Altcoins News

Story: Cardano Founder Denies Blaming ADA Users, Calls Out “Clickbait” Reports

By Pankaj K

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Hoskinson’s Argument: A Participation “Mismatch,” Not Fault. The core of Hoskinson’s point lies in what he described as a “mismatch” between staking…

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“We Have the Users — But They’re Not in DeFi”. Hoskinson cited third-party statistics suggesting that Cardano has between 1.

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A Call for a 2026 Governance Agenda. In the video, Hoskinson proposed making this participation gap part of Cardano’s 2026 governance…

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Taking Aim at Media Misrepresentation. Hoskinson expressed frustration that some crypto outlets distorted his statements to generate…

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Focusing on Cardano’s DeFi Future. Despite his sharp words for the media, Hoskinson reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening…

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Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano (ADA), has issued a firm rebuttal against media reports claiming he blamed users for the network’s decentralized finance (DeFi) struggles.

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“I never once blamed anyone from the Cardano ecosystem for the DeFi woes,” Hoskinson stated. “I’m sorry crypto media that you guys just want clickbait headlines.

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Hoskinson specifically criticized The Crypto Basic and other outlets for framing his comments as accusatory, calling such portrayals “materially wrong and factually incorrect.”

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The core of Hoskinson’s point lies in what he described as a “mismatch” between staking participation and DeFi participation within the Cardano ecosystem.

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According to him, Cardano’s staking and governance participation far outpaces its DeFi engagement, creating an imbalance that suppresses total value locked (TVL) on the network.

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“There is a mismatch between the people who participate in staking and governance and the people who participate in DeFi,” Hoskinson said.

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This statement, he explained, was not intended to assign fault but to highlight a data-driven issue that requires collective problem-solving.

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Hoskinson cited third-party statistics suggesting that Cardano has between 1.3 million staking users but only 10,000 to 50,000 active DeFi users.

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“We have the users. We have the capital,” Hoskinson said. “For some reason, those users with their capital are not participating in DeFi.”

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He added that this discrepancy should spark community-driven research and governance efforts to understand and resolve barriers to participation, such as:

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