ADA is a proof-of-stake asset with unusually high staking participation. Staked supply is committed rather than sitting ready to sell, which means the tradeable float is materially smaller than the total supply.
That gap is the structural fact worth knowing, and it applies to a whole class of assets rather than only this one.
Why float beats market cap
Market capitalisation is price times total supply, and it says nothing about absorption. What decides whether selling moves price is the depth available against the amount that can actually arrive — the same argument used for token unlocks, where an unlock small against market cap can be large against depth.
A high staking ratio cuts the supply that could arrive quickly, which supports price on the way up and does not help on the way down — because staking can be exited, and the incentive to exit rises precisely when price is falling.
The reflexive risk
Staked supply is not permanently removed. If price falls far enough that the yield stops compensating for the risk, unstaking supplies the market at the worst moment. That is the same shape as liquidity providers withdrawing during a move in impermanent loss: the supportive mechanism weakens exactly when it is needed.
Unbonding periods delay it, which dampens the immediate effect and stretches the supply over the following days rather than removing it.
No options book
ADA has none, so the derivatives read is the leverage layer. And with a large, engaged retail holder base and an active perp market, funding is a more informative crowding gauge here than on assets with more institutional participation.
The class
Any high-participation staking asset shares this: a float smaller than the headline, supportive while the yield holds, and a supply overhang that becomes available in stress. Read float, not market cap.