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Charles Hoskinson’s Response to Allegations
In a heartfelt post shared on social media platform X, Charles Hoskinson, the visionary behind Cardano, candidly addressed the recent accusations pertaining to the management of unclaimed initial coin offering (ICO) funds. These allegations have not only tested his resolve but have also illuminated who his genuine allies are, prompting him to reconsider his approach to social media engagement.
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Hoskinson expressed that crises reveal true friendships as opposed to fair-weather ones. He noted the lack of public support from some long-standing associates as particularly disheartening, leading him to reevaluate his social media interactions. Once an independent audit of the token-sale history is released, Hoskinson plans to delegate the management of his social media presence to a dedicated media team and restructure his popular “ask-me-anything” sessions.
Understanding the Cardano Token Dispute
Between September 2015 and January 2017, Cardano successfully raised approximately $62 million by offering 25.9 billion ADA vouchers, primarily to investors in Japan, through Tokyo-based Attain Corporation. These vouchers were subsequently redeemed within the Daedalus wallet following the network’s launch. The sale was managed by Cardano’s founding entities—IOHK (now IOG), the Cardano Foundation, and EMURGO—under comprehensive KYC/AML protocols, as highlighted in investor materials and corroborated by research from Messari.
The current controversy centers around an estimated 318–350 million ADA, representing about 0.2% of the ICO allocation that remained unclaimed years after the network’s launch. On May 7, NFT artist Masato Alexander accused Hoskinson of erasing the original UTXOs during the 2021 Allegra hard fork and redirecting the tokens into Cardano’s reserves, with a minimal portion allocated to Intersect, the ecosystem’s new governance body.
Hoskinson has categorically denied these accusations, clarifying that 99.8% of the sale tokens were eventually redeemed by their rightful owners. He explained that the remaining balance was transferred to a custodial account and later to Intersect following Attain’s bankruptcy, which left no entity capable of processing late redemptions securely. Hoskinson characterized these claims as falsehoods and warned of legal action against those continuing to assert that funds were misappropriated.
Clarifying the Unclaimed ADA Tokens
In a subsequent post on May 13, Hoskinson elaborated on the situation, stating that after Attain’s closure, the legacy on-chain redemption mechanism became insecure. Consequently, the team “swept” the unredeemed vouchers off-chain, re-verifying claimants via local legal counsel and exchange partners. This process was intended as a consumer protection measure rather than a seizure, ensuring all unredeemed buyers had another chance to comply with redemption protocols.
Hoskinson revealed that an “externally audited report,” documenting every voucher sale tranche, each redemption transaction, and subsequent transfers of unclaimed ADA, is nearing completion. This report will be disseminated to IOG, the Cardano Foundation, EMURGO, and Intersect before being made publicly available. Until the audit’s release, Cardano’s development company will refrain from further comments and focus on exploring legal remedies against what Hoskinson terms “defamation.”
As of the latest updates, ADA is trading at $0.7199.
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