Author: Zen, PANews
With ADA being designated by Trump as one of the strategic reserves for cryptocurrencies, Cardano and its founder Charles Hoskinson have once again become the focus of media attention. As an early evangelist of Bitcoin, a founding member of Ethereum, and the creator of Cardano, Charles, who is already a billionaire, has often been known for his unconventional pursuits in recent years: he not only invests time and money in the search for extraterrestrial civilizations, establishes medical research institutions, and even manages a vast ranch, but also ventures into traditional livestock industries. As Cardano becomes a hot topic of industry interest once again, Charles's story is worth revisiting.
Early Believer and Evangelist of Bitcoin
In 2008, Charles Hoskinson was majoring in mathematics and analytic number theory at university, and besides mathematics, he was also keen on studying monetary policy. That year, he participated in Republican Congressman Ron Paul's "Campaign for Liberty." Ron advocated for the abolition of the Federal Reserve, believing it not only failed to control inflation but was also the culprit behind inflation, economic depression, and the depletion of personal assets. A few years later, when he first heard about Bitcoin, he initially dismissed it, thinking that the success of a currency depended not on technology or dreams, but on how many people were willing to use it.
It wasn't until 2013 that Charles changed his mind and began to believe that Bitcoin would change human monetary transactions, business relationships, corporate behavior, property certification, and democratic models. He started buying Bitcoin, mining, and founded the "Bitcoin Education Project," which offered a series of free online courses on Bitcoin education, covering topics from monetary policy to blockchain technology, and established a partnership with Bitcoin Magazine.
At that time, Bitcoin was still in its infancy, with a small community, and it was not difficult to establish connections among industry insiders. With enough enthusiasm, one could quickly enter the core circle, and Charles was one of them. During this period, Charles also met several early Bitcoin evangelists and tech experts through offline gatherings and began his first entrepreneurial attempt—a decentralized exchange platform called Bitshares.
Bitshares was co-founded by Charles and Daniel Larimer (nicknamed "BM"), who later founded EOS, but they parted ways due to differing management philosophies. Charles later stated that he believed the introduction of venture capital required the company to be accountable to shareholders, and diverse opinions were beneficial for company development, while BM preferred autonomous decision-making without outside interference. In the early days of the startup, BM's father, Stan Larimer, was also involved in Bitshares, and Charles's apartment was provided by Stan. Therefore, after disagreements arose, Charles had to voluntarily withdraw.
The Hasty Departure of an Ethereum Founding "Elder"
In October 2013, Anthony Di Iorio from the Canadian Bitcoin Alliance and Mihai Alisie from Bitcoin Magazine gathered Charles and future Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin to jointly start an ecological concept for a programming language for blockchain applications, later inviting Gavin Wood, Jeffrey Wilcke, and Joe Lubin to participate in discussions.
In January 2014, at the North American Bitcoin Conference held in Miami, the Ethereum project was born in a beach cabin rented by Anthony, during a gathering of nearly thirty people. At this time, as the CEO of Ethereum, Charles had quietly completed his transformation from a crypto evangelist to a core participant in the industry.
However, as Ethereum rapidly advanced in development, it also had to face critical management decisions—should Ethereum be built as a profitable enterprise or operate as a non-profit? This question sparked intense debate within the founding team. Charles advocated that Ethereum should model itself after Google and establish a for-profit company to acquire more resources for accelerated development. In contrast, Vitalik insisted that Ethereum should maintain its decentralized spirit and adopt a non-profit model, which received support from most internal members.
Ultimately, due to ideological differences, Charles chose to leave, and his title as Ethereum CEO was rendered void. At this point, Ethereum had only been established for a mere six months. Years later, Charles reflected on his position in Ethereum and admitted that perhaps Vitalik's non-profit model was indeed the more suitable path for Ethereum. The success of Ethereum has proven to be inseparable from community support and the development of an open-source ecosystem.
