tl;dr
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson stated that Cardano's original contract with Input Output Global (IOG) expired in 2020, claiming the project is "completed" as it fulfilled its initial roadmap obligations. He revealed he has worked without pay since then and emphasized that while basic scaling is d...
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson declared the Cardano network "completed" according to the original 2015 contract with Input Output Global (IOG), which expired in 2020. He stated that since then, he has worked without pay and emphasized that basic scaling outlined in the initial roadmap is finished. However, advanced scaling technologies like Leios and Hydra remain under development and face uncertain funding, putting their future at risk.
Hoskinson’s announcement sparked controversy within the Cardano community, where critics argue that vital scalability features have yet to be implemented on the mainnet. The original roadmap promised scalability advancements to rival top blockchains, with Hydra aiming to enable parallel transaction processing to boost Cardano's throughput potentially close to Solana’s theoretical 65,000 transactions per second (TPS). Community members contest whether Cardano has truly fulfilled its third-generation blockchain ambitions, citing missing components such as Basho, Leios, and Hydra.
Further tension arose from Hoskinson's concerns regarding Cardano’s governance and funding models. He criticized decentralized governance efforts, particularly competitive bidding for development contracts, warning this might disadvantage developers in high-cost regions and force IOG to downsize or outsource to lower-cost countries. Hoskinson opposed replacing experienced staff with low-cost developers, stressing that IOG builds cryptocurrencies, not simple projects based on time and materials.
This debate also touches on past disputes about Cardano Foundation’s governance structure, budget allocations, and the newly proposed Cardano constitution. Hoskinson has promoted a transition to a membership-based organization to better include the ADA community’s voice. Meanwhile, the foundation remains cautious about budget approvals amid ongoing reviews.
Amid the controversy, Cardano’s ADA token price hovered around $0.68, down nearly 2% over 24 hours, reflecting market uncertainty about the project’s next developmental phases and governance challenges.