Cardano (ADA) is in the spotlight as one of the few top altcoins with residual gains at a time when many digital currencies are shedding their gains. Over the past 24 hours, Cardano has rallied by 5.19% to $0.3705. This is a breakthrough, as its market capitalization has now jumped to $13.32 billion.

Return to big leagues

This mega bump in Cardano’s market cap has pushed it back into the top 10 most capitalized digital currencies. While this ranking changes regularly, it is a sign of growth for a protocol that made the headlines on different occasions this past week.

The proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain dropped from the top 10 earlier this month, as Tron (TRX) recorded an impressive bump in ecosystem sentiment. The meme coin pivot for the blockchain triggered a lot of positivity that saw TRX rise as high as the ninth asset ion the market.

The implication was that Cardano was displaced and stayed below the top ranking for weeks. The recent uptick marks a mini-milestone that ADA investors might appreciate. Whether Cardano now stays on top remains another crucial conversation overall.

Maintaining Cardano innovation trail

Despite the current price action, the innovators behind Cardano, including Charles Hoskinson, are more focused on innovation.

Recently, Cardano was featured in a poll, along with Ethereum and Solana, as the community sought out the protocol with the best technology. Unsurprisingly, the community voted en masse for Cardano, a major validation of its innovation.

Also, Cardano developers have made a breakthrough in establishing a direct interoperability route to the Bitcoin ecosystem. A smart contract deployed on Plutus V3 Engine will make this possible, as announced by ecosystem developer elraulito and confirmed by Charles Hoskinson.

Overall, more usable products might help Cardano stay relevant, helping the price sustain its growth momentum in the long term.