In a recent series of exchanges on RLUSD. The conversation drew attention to unresolved tEnsies between Hoskinson, the CFand various community members, as well as Cardano’s potential collaborations with Ripple.
Conflict over the Cardano Foundation’s USDC deal
The dispute began when Cardano staking pool operator @matiwinnetou directly criticized CF and Hoskinson, claiming they had failed to bring popular stablecoins to the network. “Cardano Foundation (CF) is not working well… because they have too much ADA and are not willing to spend it on multi-million budgets, the Cardano Community demands USDC, USDT. (…) It is an impedance mismatch of Cardano as a decentralized blockchain in centralized L1 space. Moreover, Charles Hoskinson often does not help on some points and adds more fuel to the fire than necessary.”
Hoskinson immediately refuted the idea that IOG was to blame, pointing the finger at Cardano Foundation’s previous decisions regarding a USDC integration. “The CF could have integrated in 2021 for $3 million. This was when their assets were worth almost $2 billion. According to their own employee, they rejected the deal,” he said. Hoskinson further noted, “Are you then rewriting history to avoid their responsibility and turn it into a power dynamic? I’m really glad you don’t work for me anymore. There is no place for dishonest people at IOG.”
A user called Jane (@Jane14457995) joined the debate and criticized Hoskinson’s tone: “No idea who’s ‘right’ but I don’t like the tone and it’s a default that IMO is self-sabotage. I saw a recent AMA video (9 months ago) where you think the issue of why Cardano doesn’t have USDC was much more complicated, Charles. Attacking a former employee s/b way beneath you.”
Hoskinson responded with more details about the CF’s missed opportunity. He accused the Cardano Foundation of once again hindering progress by refusing to fund stablecoin-related initiatives, while also currently voting against alternative budgets. “Once again, endless defense of the CF and its agents. I like your false objectivity. If someone lies and misleads, he or she will be held accountable. (…) The reality has always been that they passed on the deal in 2021,” he wrote.
Hoskinson underscored the community’s desire for stablecoin support: “The community clearly wants USDC. The community clearly wants CNT liquidity. The community clearly wants better Oracle support. The CF could do these things or leave it to the budget. My problem is that although they are distancing themselves from the first, they also want to sabotage the second by voting against the budget. So everyone loses.”
He further claimed that Cardano’s growth strategy will be at risk if a stablecoin solution is not provided. “There is not enough funding to cover the ecosystem, growth, future integrations and marketing, even if IOG works for free. This is a fight worth fighting because it is existential for the future of the entire ecosystem.”
Pivot to Ripple’s RLUSD
As the discussion unfolded, Jane suggested a stablecoin collaboration with Rippleciting the “newfound harmony with the Ripple/XRP community” and hinting that it “may be easier and cheaper” than following other routes. She then asked, “Would IO or Intersect consider doing that if CF doesn’t?”
Hoskinson responded: “If there is a reasonable path to integrate RLUSD, I will try to present this as a gift to the ecosystem. Cardano needs a solid stablecoin ecosystem, from USDM and Djed to RLUSD.” Jane tagged Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, and suggested that “it seems like a natural fit in terms of ideals and something that could greatly benefit both communities.”
Hoskinson confirmed that progress has already been made: “Jane, we have already called the people at RLUSD. We are actively discussing it.”
Just two weeks ago, Hoskinson revealed that discussions with Ripple were still in the “early days,” hinting at a plan to incorporate Ripple’s infrastructure into Cardano’s upcoming privacy-focused sidechain, Midnight. “We would like to include Ripple in the Midnight ecosystem,” he noted, underscoring the first steps between both teams.
According to Hoskinson, he and Ripple CTO David Schwartz have had technical discussions to determine how each platform could benefit. “There are ongoing conversations between the Midnight people and the Ripple people and a lot of technology conversations as well. And we’ve been trying to learn more about how their stack works,” Hoskinson said.
Despite the encouraging signs, Hoskinson noted that formal partnerships generally require patience. He said: “The first step was just technical discussions and that’s what we did with David (Schwartz) who was extremely helpful and a great asset. Once you get over that, at some point you have to actually do integration work and other things, but overall it was easy to work with.”
At the time of writing, ADA was trading at $0.92
Featured image from YouTube, chart from TradingView.com