Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has addressed concerns regarding his ongoing role in the project following the successful implementation of the Chang hard fork over the weekend.
The upgrade, which occurred at block 10,764,778 on Sunday, marked the beginning of the Conway era, a pivotal moment in Cardano’s evolution toward decentralized governance. Notably, the upgrade introduced the CIP-1694 governance structure, enabling ADA holders to participate directly in decision-making, shaping the future of the network.
“Today’s Chang hard fork marks a major milestone for the Cardano blockchain, ecosystem, and community, bringing to life the promise of a truly self-governing, decentralized network.” The Cardano Foundation stated on September 2.
Notably, apart from the excitement, the transition has ignited a debate within the Cardano community about Hoskinson’s future involvement. Following the upgrade, prominent community member “Chris-O” proposed that the community retain Hoskinson and his company, Input Output Global (IOG), to expedite the development of crucial Cardano features.
However, there were mixed reactions to this suggestion. For instance, SynthLuvr, founder of Mynth Network, argued that Hoskinson’s departure could benefit Cardano, stating, “Charles did a great job creating Cardano, but now it’s time for the community to take over. Cardano might thrive without a central leader, differentiating it from Ethereum.”
In response, Hoskinson tweeted, “I’m not involved technically? What the hell do people think that I do at IOG?”
Hoskinson later elaborated on his thoughts in a lengthy post, reflecting on his decade-long journey with Cardano. He acknowledged the challenges and emotional toll of being a public figure, especially in a space where skepticism often clouds positive achievements.
“Working on Cardano this past decade has been a whirlwind of emotions, challenges, and tremendous obstacles to overcome,” he wrote. “It’s been a journey that not everyone completed, and watching friends fade, false starts, and ending up in a place unexpected, but not undesired, is hard to process.”
Hoskinson further emphasized the groundbreaking nature of Cardano’s accomplishments, asserting that the network has evolved into something “alive” and unstoppable.
“What Cardano has done is one of the greatest technical achievements in human history… Cardano is now a governance virus that is living, self-replicating, and self-sustaining. It has intelligence and a will to survive and grow. Nothing can shut it down. Nothing can stop its growth.” He added.
Notably, Cardano has faced criticism in the past, including being labeled as a “dead chain” by some. For instance, in July, Ben Armstrong or “BitBoy Crypto” disparaged Cardano’s ADA as irrelevant to institutional investors, prompting a reaction from Hoskinson and other Cardano proponents.
Following the recent upgrade, ADA has shown some resilience and was trading at $0.32 at press time, even though it has experienced a slight decline of approximately 2.04% over the past 24 hours.
