Cardano Slips After Founder Responds to X Accusations
Date: 2025-01-13 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: BUSINESS
Hoskinson emphasized that IOG earned its ADA, and did not receive it as a gift. “No ADA was ‘gifted’ to IOG,” he said. “We earned it all. It’s not the people’s money, it’s the profit we made building Cardano. IOG’s initial ADA value was about $8 million in 2015. We’ve been here for nine years and we’re building.”
Hoskinson also compared IOG’s ADA holdings to the Cardano Foundation (CF), which received ADA as a donation. He noted that the foundation has a mission to use those funds to grow the ecosystem. The announcement comes amid speculation that IOG might be involved in supporting the integration of Circle’s USDC stablecoin, an offer that Hoskinson has apparently rejected.
In response to the allegations regarding stablecoin integration, Hoskinson on Saturday, January 11, accused a former CF employee of trying to “rewrite history” regarding stablecoin integration on the network. The former employee was critical of the lack of progress on the issue. Hoskinson responded that CF missed an opportunity to integrate USDC in 2021 for $3 million, when the fund’s assets were valued at nearly $2 billion. “They walked away from the deal based on their own employee,” Hoskinson said. “And now they’re rewriting history to avoid accountability and make it all about political games? I’m genuinely glad you’re no longer with me. There’s no place for dishonest people at IOG.”
The controversy highlights the broader challenges Cardano faces as it seeks to expand its network. Major stablecoin issuers like Circle and Tether have expressed trepidation about supporting the network, citing a lack of successful decentralized applications and insufficient transaction volume.
Hoskinson’s comments reflect ongoing tensions within the Cardano ecosystem as stakeholders grapple with decisions that could impact the future of the blockchain. As of Sunday, Cardano was trading at around $0.96.
Cardano, which launched its mainnet in September 2017, is preparing to integrate with BitcoinOS, which would open up access to over $1.4 trillion in liquidity. The developers are also working on Project Midnight, a scalable solution for the ecosystem. Cardano could also benefit from looser cryptocurrency regulations expected from President-elect Donald Trump. The introduction of an ADA ETF remains an open question, but crypto experts are optimistic.
