in a <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1870879536885497888″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>live broadcast On December 21, titled “Partnerships,” Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson addressed lingering questions about the relationship between Input Output (IO) and the Cardano Foundation (CF), while also offering broader insights into the path forward. of the ecosystem. During the nearly 40-minute session, Hoskinson responded to a public comment from former community member Rick McCracken, which addressed everything from on-chain governance to potential integrations with ecosystems like Polkadot, Hedera Hashgraph, and more.
Hoskinson deals another blow to the Cardano Foundation
The conversation arose from McCracken's post on x questioning whether disagreements between IO and CF could jeopardize external partnerships. In that post, McCracken expressed his concern and wrote: “If Charles, Tam and Fred cannot build a long-lasting professional relationship between IOHK and the Cardano Foundation within the Cardano ecosystem, why should I expect them to build a long-lasting professional relationship with the organizations ? Outside the ecosystem?
Hoskinson responded directly, explaining his frustration over what he calls a long-standing “philosophical and fundamental difference” between the two entities. Throughout the livestream, he emphasized that these disagreements largely revolve around the foundation's structure and its use of community funds, which he believes should be led by the ecosystem rather than a closed board.
“For three years, there have been disagreements and fights because there is a philosophical and fundamental difference between the Cardano Foundation and Input Output,” Hoskinson said. “It's worth having some fights, because it's a war chest for our ecosystem and it's under the control of people who are not accountable to the community.”
A central point of contention, according to Hoskinson, is the Cardano Foundation's control over an estimated $600 million worth of ecosystem funds. He stressed that, in his opinion, these funds are “the community's money” and must be used with strong transparency and accountability.
“That's $600 million of your money, my money, everyone's money,” Hoskinson said. “That's the philosophical question, and for three years behind the scenes, our people and their people tried to figure this out.”
Hoskinson insisted that conflicts over governance are not simply “small differences”. Instead, he described them as critical to Cardano's decentralized identity and future, particularly as the platform moves toward on-chain governance through CIP-1694 and prepares for major developments in 2025.
Upcoming partnerships with Cardano
Despite internal governance challenges, Hoskinson emphasized that external collaborations remain strong. He pointed to ongoing conversations with several blockchain ecosystems – Polkadot, Hedera Hashgraph and Elrond (now MultiversX) – as well as discussions with big tech players like Microsoft Azure. “We have never had better opportunities as an ecosystem to establish partnerships with people because the reality is that we have great technology,” he said. “What are we doing with the Polkadot ecosystem, what are we doing with Elrond, what are we doing with Hedera Hashgraph… We are going to have big announcements.”
Regarding Microsoft Azure, Hoskinson revealed: “(I'm) talking to all the traditional people as well. Especially the big ones. I just had a meeting with Microsoft Azure because they are a Confidential Computing Consortium. This whole idea of merging this great infrastructure is a great play for Midnight.”
Speaking about the latter, Hoskinson highlighted Midnight, an upcoming Cardano-based protocol focused on data protection, privacy, and confidential computing, which he said already has “95 partnerships” in the works.
Throughout the livestream, Hoskinson consistently stressed the importance of on-chain governance as a long-term mechanism for resolving disagreements and directing the evolution of Cardano. He applauded community-driven initiatives such as Intersect and Pragma, both aimed at achieving greater coordination between builders, core developers and other stakeholders.
“Your duty as a member of the Constitutional Committee, and it is the duty of the Cardan people who participate in governance, is to put the focus on the on-chain governance system,” he noted, urging people throughout the community to “grow” and participate productively.
Despite acknowledging the tensions, Hoskinson remains optimistic about Cardano's trajectory. He referenced the growing DeFi and nft sectors of the ecosystem, pointing to teams like Midgard and Gummy Worm in Layer 2, and the rise of memecoins within the Cardano ecosystem.
“We have a great DeFi ecosystem,” Hoskinson said, naming several projects. “Every year, month after month, they grow in population, they grow in TVL and they continue to launch new additions. “They are learning to leverage Cardano.”
At press time, ADA was trading at $0.90.
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com
