Cardano’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, who also holds the position of CEO at Input Output (IOG), has publicly disposed of a massive volume of a memecoin named after him. The memecoin, aptly titled CHARLES, found its way into Hoskinson’s digital wallet following his live demonstration of the Lace wallet platform. This demonstration, which included creating a new Cardano wallet and backing it up with Hoskinson’s PGP key, was meant to display the robust security features of Cardano, not as an invite for unrequested token distribution.
Public Burning of $80 Million by Cardano’s Founder
Hoskinson was taken aback by the unexpected token reception, articulating his surprise by saying, “I never figured I’d make a video under these circumstances, but here we are”. He humorously referenced the possibility of potential honest and dishonest parties depleting the wallet address inadvertently revealed. However, he accentuated the far more probable risk in the 2025 crypto landscape of having random tokens airdropped into one’s wallet.
In this instance, the CHARLES token surfaced without warning and unexpected trading activity was observed almost immediately. Hoskinson reported that the token gained a fully diluted market value of about $71 million and a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $5 million, all within a day, resulting in what he referred to as a “million percent up” speculation frenzy.
Emphasizing the hysteria associated with this memecoin, he stated, “You certainly took to trading it… soaring a million percent in a single day with everyone joining in.” Despite having at his disposal a potential multi-million-dollar paper asset, Hoskinson displayed no interest in leveraging or cashing in. Instead, he opted for a public display of destruction.
Hoskinson detailed his process, creating a quick script, which his teammate Lucas verified and refined, to send the tokens to an unreachable address – a “black hole” contract. He demonstrated the process step by step, confirming the address, setting the total amount to approximately 900 billion CHARLES tokens (90% of the supply), and adding a note reading “thanks for all the fish” before inputting his password to complete the transaction.
Upon sending the tokens, he showed the outgoing transaction and commented on the minimal cost, 1.42 ADA in network fees, to destroy tokens with such a nominal value. The irony of the situation was not lost on Hoskinson as he noted, “A lesser man would have found a way to drip that out, netting a few million dollars here and there. But that’s not my style.”
During the demonstration, Hoskinson also proved he had tested the burn script with other tokens such as HOSKY and AGENT SNEK prior to the final destruction of the CHARLES tokens. After the transaction appeared on the blockchain explorer, he confirmed the tokens were irrevocably gone. In his closing remarks, he urged the community not to replicate such gimmicks in the future, despite the odd entertainment value of the whole situation.
According to the latest data, Cardano was trading at $0.95. The currency faces resistance at the 0.382 Fib, as shown on the 1-day chart.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who is Charles Hoskinson?
A: Charles Hoskinson is the founder of Cardano and CEO of Input Output (IOG), a technology company committed to creating peer-to-peer innovations to provide financial services to three billion people that don’t have them.
Q: What was the CHARLES token?
A: The CHARLES token was a memecoin that surfaced unexpectedly and was named in honor of Charles Hoskinson. The token found its way into Hoskinson’s digital wallet following his live demonstration of the Lace wallet platform.
Q: Why did Hoskinson decide to burn the CHARLES tokens?
A: Despite the tokens accumulating a substantial value rapidly, Hoskinson decided to destroy them as a public act of burning. He did not wish to leverage or liquidate these tokens for personal gain.
Q: What is the significance of burning tokens?
A: Token burning is a strategy employed by cryptocurrency creators to enhance their coin’s value and defend it against inflation. By burning tokens, they are effectively taken out of circulation, which can increase the value of the remaining tokens.
