In a conversation recorded in Tokyo with host Sarah Yun for Humans by Socious, Charles Hoskinson—founder of the Cardano blockchain—discussed the network’s roadmap, its community-driven governance, and the methodical research underpinning its technology. While the talk largely covered Hoskinson’s background and Cardano’s development journey, it also offered insight into why he sees Bitcoin’s liquidity and decentralized finance as a powerful combination for the industry’s future.
Cardano Founder Says Bitcoin DeFi Is The Future
A recurring theme in Hoskinson’s remarks was Cardano’s on-chain treasury system, which he contrasted with other major blockchains: “At the end of the day, we have a $1.5 billion treasury for everybody to use and…if you hold Bitcoin, you don’t have this; if you hold Ether or Solana, you don’t have this. But we have this and…we have an on-chain governance… The technology is sound.”
He argued that these features make Cardano “the strongest of the cryptocurrencies,” in large part because the protocol allows its community to propose, vote on, and finance improvements without relying on centralized oversight. “Most ecosystems have struggles behind closed doors in private. We have the courage and mandate to be open about the problems we have. Because of that we’re stronger,” he remarked.
Hoskinson acknowledged that Cardano’s development process took longer than anticipated, owing to the project’s emphasis on peer-reviewed research and formal methods: “I overestimated how hard it would be to write academic papers…and I underestimated the engineering complexity.”
Despite these delays, he believes this rigorous approach gave Cardano a robust scientific foundation. Over the years, the blockchain has adopted an “extended UTXO” model—an adaptation of Bitcoin’s transaction structure but with added flexibility for more advanced smart contracts.
“With our partnership with BitVMX FORCE, we’re enabling Aiken, Plutus, and other languages to write Bitcoin smart contracts and Cardano smart contracts. We have all the off-chain infrastructure figured out,” Hoskinson added.
Not Ethereum Or Solana
On multiple occasions, Hoskinson stressed that Cardano’s evolution is guided by an engaged worldwide community. He contrasted the network’s decentralized governance with conventional corporate decision-making and suggested it provides a more sustainable model: “We know our problems, and we know how to fix our problems in a finite period of time—12, 24 months, [and] the vast majority will be completely resolved. We’re not going anywhere… It’s not like the chain is going to be worthless … The culture is our greatest strength.”
According to Hoskinson, Bitcoin’s liquidity with Cardano’s framework forms the subtext for his bold claim that “Bitcoin DeFi is the largest market opportunity of our lives.” Throughout the interview, he emphasized that Cardano’s deliberate design choices—such as rigorous engineering, formal governance, and the extended UTXO model—position the network to integrate wider financial use cases.
“Bitcoin DeFi, the largest market opportunity of our lives, will be when BTC starts talking to other chains. They’ve only pulled this lever just a little bit with Stacks, Babylon, and others. There’s already $5.8B in TVL,” Hoskinson explained, and added that “Cardano is the best system in the entire world to enable Bitcoin DeFi. Not Solana, not Ethereum, because we’re EUTXO. The way we’re designed, when you’re a Bitcoin developer, you instantly understand it.”
At press time, ADA traded at $0.64.
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