

Regardless of Yakovenko’s opinion on Cardano’s proposed decisions, analysts, including Alex Becker, believe that ADA could outshine SOL this cycle. Presently, Solana has a better edge with a market cap of $77.9 billion, trading at $147 after printing 1% gains on its daily price chart. Comparatively, ADA has a market cap of just $21 billion. Across all of its major trading sessions, ADA has recorded losses with a current price of $0.60.

However, Alex Becker argues that ADA has a better upside potential with the likelihood to rise between 5x and 8x. Becker has also been bullish on ADA for a long time, as evident in his $5 prediction in March.

In an April video, he disclosed that he has accumulated a massive amount of ADA. To him, Cardano is “as fast as hell” and currently exists as one of the most decentralized and reasonable blockchains behind Ethereum.

Apart from him, Hoskinson has also maintained a consistent position on the value proposition of the asset. As detailed in our last news piece, Hoskinson has positioned ADA’s long-term target at $3, $5, and $10.

Fascinatingly, a section of the crypto community also argues that SOL could outshine ADA, with the potential approval of the SOL ETF being a main factor. As mentioned in our previous news brief, Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart have disclosed that SOL ETF has a 70% approval odds.

Meanwhile, another report has fixed its approval chance in 2025 at 90% while fixing that of the ADA ETF at 65%. If this is anything to go by, SOL could also record a significant surge even though ADA has a better “risk-to-reward potential.”

Above all, Cardano has recently recorded a “booming” network activity with more than 2000 projects being built on the blockchain as of June 13. As highlighted in our previous article, its total transactions have also surpassed 110.43 million, with 352 DReps registered on the network.