The investigator argued that the move contradicted Cardano’s principles of decentralization, especially in light of Hoskinson’s public focus on community governance.
Hoskinson Denies Allegations, Threatens Legal Action
Hoskinson responded swiftly on X, rejecting the allegations as “slander and libel.”
He clarified that the ADA vouchers in question became unspendable after the hard fork and were transferred to a custodial account managed by the Token Generation Event (TGE).
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.
If you continue to imply…
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) May 7, 2025
This account, he explained, continued distributing tokens to original purchasers for three years following the event.
“These funds were not stolen,” Hoskinson stated, adding that buyers had redeemed 99.8% of vouchers. He also said that unclaimed tokens were used to support Intersect, a governance entity within the Cardano ecosystem.
Hoskinson threatened a cease-and-desist notice to @masatoalexander, warning of legal action if the influencer continued to allege theft. He pledged to release an audited report to provide transparency around the token distribution.
The accusations have divided the Cardano community.
Analysts like Jonathan Morgan defended Hoskinson, arguing that no unauthorized ledger rewrite occurred and that the token transfer was the result of a consensus-approved protocol update.
Claim: Charles Hoskinson unilaterally “rewrote” Cardano’s ledger.
False
No ledger rewrite or reorganization occurred.
The transaction was an authorized, consensus-driven event through protocol upgrades, not a rewrite of transaction history.
— Jonathan Morgan (@jonmorgan_HODL) May 7, 2025
Others expressed support for @masatoalexander’s calls for transparency, emphasizing the importance of accountability in decentralized systems.
Despite the controversy, ADA’s price rallied by nearly 10% on May 9 to reach $0.74, led by Donald Trump’s tariff deal with the UK.
