Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson Backs ADA as the Largest DAO

TLDR

• Hoskinson said Cardano has the largest DAO by population and voting.

• Cardano treasury holds 1.65 billion ADA, valued at about $429 million.

• Ali Martinez said Cardano TVL fell from about $700 million to $136 million.

• Hoskinson said utility and user experience now matter more than infrastructure claims.

Cardano entered the spotlight again after Charles Hoskinson described it as the largest DAO in crypto. He pointed to governance scale, treasury strength, and long-term community coordination.

However, that claim arrived as critics renewed concerns about Cardano’s adoption pace and on-chain activity. Market analyst Ali Martinez argued that the network still lacks a strong use case and trails major rivals in total value locked.

Charles Hoskinson Points to Governance Scale and Treasury Strength

Hoskinson said Cardano now has one of the most advanced governance systems in crypto. He made that case while discussing the network’s transition into a fully decentralized protocol structure.

That transition began with the Chang hard fork in September 2024. It then moved further with the Plomin hard fork in January 2025. Together, those changes pushed Cardano deeper into the Voltaire era.

According to Charles Hoskinson, Cardano also has the largest DAO in crypto by population and voting activity. He said that scale gives the network a rare governance advantage among major digital assets. He also pointed to Cardano’s treasury as a major resource for future development. Current data cited in the report showed 1.65 billion ADA in reserves, worth about $429 million.

Those funds come from a share of transaction fees and block rewards. The community can use them to support projects, tools, and ecosystem growth over time.

Cardano Founder Says Utility now Matters More than Theory

Charles Hoskinson said adoption will not come from technical claims alone. He stated that users and businesses do not choose a network only because it appears stronger on paper. Instead, he said user experience and practical utility now drive adoption. That view marks a wider shift across crypto, where networks compete through products and real use cases.

He added that Cardano must use its governance model well. Otherwise, the network’s treasury and voting system would offer limited value in practice.

Hoskinson said Cardano can still move ahead of its competitors if it builds useful services. He linked that goal to Pentad and broader efforts to expand real ecosystem activity. He also said he remains committed to Cardano after a decade of work. He urged the community to move together and accelerate the network’s progress.

Critics Focus on TVL, Adoption, and Developer Traction

Martinez offered a different view and called Cardano the “most useless network” in crypto. His criticism centered on the chain’s DeFi footprint and slower growth. He said Cardano’s total value locked never crossed $1 billion. He added that TVL peaked near $700 million last year, then dropped to about $136 million.

Martinez compared that figure with Ethereum and Solana. He said Ethereum holds about $55 billion in TVL, while Solana reached over $12 billion in September 2025.

He also noted that Solana now stands near $6.6 billion. In addition, he said SUI surpassed Cardano, with current TVL near $568 million after peaking at $2.5 billion. Martinez argued that Cardano still lacks a clear use case that draws users, builders, and investors. He also said the network’s slower rollout gave rivals time to build stronger ecosystems.

Martinez said Cardano’s research-led model slowed product releases compared with faster competitors. He argued that early growth tends to pull in more capital and developer attention. That pattern, he said, makes it harder for slower networks to close the gap later. His comments added pressure to an ongoing debate around Cardano’s place in the market.

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