Despite facing a period of turbulence earlier this week, Cardano (ADA) traded relatively quietly on Thursday, August 28. ADA was priced at $0.3456 at press time, marking a 0.50% decline over the past 24 hours. Trading volume also dropped by 15% to $126 million, as per CoinMarketCap data. This subdued activity, however, has not dampened analysts’ optimistic outlooks.

In a detailed analysis on TradingView, popular crypto analyst Alan Santana issued a bold forecast for ADA, predicting a potential 2,200% surge. Notably, Santana described the current price consolidation phase as an “appetizer” leading to a major bull run.

“After the bear-market (red), Cardano enters a consolidation (blue) phase. This is followed by the “initial bullish breakout” (green), which is the entree or appetizer before the major bull-market.” He wrote.

The pundit further emphasized that ADA is currently in a “minor correction” phase (orange), which precedes the anticipated major bull market.

“We are looking at a huge 2,200% potential to a new All-Time High. With as little as 5X lev, this would translate to 11,000% or more,” he added. Notably, a 2,200% surge would place ADA’s price around $7.75 in this cycle.

This optimistic outlook comes amidst preparations for Cardano’s significant Chang hard fork, scheduled for Sunday, as confirmed by Intersect, a member-based organization for the Cardano ecosystem.

“The hard fork working group has reached consensus & agreed to upgrade mainnet on September 1st 2024!” the group tweeted early Thursday.

The organization also disclosed the network’s readiness for the upgrade, reporting 92% readiness among SPOs, 90% for exchanges, and over 50% for DApps. They also noted that no critical issues had been reported, emphasizing, “We’re ready to take the next big step in Cardano’s decentralization journey!”

Notably, the Chang upgrade is anticipated to mark a pivotal moment for the Cardano network, introducing enhanced governance features and technological advancements. According to a report by crypto research firm Messari, the upgrade will roll out in two phases. Starting in the summer of 2024, the first phase will focus on foundational governance and smart contract improvements. The second phase will emphasize community-driven governance and allow for treasury withdrawals.

That said, as Cardano gears up for this transformative upgrade, the crypto community is anticipating the Chang hard fork, hoping to attract more investors and give ADA the boost it needs to break out of its prolonged slump. Cardano has had a challenging Q2 2024, during which ADA’s total value locked (TVL) fell 41.2% to $219 million, and revenue declined 44.3% to $0.74 million.