Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Reveals Staggering $3 Billion Crypto Portfolio Loss
Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, just disclosed a personal crypto loss that would make even a Wall Street banker wince—a staggering $3 billion evaporated from his holdings.
The Price of Innovation
Building a top-ten blockchain doesn't come cheap. Hoskinson's revelation highlights the brutal volatility even the sector's pioneers face. While Cardano's ADA token has seen its own dramatic swings, the founder's personal financial hit underscores a market that spares no one.
Paper Gains, Real Pain
For context, that $3 billion figure isn't just a number—it's a testament to the insane peaks and crushing troughs of crypto valuation. It represents wealth that was on paper, then wasn't, a cycle familiar to anyone who's watched a portfolio chart look like a mountain range. A classic case of 'what the blockchain giveth, the market taketh away.'
Bullish Despite the Burn
Significantly, the disclosure hasn't dampened Hoskinson's famous long-term conviction. The loss, while monumental, is framed as part of the journey—not an endpoint. It's a stark reminder that in crypto, faith in the technology often requires weathering financial storms that would sink traditional asset classes.
The final take? In an industry where 'number go up' is the mantra, even the architects learn the hard way that number go down, too—sometimes by billions. It's enough to make you wonder if the real decentralized finance was the friends we lost along the way... and the unrealized gains.
‘I’ll be with you on the red days and the green days,’ says Hoskinson
Hoskinson revisited comments he made earlier this year during an interview with Scott Melker. At the time, he disclosed roughly $2.5 billion in paper losses over four years. He blamed regulatory pressure and political interference for pushing retail investors away.
He described 2026 as a reset rather than a classic bull market, where real-world use cases matter more than hype. He also reaffirmed his commitment to staying true to being a crypto investor, stating that he was not involved in the FTX scandal as well as the Epstein files. He added that he is not looking to get his way to Trump’s office for any reason
Cardano’s native token lagged the broader market during the sell-off. ADA has declined 92% from its September 2nd, 2021, all-time high of $3.10. Hoskinson acknowledged the harsh reality of current pricing while pointing to ongoing development.
He highlighted progress on Hydra scaling, the Leios consensus upgrade, and the Midnight privacy-focused sidechain. In his view, utility and infrastructure will shape the industry’s next phase.
Meanwhile, the coin is 2.7% down in the last 24 hours, extending to the 18% weekly decline. It is trading at $0.26. “I’ll be with you on the red days and the green days […] I ain’t going anywhere,” he stated.
Crypto companies see billions in unrealized losses
Several crypto companies have recorded millions, if not billions, in unrealized losses. Bitmine’s losses are the steepest, as ETH dipped below $2,000. As a result, unrealized losses now exceed $7 billion, a drawdown of over 45% on its position.
Metaplanet, which expanded its holdings during the final quarter of 2025, purchasing $451 million in Bitcoin, has also recorded losses. According to BitcoinTreasuries.Net, Metaplanet’s average purchase price is $107,716 per Bitcoin. This places the firm at an unrealized loss of approximately $1 billion at current prices.
Additionally, Strategy, which owns 713,502 Bitcoins, purchased for around $54.3 billion at an average price of $76,052 per coin, is facing more than $5 billion in unrealized losses. With bitcoin trading $68k recently, those holdings are worth approximately $48 billion. That leaves the company facing the second-largest stash in unrealized losses.
However, not all treasury companies achieved sustainable stock growth or gained mindshare. Smaller altcoin treasury companies that relied on in-kind fundraising did not incur losses from market purchases. Instead, they monetized idle altcoins by selling shares.
Meanwhile, the crypto trading space has witnessed an aggressive sell-off in the first half of 2026, seeing the loss of a staggering $720 billion or more in over five weeks’ time alone. In fact, from January 1 to Friday, February 6, the total crypto market cap fell from a whopping $2.97 trillion to $2.25 trillion. This means a staggering loss of an average of $20 billion as the sell-off continues across various cryptoassets.
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