100,000 ADA in Cardano Native Tokens Could Mint Millionaires: Analyst

Cardano native tokens could be more financially rewarding than most retail hopefuls think, according to a recent analysis that claims they have a better shot at minting millionaires than blue-chip bets. Cardano ($ADA) has been bleeding for a while now, currently trading for $0.22 and down 32% this year. Amid chatter that $ADA could recover alongside the broader market, one analyst is pushing an "unpopular opinion": Cardano native tokens (CNTs) might be the smarter gamble.

Key Points: An analysis claims holders of tokens based in the Cardano ecosystem are more likely to build wealth. Cuadrado noted that 100,000 $ADA deployed into CNTs puts one closer to millionaire status. His reasoning: the biggest wealth transfers in crypto don't happen with large-cap assets, but with the smaller projects building around them.

CNT Holders Closer to Becoming Millionaires: Dr. Cuadrado, a Cardano research and risk analyst, argued in a recent X post that CNTs could be the real play amid broader market uncertainty. According to him, those holding tokens native to the Cardano ecosystem are more likely to generate wealth. In fact, he suggested they are closer to becoming millionaires than most people assume.

He pegged 100,000 $ADA worth of these assets as the magic number. Anyone who has bought, or plans to buy, that much in CNTs could end up rich, per Cuadrado, who branded his view an "unpopular opinion." His logic: the biggest wealth transfers don't happen with large crypto assets. They are already established, and their market caps inherently cap how much they can grow in a short window. That doesn't make them unprofitable — it just means they won't enrich holders as dramatically as smaller-cap tokens can.

Cuadrado added that millionaires are minted with assets built around these established cryptocurrencies. They function as a higher beta play, offering better portfolio upside when the underlying ecosystem catches momentum. "Most people will understand that too late," the analyst concluded — a familiar refrain in cycles past.

The 100,000 $ADA Experiment: Notably, 100,000 $ADA equals roughly $22,400 at current market prices. At its 2021 peak of $3.10 and 2025 peak of $1.32, the same stash would have been worth $310,000 and $132,000, respectively.

For this exercise, the analysis used Midnight ($NIGHT) and World Mobile Token (WMTX), the two largest CNTs by market cap. $NIGHT trades at $0.0039 with a $650 million market cap. WMTX is a multi-chain asset but is primarily native to Cardano; at the time of writing, it trades at $0.042 with a market cap of $36.3 million.

$22,400 would net you 5.743 million $NIGHT at current prices. That stash would be worth $1 million if the privacy token hits $0.174 — a 44.6x rally from today, lifting its market cap to $2.88 billion.

On the WMTX side, $22,400 buys 533,333 tokens. WMTX would need to reach $1.875 for that bag to hit $1 million, implying a $1.59 billion market cap. By comparison, $ADA would need to climb to $10 to turn 100,000 $ADA into $1 million, pushing its market cap to $360.2 billion.

The analysis argues it would be easier for $NIGHT and WMTX to hit $2.88 billion and $1.59 billion market caps, respectively, than for $ADA to reach $360.20 billion once bullish momentum returns. Even so, a 4,364% surge for both $NIGHT and WMTX remains a tall order. And while small-caps typically outperform large-caps, tokens tied to a network still need the broader ecosystem to be bid up first. In other words, $ADA has to move before its affiliated tokens can catch a bid.