Cardano Founder Hoskinson Fires Back at ’Scammer’ Allegations—Crypto Twitter Erupts

Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson finds himself in the hot seat—again—as critics double down on accusations of shady dealings. The Ethereum co-founder turned ADA figurehead took to X (formerly Twitter) this week, batting away claims that his blockchain project is all hype and no substance.

FUD or fair criticism? Crypto veterans know the drill: another day, another billionaire founder playing defense while token holders cross their fingers. Meanwhile, Wall Street still can’t decide if crypto is the future or just a very expensive dice roll.

Hoskinson links criticism to growing online hatred

Charlie said his haters will twist any cardano success into a personal scam. If Midnight, Cardano’s privacy-focused sidechain, makes billions for ADA holders, they’ll call it an exit scam. If Leios, another protocol in the works, gets delivered, he claimed they’ll say it was someone else’s idea. “It will worsen yearly and eventually become complete fantasies and bizarre conspiracies,” he added.

He also claimed the hate may one day lead to violence, saying some critics are so far gone they might try to physically harm him or IOG employees. “It saddens and disgusts me,” he wrote. “Something is causing this mental illness on a mass scale, and it destroys a lot of lives, especially the people afflicted.”

Charlie said these people live in “a self-inflicted hell where nothing but negativity is present, spiraling faster each month— isolation and despair combined with a rot of the soul.” He ended his post saying he’ll keep going and invited readers to “consider how to cure this cancer together.”

Allegations trace back to 2021 MIR transaction

The storm around Charlie began weeks ago, after Masato Alexander, an NFT creator, alleged that Charlie used a “genesis key” during the Allegra hard fork in 2021 to rewrite the Cardano ledger and reroute a massive amount of ADA to staking and treasury pools.

Masato pointed to a specific MIR (Move Instantaneous Rewards) transaction dated October 24, 2021, that moved 318 million ADA from reserves. The transfer, which was publicly visible on Cardanoscan, quickly became the focus of online speculation.

Critics questioned why that volume of ADA was moved without a public explanation. The suspicion was that the action wasn’t authorized or transparent, and people began asking how Cardano handles dormant or unclaimed ADA tokens. The accusations picked up steam, leading to mounting pressure on Charlie and the Cardano Foundation to respond.

Charlie first addressed the allegations on May 6, calling them “false and misleading.” He said the redemptions remained open for three years after that transaction. He also said that the whole redemption process stretched over seven years, giving original buyers plenty of time to claim their ADA.

On May 18, Charlie returned to X to clarify his point again, saying: “IOG never gave itself 350 million unclaimed ADA. This is a lie. The vast majority was claimed, and the remaining was forfeited after seven years of waiting was donated to Intersect.”

At the moment, the Cardano Foundation is working on an official audit report, which Charlie said will address the full timeline and provide clarity. But the report hasn’t been released, and until it lands, the noise around the issue isn’t going anywhere.

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