Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, delivered a scathing critique of meme coins in a live stream broadcasted on Halloween, October 31, 2024. Speaking from Colorado, Hoskinson addressed the current state of the crypto market, focusing particularly on the proliferation and perceived inherent flaws of meme-based cryptocurrencies.
Cardano, Not Meme Coins
Hoskinson did not mince words in his assessment of meme coins, labeling them as fundamentally devoid of value. “Meme coins, they have no value, they never will have value, they will never ever have value, stop, stop thinking they will you degenerates. Grow the hell up,” he asserted.
Expanding on his criticism, Hoskinson elaborated on the speculative nature of meme coins, characterizing them as inherently unstable and prone to pump-and-dump schemes. “What do you honestly expect? What do you expect? What is the outcome of this game? You buy a token and the token goes up a little bit and a whole bunch of other people rush in and the token goes up and then what happens? People dump on you. That’s how that game works. It’s always worked that way for meme coins, always will work that way for memecoins,” he explained.
Hoskinson also took aim at the role of social media in perpetuating the meme coin phenomenon. He criticized the lack of accountability among self-proclaimed experts and analysts and the ease with which meme coins can be launched and promoted online. “They have no utility. There’s no culture behind somebody taking a picture of me and turning it into a meme coin for the purposes of a pump and dump,” he stated.
The Cardano founder also pondered why meme coins have become that popular this cycle. “We all know that these things [meme coins] have no value. There’s no utility behind them. When they lose their luster, they go to zero. […] The reason why meme coins have any any popularity right now is people are bored […]. We’ve gone through three years of a brutal bear market. It’s been horrible and so people got to do something with all this crypto wealth,” Hoskinson elaborated.
In stark contrast to meme coins, Hoskinson lauded the foundational strengths and long-term vision of Cardano. “Look at something like Cardano. There’s an on-chain government. There’s a smart contracting stack. There is a network that has 1.4 million users inside of it that enables you to store information in a secure way. It’s been running for seven years straight. You can use it as the foundation to rebuild the social fabric of society itself,” he emphasized.
Beyond crypto, Hoskinson delved into broader societal issues, expressing frustration with the current state of public discourse and accountability. He linked the rise of meme coins to a “bare market” and societal distractions, suggesting that the lack of depth in discussions—both in crypto and beyond—contributes to the prevalence of speculative and unproductive financial activities.
Hoskinson concluded his address with a call to the crypto community to prioritize meaningful engagement and responsible investment. He urged users to focus on the tangible utility and long-term potential of blockchain technologies, rather than succumbing to the fleeting hype of meme coins. “If you can do that, you’re a true crypto user, a true one because you’re worthy of being your own bank and being in charge of your own life,” he stated, reinforcing the ethos of self-sovereignty that underpins Cardano’s mission.
At press time, ADA traded at $0.3468.
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