Cardano Tensions Rise As Hoskinson Teases Crucial Gathering
Charles Hoskinson spent his Sunday evening on X outlining what he called “one of the most important events” in Cardano’s eight-year history—a forthcoming summit where the community will attempt to settle lingering governance rifts, chart a formal Bitcoin-centric DeFi strategy, and decide whether the ecosystem needs an executive organ powerful enough to steer its narrative through hostile market perception.
“One Of the Most Important Events” For Cardano
“We got Leios, Hydra, Midnight, and Bitcoin DeFi alongside governance, security and decentralization,” Hoskinson wrote on 29 June, naming the protocol upgrades he believes position Cardano to capture “the next trillion dollars of growth.”
Leios, unveiled in April, is the next iteration of Ouroboros designed to lift base-layer throughput; Hydra provides off-chain heads for high-volume settlement; and Midnight, a privacy-first sidechain, uses zero-knowledge proofs to let developers handle sensitive data. Together they form the technical spine of Hoskinson’s pitch: if Cardano can anchor Bitcoin liquidity through dedicated layer-two rails, it could vault into the upper tier of decentralized finance.
Yet, the inventor of Cardano insisted that technology alone will not suffice. “The single biggest issue is that we are missing a competent Foundation and executive authority to push these narratives into the mindset of the space,” he wrote, adding that community frustration has led “so many people [to] push for me to step up and represent the entire ecosystem.” Hoskinson distanced himself from the Cardano Foundation, replying to a community member: “I am not responsible for their current state. The Swiss government is. They liquidated the majority of the board and replaced it with the current set.”
The upcoming gathering he alluded to—widely understood to be Rare Evo, a multichain conference running 6–10 August in Las Vegas—will, according to Hoskinson, become the venue where “we need to discuss how to correct lingering governance issues, update the constitution to add delegated executive authority, get a sovereign wealth fund started, and showcase all the remarkable innovation.”
The post by Hoskinson also revisited the reputational toll exacted by what he labelled “organized trolls,” noting that accusations he had stolen “hundreds of millions” marked “the lowest point of my career.” Although no evidence has surfaced to support those claims, the episode reinforced a perception among some investors that Cardano’s internal politics are obstructing progress at a time when rival ecosystems are racing to court institutional capital.
With his statement, Hoskinson reacted to Patrick Tobler, founder of NFT-infrastructure firm NMKO who wrote: “Cardano does indeed need a narrative. And currently there’s only 1 narrative that can actually catch on: Bitcoin L2. And there’s only 1 man who has the power to push a new narrative: Charles.So the best anyone in the ecosystem can do is to support this narrative imo.”
For ADA holders the stakes are clear. Cardano’s market share in total value locked remains modest compared with Ethereum, Solana, and the emerging Bitcoin rollup scene. But with Leios promising base-layer scale, Hydra entering production, Midnight opening privacy-preserving bridges, and a Bitcoin-native DeFi track under active exploration, the technical platform is nearing readiness. Whether the ecosystem can translate that readiness into a coherent story—and whether Hoskinson himself will step formally into the role of chief evangelist—may be decided when the lights go up in Las Vegas six weeks from now.
At press time, ADA traded at $0.567.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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