Charles Hoskinson Denies Misappropriating 318M ADA, Calls Recent Claims “Deeply Personal and Damaging”

Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano and CEO of Input Output Global (IOG), called the recent ADA misappropriation claims “deeply personal and damaging.”

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano and CEO of Input Output Global (IOG), expressed his distress over recent claims of ADA misappropriation, calling them “deeply personal and damaging.”

In a statement posted on X on May 18, Hoskinson refuted accusations that over 318 million ADA, valued at more than $600 million, were wrongly taken from unclaimed 2017 token sale wallets.

The controversy has affected his relationship with the Cardano community, he said.

“I’ve been on the front lines for a decade. To not be given the benefit of the doubt here without strong evidence to the contrary means we don’t have the connection I thought we had with some people.”

He plans to step back from direct interaction and hand his social media to a media team once the audit is released.

Claims of Unredeemed ADA Misappropriation

The claims allege that IOG used genesis keys to move unredeemed ADA from the Token Generation Event (TGE) without informing the original holders. The allegations have sparked strong reactions online, especially after community member Masato Alexander published a detailed thread about protocol changes in 2020.

According to Alexander, a 2020 update to Cardano’s protocol enabled the reallocation of unredeemed UTxOs—unspent transaction outputs—to the network’s reserves. He further stated that a Move Instantaneous Rewards (MIR) transaction later moved the funds without informing the original ADA voucher holders.

However, Hoskinson countered these claims, stating that 99.8% of all pre-sale ADA vouchers were redeemed. The remaining 0.2%, claimed under existing protocol rules after a seven-year window, were transferred to Intersect, an industry body coordinating Cardano’s development.

"We will be publishing an external audit by a Big 4 firm to show the full redemption history and can share the legal letters demanding public retractions and apologies," said Hoskinson.

Alexander disputed the donation claim, citing Intersect’s interim executive director, who said in 2024 that the organization had received only $7 million—not $600 million worth of ADA. He also pointed out the lack of any detailed audit showing how the funds were moved.

Cardano Foundation and Emurgo Respond

The Cardano Foundation addressed the issue on May 19. It confirmed that since 2021, it has not managed ADA voucher redemptions and had only received general updates, not detailed financial breakdowns.

"The effort to locate and support remaining voucher holders has been led by the IO team over the past four years."

The Foundation welcomed IOG’s commitment to publish an audit and recommended that it include all MIR transactions and fund movements.

Cardano’s commercial arm, Emurgo, also released a statement on May 19, backing IOG and detailing the seven-year redemption period which involved several campaigns, KYC verification steps, and third-party investigations in Japan.

"While the vast majority of the pre-sale ADA vouchers have been successfully redeemed, there was a small percentage that had gone unredeemed," said Emurgo.

The firm explained that the Shelley upgrade had made unredeemed tokens unspendable, necessitating their movement to allow for redemptions.

It called for patience and expressed concern over what it described as "excessive, unwarranted FUD," which had caused damage to the project.

Both IOG and Emurgo agreed on the importance of transparency. They said an external audit is the next step to confirm fund flows and ensure all technical steps align with Cardano’s protocol history.