Charles Hoskinson defends Cardano, explains ISPOs, and their possible regulatory implications

• Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has called out critics who say the network has recently gone dormant.
• He also explained the concept of ISPOs and how regulatory policies could limit their uses.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has given a status report on Cardano blockchain. He also gave a detailed explanation of the new Cardano-based fundraising method utilizing Initial Stake Pool Offering (ISPO).

In a Nov. 30 broadcast shared on Twitter, Hoskinson silenced critics alleging recent inactivity of the network. Cardano has been experiencing high developer activity, he notes as he displays some of the project’s building on the network.

Cardano, the MELD Protocol, and ISPOs

More importantly, the tech entrepreneur covered ISPOs – a new crypto fundraising strategy propagated by the non-custodial banking protocol MELD.

“An ISPO is a liberating new way for investors and the community to support MELD using the Cardano blockchain,” reads the MELD official website.

Interested persons get to participate in the ISPO by delegating their ADA tokens to one of 10 MELD’s public stake pools. Delegation happens through Cardano-based Yoroi or Daedalus wallets, and users get to choose their preferred staking period. Delegators get rewards in the form of MELD tokens proportional to the duration and amount of ADA staked. Staked ADA is not lost as users get refunds at a later time.

Notably, the ISPO fundraising effort began at the start of July and is set to close on Dec. 8. Its idea stemmed from the concept of stake pool operators (SPOs). The latter has been functioning since the 2020 launch of the Cardano Shelley era. ADA holders simply stake their tokens to pools to earn rewards in ADA while the SPOs get a fee. The more the number of registered stake pools, the higher the degree of network decentralization. Differently, MELD Labs receives either 100 or 50 percent of the staking rewards depending on the staking pool used.

Regulatory liabilities and ADA price movements

Hoskinson notes that this method could raise security offering concerns with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This has been the case for some projects that raised money to support their further development.

Additionally, the “draconian” infrastructure bill brings with it new reporting requirements for crypto brokers, and there are concerns that ISPO delegators may be liable. Similar regulatory concerns have led to the delisting of ADA by eToro. Eventually, ISPOs may be forced to exclude US citizens, Hoskinson adds.

That said, Twitter user @TITW_STAKEPOOL has criticized the fact that about 23 SPOs are minting 50 percent of blocks on Cardano. Eventually, the small single-pools will be pushed out by the multi-pools, increasing the degree of centralization, he warns.

At press time, our data shows that ADA was trading at $1.59, down 0.6 percent in the day. The digital asset is now the sixth-largest by crypto market cap, having lost the fifth position to rival Solana (SOL).