Charles Hoskinson is responding to a familiar criticism from within his community, and his response also illustrates how limited his control actually is over the network he founded. On September 29, 2026, following another round of external criticism regarding slow adoption and weak ADA prices, Hoskinson reminded critics on X that in his relationship between Charles Hoskinson and Cardano, he is only responsible for operating an independent company, not for controlling the blockchain itself.
He wrote, "I am not responsible for the adoption of Cardano. That's all there is to it. It seems you just don't understand. Cardano is decentralized. I hold no official position; the founder is not a slave."
Clarification of the role of Hoskinson in Cardano and IOG
The title of Hoskinson is that of CEO for Input Output Global ( IOG ). This individual contributed to building a large portion of the code foundation for the early stages of Cardano; however, they do not hold an executive position within this decentralized network. This distinction is precisely what he focuses on in his latest rebuttal and is also why some community members still regard him as the de facto leader of the project.
Hoskinson serves as the CEO of Input Output Global.
IOG is a company with its own management structure, business priorities, and CEO. This person is Hoskinson. This is completely different from running Cardano, as Cardano is not designed to have a single person in charge.
There are no official enforcement roles in the Cardano network.
Hoskinson clearly states that he holds no official executive position within the decentralized Cardano network, nor does he take personal responsibility for the speed at which users are attracted to the ecosystem. In fact, this means that he is no longer 'fully responsible' for the data management, despite many critics still attributing responsibility to him.
Cardano Decentralized Governance and Treasury Control
Today, the day-to-day control over the financial and technological roadmap of Cardano is in the hands of representatives elected by the community, rather than in the hands of Hoskinson or any of the founders. This change is not accidental, but has been written into the system through a series of governance upgrades.
The control of the protocol is transferred to representatives elected by the community.
The power over hard forks and treasury expenditures has been transferred to representatives elected by the community. This structural change is aimed at ensuring that the decentralized governance of Cardano is truly implemented, rather than remaining at a theoretical level.
Burn the founder's genesis keys to strengthen decentralization
One of the most symbolic steps was the burning of the initial genesis keys – these encryption keys once granted the founding entity special access rights to the protocol. After their destruction, neither Hoskinson nor anyone else can overturn the community's decisions through technical shortcuts.
On-chain voting as a treasury application mechanism
Now, every treasury application must go through on-chain voting, to be processed by the decentralized representatives in the network, namely DReps. This is precisely the mechanism that came into effect with a recent proposal related to IOG, and it also indicates that even projects related to Hoskinson's own company do not have any special channels.
Governance Decisions and Market Impact
A real test of the independence of the governance system from Hoskinson is that DReps vetoed a treasury proposal worth 12.29 million ADA. This proposal was originally intended to fund a Bitcoin DeFi product supported by IOG. This veto clearly demonstrates that community voting does have substantial binding force, and is not merely procedural in nature.
Rejected the application for 12.29 million ADA bitcoins from the DeFi product treasury.
The opposition votes regarding the allocation of this 12.29 million ADA funds indicate that voting on the treasury chain of Cardano can indeed prevent proposals related to IOG itself. This also strengthens the view of Hoskinson: he cannot arbitrarily direct funds towards projects of his own preference.
Hoskinson vs Midnight: The Marketing Impact on the Token Price of NIGHT
ADA Token Price Decline and Community Criticism
This time point has not been overlooked. ADA has fallen by 92% from its historical high, and the weak performance of ADA in contrast to the soaring NIGHT tokens has also directly exacerbated the initial criticisms regarding the adoption speed of Hoskinson.
The impact of Cardano on ecological development
As IOG relaxes from the previous stance of "Cardano being prioritized and always prioritized," the company's focus—namely, the focus of Hoskinson—is now dispersed across multiple projects, rather than being locked onto just one chain. For those who pay attention to the role changes between Charles Hoskinson and Cardano, this is an important shift, as it confirms that the priorities of IOG and the fate of Cardano are no longer seen as completely aligned.
The Impact of Decentralized Governance on Funds and dApp Activities
Since every treasury decision must go through on-chain voting, the flow of developer funds may be slower than under a centralized foundation model. This friction can have a practical impact on dApp activities, as projects awaiting community approval cannot receive the same rapid support as those from traditional corporate treasuries.
Community-driven initiatives are the key to growth.
In the absence of a traditional corporate decision-maker making final decisions, the growth of Cardano now depends on developers, dApp builders, and the broader community to propose and fund projects on their own. If the network wishes to increase transaction volume or secure new corporate partnerships, such initiatives must be driven and proposed from within within a decentralized governance framework, rather than being directly mandated by Hoskinson or IOG.
This article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and has been reviewed by an editorial team.
