The Ethereum Purge: Why Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson Got the Boot

Behind every blockchain’s ’decentralized utopia’ lies old-fashioned corporate drama. Case in point: Charles Hoskinson’s abrupt exit from Ethereum in 2014—a split so sharp it makes Bitcoin forks look cordial.

The Vision Clash

Hoskinson wanted Ethereum as a for-profit entity (VC money! Trademarked logos!). Vitalik Buterin’s crew insisted on nonprofit purity. Spoiler: The hippie won.

Control Freaks Collide

Rumors swirled about Hoskinson’s ’my way or the highway’ management style. When your governance philosophy irritates even anarcho-capitalists, you’re doing something wrong.

Legacy of a Blockchain Divorce

The fallout birthed Cardano—Hoskinson’s ’peer-reviewed’ retort to Ethereum. Meanwhile, ETH’s market cap now dwarfs ADA’s. Nothing personal, just proof that in crypto, the ’right’ tech often loses to the right marketing.

Bonus finance jab: At least both chains still outperform Wall Street’s 0.05% ’high-yield’ savings accounts.

The Night That Changed Everything For Charles Hoskinson

Interestingly, the first Ethereum transaction on the blockchain was between Gavin Wood and Charles Hoskinson. The pair later founded successful blockchains Polkadot and Cardano, respectively.

To add to the Shakesperean irony, Gavin Wood gave Vitalik an ultimatum: it’s either Charles or me. On May 28, in a mansion in Zug, Switzerland — also known as “Crypto Valley” — Vitalik made his decision with all of the ETH founders present.

“I made this speech that consisted of half a minute of filler,” Vitalik said, “followed by the real decision, which was that Charles and Amir (another co-founder) would be fired. They were disappointed but not absolutely surprised.”

It would turn out this was not a good decision, and Buterin has even admitted it

Recording of Vitalik Buterin talking with Steven Nerayoff about the mistakes of letting Charles Hoskinson leave Ethereum.

This is just a short clip from an almost 3-hour-long conversation. In this clip, they are realizing Charles is the solution to resurrect ETH. pic.twitter.com/X8yMaRnAta

— Eilert (@Eilert) March 14, 2024

Whatever you can make of Charles, he has strong business sense, modeling himself after Steve Jobs.

Ethereum has had a marketing problem in recent years and a strong business character like Hoskinson would have helped. After all, Hoskinson’s memetic appeal, not limited to falconry, dancing, and weekly Q&As, are a major part of the reason Cardano has grown to be a top 10 cryptocurrency.

Charles later commented on his departure, “It became a Lord of the Flies — style situation, where power camps were formed and whoever was most persuasive to Vitalik was the one who won. That’s why there’s some bad blood; that’s why I wasn’t the nicest guy on the exit.”

 So Who is Charles Really?

Today, Charles is one of the most idiosyncratic personalities in the cryptocurrency space. He’s active on social media, hosts weekly interactive live streams, and beams with elation and happiness.

However, stories like this are no doubt important for the future of Cardano. 

But overall, he’s a much different man than he once was. After all, he helped create Ethereum in his early 20s.

Key Takeaways

• Few understand how close Ethereum was to total annihilation in 2014 at the hands of Vitalik Buterin, Charles Hoskinson and Gavin Wood. 
• Today Charles is one of the most idiosyncratic personalities in the cryptocurrency space.