Cardano Foundation Assets Drop 45% as ADA Price Slides
The Cardano Foundation published its 2025 Activity and Financial Insights Report on April 2, revealing a sharp decline in its asset base. The Swiss-based nonprofit reported total assets worth 287.5 million Swiss francs at market value, or roughly $361 million at current exchange rates. That marks a 45% drop from the $659 million reported at the end of 2024.
The decline reflects the broader downturn in $ADA’s price rather than a fundamental shift in the foundation’s holdings.
Three-Year Trend: Shrinking Crypto, Growing Diversification
The foundation held 561 million $ADA at year-end, down from 599 million in 2024. Its Bitcoin holdings fell more sharply, from 1,054 $BTC to 656 $BTC. But the reduction was intentional. The report states that part of the Bitcoin was moved into loans and collective investment schemes. The foundation frames this shift as a way to ensure operational continuity without forced crypto sales during market downturns.
Financial assets tripled from $18 million to $55 million, now including third-party loans, equities, and investment funds. Cash and financial assets made up 25.5% of total holdings, up from 8.3% a year earlier. Three years ago, that figure was just 7.4%. The foundation now holds enough cash and financial assets to cover more than a year of operations without selling any crypto.
On the spending side, the foundation allocated $29.7 million across three pillars: technology at 40.3%, adoption at 39.6%, and governance at 20.1%. Personnel costs dropped 25% year-on-year, while outsourcing and external service spending rose significantly.
First On-Chain Audit Attestation
One notable first: auditor Grant Thornton Switzerland attested its audit results directly on the Cardano blockchain. The foundation has published on-chain financial data via its Reeve platform since 2024. This year, the auditor itself recorded its opinion on-chain, combining traditional Swiss statutory auditing with blockchain-based verification.
The report also disclosed the first-ever Cardano treasury withdrawal. Six million $ADA was budgeted for the Cardano Summit and regional events, with 2.8 million $ADA spent on the Berlin flagship event. Detailed cost breakdowns were published for the first time.
What Comes Next
The foundation said it will focus on real-world asset infrastructure, stablecoin market expansion, and DeFi liquidity in 2026. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently proposed a separate treasury investment model in which funded projects would buy $ADA on the market and return revenue to the treasury. The foundation’s first treasury spending offers an early test of how on-chain funding can work in practice.