Cardano’s ecosystem has once again found itself in controversy as founder Charles Hoskinson responds to fresh accusations that he misused funds from the blockchain’s treasury - a claim he firmly denies and which many in the community have dismissed as baseless.
The dispute began after the SLR Cardano Stake Pool alleged on X that Hoskinson was diverting treasury resources to finance his other projects, including Midnight, a data protection and privacy-focused sidechain. The post quickly fueled debate over governance and financial transparency within Cardano’s decentralized structure.
Some community members came to Hoskinson’s defense, arguing that the claims lacked evidence and misrepresented how Cardano’s funding system actually works. One user, going by the name Marine Chad, called the accusations “completely dead,” saying Hoskinson would have no incentive or access to misuse on-chain funds.
Interestingly, SLR later moderated its stance, clarifying that it had “a pleasant time working with the Cardano Foundation,” but claimed ongoing tensions between the Cardano Foundation (CF) and Input Output Global (IOG) – Hoskinson’s company – stemmed largely from leadership differences.
Hoskinson himself highlighted this inconsistency by reposting SLR’s comments, pointing out what he viewed as contradictory narratives. “Love seeing the ‘Charles is the enemy of Cardano’ followed by ‘We have a great time working with the CF,’” he wrote, suggesting that internal cultural divisions were fueling unnecessary hostility.
Beyond the controversy, Hoskinson has continued to represent Cardano in broader industry discussions. He recently joined a regulatory roundtable to discuss the Clarity Act, a proposed framework intended to harmonize rules for digital asset exchanges and issuers – a sign that despite community tensions, he remains active on policy and development fronts.
This latest episode echoes earlier disputes within the Cardano ecosystem, including the genesis key controversy, which ended after an independent audit cleared Hoskinson and IOG of any wrongdoing. The new allegations, meanwhile, remain unverified social-media claims with no supporting evidence.
As Cardano transitions further into CIP-1694, its new community-driven governance model, debates like this underscore the growing pains of decentralized ecosystems – where open participation and public scrutiny often walk hand in hand.
