Cardano Creator Gives XRP Community Lecture That Got XRP Talking

Charles Hoskinson, creator of Cardano, addressed tensions with the XRP community in a recent video shared by Digital Asset Investor (@digitalassetbuy). He reflected on accusations from the XRP community that he did not support them during the SEC lawsuit.

Hoskinson clarified, “I did support you when you got sued by the Security Exchange Commission. There’s videos of me. You could pull them up from years ago, where I said it was the wrong decision.”

While he had issues with the XRP army at the time, he still realized that the SEC’s actions were wrong. Despite this, some in the XRP community questioned why he did not provide financial aid.

Ripple’s Financial Independence

Hoskinson emphasized that Ripple had significant resources to manage the SEC case independently. “The Ripple organization gave itself a mammoth pre-mine. That’s a fact. It’s like tens of billions of dollars now that they have access to. They didn’t need any money,” he said.

He compared Ripple to other projects such as EOS, which allocated $4 billion to itself in 2017. Hoskinson highlighted that Cardano, by contrast, did not allocate 70% of its supply to founders.

Funding and Revenue

Hoskinson questioned the origins of Ripple’s funding for major initiatives. He asked where Ripple secured the funding to acquire Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. He also drew attention to the revenue from RLUSD, the stablecoin the company launched in late 2024.

He pointed out that standard subscription models alone could not generate the scale of these projects. His remarks show that Ripple kept XRP to fund its operations rather than giving the tokens out to the public.

Hoskinson’s Selective Focus

Digital Asset Investor noted that while Hoskinson critiqued the XRP community, he did not address Ethereum’s ICO and its funding model. He is publicly criticizing Ripple’s actions, but just like the SEC did, he has not called out Ethereum, which did a similar thing through its ICO.

This omission is crucial because Ethereum also had substantial pre-mined allocations. This raised questions about the balance of Hoskinson’s critique, even as he acknowledged past engagement with Ripple executives and expressed willingness to collaborate with the company.

The Challenge in Crypto Discourse

Hoskinson addressed challenges in crypto discussions, noting that many people struggle to separate arguments from personalities. He criticized the effects of social media, cable news, and poor information habits, emphasizing that these factors make nuanced conversation and critical thinking difficult in the industry.

However, as Digital Asset Investor highlighted, Hoskinson criticized the XRP community while failing to mention Ethereum’s ICO. This selective focus raises questions about consistency in his critique.