- Charles Hoskinson denied 2021 ledger manipulation claims and threatened legal action over fund theft allegations.
- ADA gained 4.39% amid controversy, showing potential for a breakout above the $0.80 resistance zone.
Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Cardano [ADA], has once again made headlines with a public response on X (formerly Twitter).
This time, he addressed a resurfacing controversy alleging that he manipulated the Cardano ledger in 2021 to seize control of 318 million ADA, worth around $619 million at the time.
Hoskinson firmly denied the accusations and pushed back against what he described as baseless misinformation.
Remarking on the same, he said,
“You keep lying to people. The Ada vouchers became unspendable after the hard fork. They were rolled into a custodial account controlled by the TGE that then continued redemption for 3 more years to distribute the genesis funds to the original buyers.”
Giving a threat, he further added,
“If you continue to imply that IO stole funds, I will sue you. This is my last warning.”
What is the controversy all about?
For context, the controversy intensified after X user Masato Alexander published a detailed thread alleging that 318 million ADA, originally allocated during Cardano’s ICO, were redirected through a protocol-level change in 2021.
Alexander claimed that developers introduced the function ‘returnRedeemAddrsToReserves,’ which filtered out unredeemed UTxOs linked to early ICO participants, especially elderly Japanese investors, transferring those funds into network reserves.
Critics argue that this denied holders access to their ADA without refunds or clear communication.
Critics allege that developers moved the funds through a Move Instantaneous Rewards (MIR) transaction, typically used for staking rewards or treasury allocations, into a wallet reportedly under centralized control.
Alexander responded by demanding full disclosure and transparency regarding how the ADA was used.
In fact, despite Hoskinon’s threat, Alexander continued stating,
“Seriously doubt Charles wants to go through discovery. Already know where to look as half his payroll has been talking to me for years.”
Everyone does not share the same boat
However, not everyone criticized the Cardano co-founder.
Crypto analyst Jonathan Morgan defended him, emphasizing that the transaction did not involve a ledger rewrite or reorganization.
He stated that the network carried out a legitimate operation, approved by consensus, through protocol upgrades. This process, he emphasized, maintained transparency and aligned with Cardano’s governance framework.
Morgan noted,
“Majority (300M ADA) was successfully returned to ICO purchasers. A smaller remaining balance (~18–24M ADA) was openly repurposed into community development (IntersectMBO).”
ADA price action
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, ADA was trading at $0.7052, reflecting a 4.39% gain over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
This price movement, along with strengthening technical indicators and rising whale activity, signals the possibility of a broader bullish breakout.
Therefore, if ADA clears the $0.70–$0.80 resistance zone decisively, it could confirm a trend reversal and set the stage for sustained upside momentum in the near term.