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Recently, Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, addressed intensifying allegations of academic misconduct and scams through an impassioned livestream. Offering a detailed counter to these accusations, this 36-minute live session highlighted Cardano’s foundation in science, the strides it has made over the past decade, and Hoskinson’s personal contributions to the blockchain industry.

The criticisms emerged in the wake of Hoskinson’s co-authorship of an interdisciplinary academic paper rooted in a sea salvage expedition off Papua New Guinea. Hoskinson refuted claims of buying authorship by characterizing them as unfounded and driven by personal vendettas.

“I participated in a sea salvage operation, contributing as much as my expertise allowed. While I am not an astrogeologist, nor do I claim to be, I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing the manuscript and contributing to the salvage operation,” Hoskinson stated. “It is important to understand that without the salvage, there would be nothing to analyze, which makes this an interdisciplinary paper.”

His role was primarily confined to logistics and technical assistance in the salvage operation, which involved funding the expedition, assisting in the creation of recovery sleds, and participating in sample processing aboard the research vessel.

The paper does not claim any groundbreaking scientific revelations – its focus was on forming a base for further exploration. “The expedition was more about sea salvage than deep hardcore science,” Hoskinson explained. The major academic contributions came from the Harvard-affiliated scientists who lead the analysis.

Defending A Decade Of Cardano Development

Turning to Cardano, Hoskinson offered a robust defense of its authenticity, progress, and technological accomplishments. Dismissing persistent online claims that label Cardano as a scam, he cited a track record few blockchain projects can match.

“Cardano initiated in 2015 in Japan after securing $70 million in backing. Now, in 2025, it has blossomed into a $26 billion ecosystem,” Hoskinson remarked. “Over these years, it has been responsible for 240 market papers, millions of lines of code, and major protocol innovations.”

He mentioned milestones like the first provably secure proof-of-stake protocol, the extended UTXO model, the Plutus smart contract language, and upcoming developments like Midnight, a privacy-focused partner chain.

Arguing that Cardano is one of the most secure and trustworthy blockchains in the industry, Hoskinson said, “Cardano has functioned flawlessly for almost eight years now—24/7 without experiencing any significant hacks. Cardano has never gone down. It is decentralized as per the EDI measure.”

In contrast, he drew attention to major industry failures like Celsius, Luna, FTX, and BitConnect. He questioned why Cardano often gets tagged as a scam despite its longstanding success and lack of any disastrous failures.

“There are thousands of failed projects over the course of time I’ve mentioned… and yet, we’re still in the top 10. We’re still here, making progress. I fail to understand the criticism.”

He warned against the growing “Charles Derangement Syndrome” (CDS) online, where individuals or groups seek to tarnish reputations using misinformation and personal attacks.

Mobilizing The Cardano Community

In conclusion, Hoskinson implored the Cardano community to consider the implications of empowering hate-driven entities as the ecosystem moves into its on-chain governance era (Voltaire).

He specifically highlighted the upcoming decisions about budgets and delegate representative elections within Cardano’s governance system. He also reiterated his commitment to the ecosystem and its roadmap, despite the criticism. “Cardano is the most decentralized cryptocurrency on the planet. We have the world’s best on-chain governance system. Leios will make us one of the fastest. Bitcoin DeFi will give us a $2 trillion opportunity. With Midnight, we are bringing the next generation to the realm of cryptocurrency. We are still here, fighting and breaking new grounds. I’m proud of that,” he said.

At the time of publication, ADA was trading at $0.7171.

ADA’s 1-week chart shows key resistance zone | Source: ADAUSDT on TradingView.com
Cover image taken from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com