Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson stirred the blockchain pot on Wednesday when he boldly claimed that Cardano is essentially done and dusted. The Input Output Global (IOG) chief announced he's been working pro bono since 2020, presumably surviving on a diet of pure blockchain enthusiasm and community goodwill.
By "completed," Hoskinson clarified he meant IOG had fulfilled its contractual obligations from 2015—much like how a contractor might declare your house "completed" while you're still waiting for the roof to be installed.
Scaling as of the original roadmap is done. Its a moving target given we are now in 2025 and being compared to Sui, Solana, and Aptos not Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin.
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) April 23, 2025
We are currently doing all the Leios and Hydra work at risk whether we get paid or not. If we don't get…
Hoskinson's "Mission Accomplished" Banner Meets Community Side-Eye
Hoskinson's remarks followed the expiration of IOG's original contract that began with the Genesis Block Distribution in 2015, roughly three crypto lifetimes ago.
"Cardano has been completed. The original contract expired in 2020. I've been working for free because I care about Cardano since 2020," Hoskinson stated, presumably from atop a high horse made of pure altruism.
He further explained that scaling according to the original roadmap is technically done, but has somehow transformed into a "moving target"—much like trying to catch a greased pig at a county fair. IOG is currently working on advanced scaling solutions like Leios and Hydra, which may be "at risk" without guaranteed funding, hinting that blockchain developers, like everyone else, enjoy being able to pay rent and buy groceries.
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These comments triggered a community response faster than a flash loan, with longtime members questioning whether they were all reading the same roadmap.
"I mean this respectfully: How was the contract completed if scaling wasn't fully delivered as per the roadmap?" one user challenged, adding the mental equivalent of a raised eyebrow emoji.
I mean this respectfully: How was the contract completed if scaling wasn't fully delivered as per the roadmap?
— Nietz (@CryptoNietz) April 23, 2025
The original roadmap, which Hoskinson claims was completed sometime between the discovery of fire and the invention of sliced bread, promised scalability to rival top blockchains. Hydra, in particular, aims to enable parallel transaction processing that could theoretically match Solana's eye-watering 65,000 transactions per second (TPS), compared to Cardano's current TPS, which some have described as "technically better than sending carrier pigeons."
Community members argue that Cardano's vision of becoming the blockchain equivalent of a Ferrari is still looking more like a reliable Toyota Corolla—functional, but not exactly turning heads at the stoplight.
Yeah I can’t sit back and say this is the truth. Basho,leois and hydra were all talked about and they haven’t been implemented on mainnet. So how has Cardano been fully completed as of the original roadmap? Those things are clearly missing. We need those for bitcoin defi.
— jova (@TheGamingJova) April 23, 2025
"Basho, Leois, and Hydra were all talked about, and they haven't been implemented on the mainnet. So, how has Cardano been fully completed as of the original roadmap? Those things are missing," another user added, apparently unaware that in crypto, "coming soon" can mean anything from next week to the heat death of the universe.
Meanwhile, Hoskinson expressed concern about the community's push for competitive bids, suggesting that Western developers might be priced out by lower-cost alternatives. According to him, this could force IOG to either conduct layoffs or establish development centers in budget-friendly locations like India or Eastern Europe, because nothing says "decentralized future of finance" like centralized cost-cutting measures.
"...I'm also not going to lay off hundreds of employees and replace them with low-cost developers to compete with low-cost bids like most companies do. We are not a time and material firm. We build cryptocurrencies," he stated, presumably while dramatically adjusting his cowboy hat.
This isn't the first rodeo for Cardano governance disputes. Hoskinson previously criticized the Cardano Foundation's structure for allegedly sidelining the ADA community, advocating instead for a membership-based organization (MBO)—because if there's one thing blockchain needs, it's more acronyms.
As of this writing, Cardano's ADA token was trading at a modest $0.68, down nearly 2% in the past 24 hours. This proves once again that in crypto, even the most passionate community debates hardly move the needle compared to a single tweet from Elon Musk.
Emmanuel Ekokotu
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