Everyone laughs at ETH, but what about ADA?

I really like Cardano. I genuinely see it as one of the most valid, fundamentally sound projects in the space.

It's not some hype coin. It has real research behind it, peer-reviewed papers, a unique PoS model, and a clear roadmap. It’s decentralized, the community is strong, it doesn’t constantly break like some others. Smart contracts? They’ve got it. DeFi is growing. Interoperability with Midnight and sidechains. Hell, even the Africa angle is long-term brilliant. Their dev activity is at the top, Weekly GitHub Stats – Core #1 atm. There’s actual work being done.

But here’s the thing I just can’t ignore anymore:

Why the hell is Cardano not getting any real traction?

It barely got past $1 this cycle. That’s miles off from its last ATH, while others, some with far less fundamentals, are (or were) pumping like crazy. And sure, we’ll probably see it slowly claw its way back, maybe hit the previous ATH and above, eventually, but the momentum just isn't there.

Over the past 2 years, it’s been nothing but good news after good news. Upgrades, launches, projects building, TVL increasing, etc. But the price? Flatlined compared to others. Why is that?

Everyone clowns on ETH for its gas fees, centralization creep, or slow rollouts… but ADA’s sitting in the corner like the quiet kid in class who actually studied for the test and still isn’t getting any credit.

So… what gives? Why does it feel like the market just refuses to reward Cardano, even when it does everything “right”? Is it just bad optics? Slow execution? Or are we all just early?

Would love to hear other takes. Is it just me noticing this disconnect? Obviously I want ADA to go up.