Charles Hoskinson Questions Bitcoin’s Long-Term Viability

The crypto industry no longer requires Bitcoin for survival—it is a religion, not an ecosystem, and is doomed in the long term, according to Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson.

Cardano CEO: I don’t see how #Bitcoin survives, it’s a religion not an ecosystem… hashrate will fall and it will die a slow heat death ?

pic.twitter.com/dR77Gvf2H3

— Bitcoin News (@BitcoinNewsCom) September 1, 2024

The entrepreneur cited the situation with Windows as an example. In his view, Microsoft ceased to strive for innovation, leading users to adopt gadgets and operating systems like Android and iOS. He is convinced that Bitcoin faces similar prospects, with attention shifting to other digital assets.

Hoskinson noted that 98% of changes in the industry occur outside the first cryptocurrency. For this reason, he envisions a future scenario where the blockchain’s hashrate declines and Bitcoin undergoes a slow “heat death.”

The Cardano founder mentioned that he urged Bitcoin developers to innovate and proposed various ideas, some of which were implemented in sidechains to enhance the first cryptocurrency’s functionality and competitive position against Ethereum. However, he lamented that the community’s culture hinders progress.

Bitcoin maximalist Tuur Demeester responded to Hoskinson’s interview. The expert pointed out that over the past three years, Cardano’s market capitalization relative to digital gold has dropped from 10% to 1%.

Classic projection. In just 3 years time, Cardano went from 10% of bitcoin’s market cap to a paltry 1%. pic.twitter.com/CkfQ0izHcd

— Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) September 2, 2024

On September 2, Mynth founder Robert Roos suggested removing Hoskinson from the project to “enhance decentralization.” In his opinion, the network would benefit from the absence of a central figure, distinguishing itself from other blockchains.

Sure. He doesn’t write code. He doesn’t manage the people who write the code (he manages the managers above). And he’s not invovled with the decisions over technical direction.

Charles can correct me if I’m wrong of course ? I can only comment from my outside perspective of…

— SynthLuvr (@SynthLuvr) September 2, 2024

“[Hoskinson] doesn’t write code. He doesn’t manage the people who do (he manages the managers above). [Hoskinson] is not involved in decisions on technical direction. […] The transition of tech companies to a flatter structure, where code authors have more control, — is generally a positive step. It makes managers of managers (the CEO definition) unnecessary. IOG already consists of many small teams. I would suggest going further and making each of them a separate organization accountable to users,” — proposed Roos.

The specialist acknowledged Hoskinson’s contribution to creating Cardano but emphasized that the project’s development should now be community-driven.

No. Charles leaving Cardano would be a positive. He did a great job to create Cardano. Now let him move on and let the community take over.

— SynthLuvr (@SynthLuvr) September 1, 2024

The discussion unfolded following the activation of the Chang hard fork update.

Back in April, Hoskinson announced that another significant upgrade—implementing a new version of the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism—was expected by the end of the year.