Have you been using the Cardano blockchain but don’t know its founder? Well, this article focuses on Charles Hoskinson, the brains behind Cardano. Read on to learn more about him.
Introducing Charles Hoskinson
Born in Hawaii 37 years ago, Charles Hoskinson is a tech entrepreneur and mathematician. He initially wanted to study medicine to become a doctor like his parents but later opted for mathematics.
Hoskinson joined the University of Colorado Boulder to pursue his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics.
Hoskinson’s Net Worth
Considering that most of Hoskinson’s assets are cryptocurrencies, knowing his exact net worth is challenging. The Cardano founder is one of the biggest holders of the blockchain’s native coin, ADA. He is said to hold ADA tokens worth over $500 million as of May 2024.
Achievements
Hoskinson is the co-founder of three successful blockchain-based projects: Invictus Innovations, Ethereum, and IOHK. Besides being the founder of Cardano, he is also the brains behind the Crypto Research Group and Bitcoin Foundation’s education committee, launched in 2013 to educate the public about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Furthermore, Hoskinson is an early investor in well-known decentralized exchange BitShares.
Philanthropy
Hoskinson isn’t just a crypto guru; he’s a philanthropist as well. His firm, IOHK, made donations worth $500,000 in 2020 to the University of Wyoming to enable the learning institution to set up a research and development department focused on blockchain technology.
A year later, Hoskinson donated $25 million in ADA to Carnegie Mellon University to facilitate the development of a mathematics center.
Why is Charles Hoskinson Important?
As mentioned, Hoskinson has contributed significantly to the development of some of the most popular crypto projects. He was part of the team that made Ethereum’s initial coin offering successful. Moreover, he is celebrated for creating a futuristic blockchain, Cardano, which solves scalability issues and processes transactions faster than Ethereum. Cardano also facilitates the creation of decentralized apps.
How Cardano Was Developed
Hoskinson was among Ethereum’s developers when he came up with the idea of creating Cardano following a fallout in the team. Some of the developers wanted Ethereum to be a proof-of-work blockchain, making it environmentally unfriendly, while Hoskinson and others wanted the blockchain to use the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
The disagreements led to Hoskinson leaving Ethereum to develop a proof-of-stake blockchain. He was joined by another Ethereum developer, Jeremy Wood. The two launched an engineering company, IOHK, to build and launch Cardano in 2017.
Hoskinson’s Vision for Cardano
Hoskinson developed Cardano to satisfy his desire to have an environmentally friendly blockchain. Furthermore, he believed that Ethereum lacked scalability abilities at the time and wanted to address the issues through Cardano.
Hoskinson also wanted a blockchain that would facilitate Web3 developers with the right tools to allow them to create decentralized apps governed by their communities. Since its creation, Cardano has enabled the creation of more than 1,100 decentralized projects.
IOHK’s Goals
As mentioned, IOHK is an engineering company. Besides Hoskinson and Wood using the firm to create Cardano, the two crypto gurus aim to use it to build blockchain projects for companies both in the public and private sectors and academic institutions.
Why Hoskinson Launched the ADA Coin
ADA, the 10th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, powers the Cardano blockchain. It can be staked to secure Cardano in exchange for staking rewards. Further, Hoskinson introduced ADA so that Cardano users could pay gas fees to incentivize validators.
Challenges Faced by Hoskinson
As a vocal advocate for crypto and blockchain technology, Hoskinson has encountered several challenges. For example, some Cardano users accuse him of having too much influence in his blockchain’s decision-making process.
In 2022, crypto journalist Laura Shin released a book in which he accused Hoskinson of lying about his educational background. Shin claimed that the Cardano founder did not hold any degree since he dropped out. Hoskinson, however, refuted the claims, calling her book a “great work of fiction.”
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