Cardano slips as founder claps back against claims on X

Cardano suffered a slow and steady decline on Sunday, with founder Charles Hoskinson defending X to defend blockchain research and engineering firm Input Output Global (IOG) against criticism about its ADA assets and the network’s adoption efforts.

Hoskinson explained that IOG earned the ADA rather than receiving it as a gift.

“No ADAs were ever ‘granted’ to the IOG,” Hoskinson said. “We won them all. This is not people’s money. Profit from building Cardano. The original value of IOG’s ADA was approx. [$8 million] In 2015. “We have been building here for nine years.”

See below.

No island was “given” to the IOG. We won them all. This is not people’s money. Profit from building Cardano. The original value of IOG’s island was around $8 million in 2015.

We have been building here for 9 years. CF was given to the island as a donation. They have authority…

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) January 12, 2025

Hoskinson compared IOG’s ADA holdings to those of the Cardano Foundation (CF), which received ADA as a donation.

He said the foundation has the authority to allocate these funds to ecosystem development. His comments come amid speculation about whether IOG will contribute to its ADA to support the integration of Circle’s USDC stablecoin, an idea Hoskinson has seemingly rejected.

Hoskinson: ‘Dishonest people have no place at IOG’

On Saturday, January 11, Hoskinson accused a former CF employee of trying to “rewrite history” regarding blockchain stablecoin integration.

The former employee had criticized the network’s lack of progress in this area. Hoskinson also applauded: CF missed the opportunity to integrate USDC for $3 million in 2021, when the foundation’s assets were worth about $2 billion.

“According to their own people, they refused to settle,” Hoskinson said. “So you rewrite history to avoid their responsibility and turn this into power dynamics? I’m really glad he doesn’t work for me anymore. Dishonest people have no place at IOG.”

The controversy underscores the broader challenges Cardano faces in its push for wider adoption. Major stablecoin issuers such as Circle and Tether are reportedly hesitant to support the network, citing concerns about the lack of successful decentralized applications and insufficient transaction volume.

Hoskinson’s words highlight ongoing tensions in the Cardano ecosystem as stakeholders grapple with decisions that could shape the future of blockchain.

At last check on Sunday, Cardano was trading at around $0.96.

Source: CoinGecko

Cardano, which launched its mainnet in September 2017, is preparing to integrate with BitcoinOS, which will unlock over $1.4 trillion in liquidity.

Developers are also working on Midnight, an ecosystem scaling project.

Cardano could also benefit from President-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to take a more lenient regulatory approach towards cryptocurrencies.

It is not yet known whether the spot ADA ETF or the exchange-traded fund will be introduced. So far, crypto commentators are optimistic.