Cardano Foundation Under Swiss Government Control, Charges Hoskinson

The conflict between Cardano founder and IOG boss Charles Hoskinson and the Cardano Foundation continues to escalate publicly. The conflict first came public last week when a whistleblower accused the Cardano Foundation of mismanagement led by self-interest.

Hoskinson raised several accusations, the biggest one included the last-minute intervention in the now-accepted Cardano constitution. Hoskinson confirmed the whistleblowers’ claim that the Cardano Foundation almost undermined the Constitution process.

Hoskinson Escalates Fight With Cardano Foundation

The conflict has now flared up again after the Cardano Foundation announced a space on X yesterday, December 17. It wrote: The Cardano Foundation, headed by CEO Frederik Gregaard, CTO Giorgio Zinetti, and executive Alexandre Maaza, recently announced the launch of a series of public forums on X intended to bring “transparency, clarity, and dialogue” to its operations.

According to the Foundation, these sessions aim to “answer questions and share the context needed to move forward together,” and will feature leadership responding to community concerns about financial and governance oversight.

However, Hoskinson questioned the sincerity and efficacy of these forthcoming discussions via X. He suggested that if the Swiss jurisdiction does not permit democratic board elections, the Foundation should relocate.

“Here’s a question before they will lie about how the current board got appointed. If Switzerland doesn’t allow you to democratically elect the board members, then why can’t you move the Foundation to a new jurisdiction that will? The assets can be granted to another body. Ask them about what happened to Tam, Nico, and Manmeet. Ask them about the ESA administrator and what happened,” Hoskinson wrote.

Community members, including Cardano ambassador YUTA-Cardano, pushed back on Hoskinson’s stance. While acknowledging potential shortcomings, YUTA-Cardano emphasized that Swiss bylaws and supervisory bodies can hold the Foundation accountable. He argued that Hoskinson’s proposal for a member-based organization might encounter practical issues, such as devising fair elections and implementing Sybil protection measures. “It comes down to trust,” the ambassador noted.

In response, Hoskinson reiterated that the “foundation shouldn’t be in Switzerland,” underscoring that his primary concern is about long-term community oversight. He contended that, as it stands, the current council—appointed under the Swiss model—is not elected by the ADA-holding community.

“The foundation shouldn’t be in Switzerland. There are many jurisdictions that allow for different DLT foundations like Abu Dhabi or Wyoming. The community could design with the CF a new structure, and the CF could grant the funds to this structure. The alternative is having people appointed by the Swiss government forever choose their successors and never have any community input in the use of funds, leadership, or oversight.”

A separate community member challenged Hoskinson’s claim that the council’s structure implies government intervention. “Nobody in CF is appointed by the Swiss government,” the user wrote. Hoskinson countered by asking, “So, who appointed the current council?” though he provided no further clarification on the selection process or the Swiss authorities’ role.

Pressed to offer a constructive path forward, Hoskinson defended his approach, insisting that “some fights you need to have.” He stressed the gravity of the situation—citing the hundreds of millions of dollars at stake—and the importance of public confrontation: “The CF has publicly stated that these funds will forever be under the control of a council not appointed by the community.”

He concluded, “This outcome was never my intent as a founder of Cardano, and we’ve gotten to a critical juncture. It’s important that the community explicitly knows this reality and the onchain government by armed with facts. I’ve spent 3 years dealing with it privately between IOG and the CF. Their conduct at the constitutional convention and the voting in Catalyst were the last straw. There is no other means to affect change than a public fight.”

At press time, ADA traded at $1.0324.