New Journey: Charles and His Cardano "Independent Kingdom"
According to Charles, after leaving Ethereum, he considered returning to academia to complete his doctoral studies. However, fate seemed to have other plans for him—during this period of self-reflection, Charles met former Ethereum colleague Jeremy Wood. The two hit it off and co-founded a company focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency engineering and research called IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong).
In the early days of their startup, they invested only a few thousand dollars, but soon received many blockchain development contracts, with IOHK being compensated in Bitcoin. Fortunately, the Bitcoin market soon entered a bull market, allowing IOHK to quickly achieve substantial profits, giving them enough funds to independently develop blockchain technology without relying on external financing. Thus, Cardano was born. Notably, when creating Cardano in 2017, Charles firmly rejected the introduction of venture capital, believing that the involvement of capital would violate the core principle of "decentralization" in the crypto industry. He stated that venture capitalists often take "their share of profits" from projects, which contradicts the open spirit of cryptocurrencies.
As Cardano rapidly developed, IOHK had enough funds to sponsor research laboratories at the University of Edinburgh and the Tokyo Institute of Technology, ultimately leading to the birth of the Ouroboros consensus protocol, which became the core mechanism of the Cardano blockchain. In 2018, Cardano also announced a partnership with the Ethiopian government to explore the potential applications of blockchain technology. However, the bear market at that time plunged the entire crypto industry into a downturn, and Cardano also entered a period of stagnation. It wasn't until 2021 that Cardano gradually recovered with the market, and its Ada token climbed to a historical high of over $2.
It is worth mentioning that compared to other Layer 1 projects like Ethereum and Solana, Cardano's trading volume and activity cannot compare, often being criticized as a "zombie chain," seemingly surviving solely on the popularity of its creator. Nevertheless, as of March 6, Cardano (Ada) still had a circulating market cap of $42.7 billion, with a circulating value exceeding $34 billion.
The popularity of Cardano in the Japanese market, even being referred to as the "Japanese Ethereum," is largely related to its early financing model. It is reported that nearly 95% of buyers in Cardano's public offering were Japanese investors, often referred to as "retirement investments," mainly because this public offering was led by the Japanese company Emurgo, and at that time, Japan's regulatory environment was relatively lenient compared to Europe and the U.S., leading to a misunderstanding that Cardano was a Japanese project. However, as U.S. crypto policies gradually open up, Cardano is gradually downplaying its Japanese image.
Political Bets: From Little Kennedy to Trump
In April 2024, Charles Hoskinson announced his support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) for the U.S. presidency. Little Robert Kennedy believes that intelligence agencies, tech platforms, and regulatory bodies have overstepped their bounds, and Charles feels this resonates with the libertarian foundation of his blockchain endeavors. He also praised Kennedy's nuanced positions on various issues, including immigration policy and drug regulation. In August 2024, when Kennedy withdrew from the race and joined Trump's camp, Charles also became a supporter of Trump.
On November 9 last year, after Trump's victory, Charles announced in his podcast that he would collaborate with the Trump administration for most of the following year to establish clear regulatory guidelines for the cryptocurrency industry. He noted that he would do this alongside several other industry leaders. Following this announcement, the price of ADA surged, rising over 40% within 24 hours to reach its highest level in seven months, exceeding $0.6.
On March 2, President Trump announced on social media that his executive order on digital assets directed the presidential task force to advance a strategic reserve for cryptocurrencies, including XRP, SOL, and ADA. Trump also stated that he would ensure the U.S. becomes the world's cryptocurrency capital, making America great again. Following this news, ADA skyrocketed, with its price rising from $0.65 to over $1.10.
Charles Hoskinson later responded that he was completely unaware of "the Trump team's intention to include ADA in the cryptocurrency reserve." "We had no idea about this, and no one had talked to us about it. When I woke up on March 2, I received 150 congratulatory messages, but I really didn't know what had happened." From his lack of invitation to the White House cryptocurrency summit on March 8, it seems that Charles was indeed caught off guard by "ADA's resurgence."
The Jack of All Trades: Aliens, Cattle, and Plant Genetic Modification
After achieving great success in the cryptocurrency and blockchain fields and becoming a billionaire, Charles Hoskinson has also actively engaged in philanthropy. In 2021, he donated approximately $20 million to Carnegie Mellon University to establish the "Hoskinson Center for Mathematics." Additionally, in 2023, he funded $1.5 million and traveled to Papua New Guinea with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb to search for "meteor fragments" that fell into the Pacific Ocean in 2014. Although the results were not satisfactory—Loeb's team claimed to have discovered tiny metal spheres on the ocean floor created by extraterrestrial life, but according to a statement from the American Astronomical Society, the chemical composition analyzed by Loeb was closest to that of coal ash produced by humans.
In addition to searching for extraterrestrial life, Charles Hoskinson's work and new ventures are diverse, including but not limited to livestock, catering, healthcare, plant genetic engineering, and private jet rentals.
Charles owns an 11,000-acre ranch near Whitland, Wyoming, where he raises over 500 bison. Due to the lack of good dining options in the nearby town, he decided to open the Nessie restaurant and whiskey lounge in Whitland. Charles has also emphasized that his restaurant will be cryptocurrency-friendly. Furthermore, coming from a family of doctors (both his father and brother are doctors), Charles opened the Hoskinson Health and Wellness Clinic in Gillette, Wyoming, focusing on anti-aging and regenerative medicine, reportedly costing $18 million to establish.
"If you want to address global warming or improve the environment, then engaging in plant genetic engineering makes sense," Charles has recently become fascinated with bioluminescent plants. He stated that genetically modified plants can not only produce organic lighting but also sequester carbon, eliminate toxic chemicals, and provide other environmental benefits. According to Charles, his team has successfully modified plant species, including cultivated tobacco and Arabidopsis.
However, according to a report, in 2022, Charles Hoskinson's private jet flew a total of 562 hours, covering approximately 456,000 kilometers, which is greater than the distance from the Earth to the Moon's apogee. His private jet usage ranked among the top 15 in the U.S. for pollution, with emissions surpassing those of billionaires and Hollywood celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg and Kim Kardashian. Charles stated that this was due to his private jet being of high quality, allowing him to collaborate with third-party companies to rent the plane to private clients, and he mentioned that frequent customers include the rock band Metallica and Hollywood superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
In response, Charles jokingly remarked in a video, "My personal energy consumption might be quite high, not only because I have a jet but also because I have a large ranch in Wyoming with 500 bison."
Controversial Blockchain Pioneer with a Questionable Resume?
Last August, before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. withdrew from the race, he had an interview conversation with Charles. The broadcast sparked significant criticism, with many complaining that RFK Jr. should not engage with a "fraud."
With fame comes controversy, and Charles Hoskinson has always been a figure of debate. In her book "The Cryptopian," renowned cryptocurrency journalist Laura Shin criticized and questioned Charles based on his personal experiences while delving into the early history of Bitcoin. The book pointed out that there is no evidence that Hoskinson ever pursued a doctoral degree, and his highest level of education may only be an undergraduate degree. Additionally, Laura accused Charles of exaggerating his resume, falsely claiming connections with the CIA and DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), with the authenticity of these claims being questionable.
In the face of skepticism, Charles sarcastically remarked on social media, "This book is a nice piece of fiction, but it's a bit hard to surpass Tolkien (author of 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings') and George R.R. Martin (author of 'A Song of Ice and Fire')." Laura quickly countered, emphasizing that all her content had undergone rigorous fact-checking.
Controversies aside, the currently popular Cardano continues to develop, although its technical strength and market positioning remain subjects of discussion from various perspectives. As an important figure in the blockchain industry, regardless of whether his past boasts are true or whether his choices are correct, it is undeniable that his story has become an important chapter in the world of cryptocurrency.
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