The inventor of Cardano Charles Hoskinson has been the source of controversy in the crypto space. Journalist Laura Shin reported that Hoskinson was allegedly unable to complete a Ph.D. in Mathematics, and get degrees in the same field, as an undergrad, from the University of Colorado and the University of Boulder.
Related Reading | Why Cardano’s Founder Charles Hoskinson Was Right All Along
Hi Charles, speaking of fiction, do you want to address the discrepancies between your claims of dropping out of a PhD program and the schools’ assertions that you were enrolled as an undergrad? pic.twitter.com/gBULGEa6KK
— Laura Shin (@laurashin) March 6, 2022
In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, the inventor of Cardano and Input-Output Global (IOG) CEO addressed the accusations in an attempt to clear out his “integrity” and reputation. Cardano is supposed to operate as a decentralized project, but Hoskinson is an important leader of its community.
In addition, his company is the core developer of the network. Thus, any accusation made towards Hoskinson could reflect back on the price of ADA, as it seems to have happened during the past weeks, or could affect investors’ confidence in the project. Hoskinson said regarding the controversy:
I’m not here to address everything, certainly some things are a bit bizarre (…) and other things I think are a bit unfair and semantical. Yes, I do have a college degree. Yes, I do have graduate credits at CU Boulder in Math. Yes, I am a dropout because I didn’t by definition complete the things that I set out to do with the degrees programs I was in.
Hoskinson emphasized the work he and his team at IOG have completed with Cardano in a “very transparent open way”. These works have merits, he added, and “stands on its own”.
Later, he clarified that any attempts to tie his personal achievements and reputation to the Cardano project, as a way to challenge the network’s legitimacy and the work of IOG, is “not fair”. The project, Hoskinson highlighted, is a product of the combined effort of multiple people.
Inventor Of Cardano, An Angel Or A Demon?
Furthermore, Hoskinson tried to minimize his role by declaring that he or any founder of a project “does not matter”. Neither does, in his opinion, rumors, and personal fights. In that regard he noted:
Founders don’t matter, petty squabbles don’t matter, rivalries don’t matter. Yet there seems to be this amazing human tendency to declared angels and demons.
Thus, dividing the space into supporters and detractors. For the formers, the founder of the team behind a project is perceived as deities. For the latter, they embodied malicious intentions. Hoskinson added:
(…) humans are enormously complicated they have all kinds of things in life. Ups and downs, and we let you down sometimes, and other times we inspired you (…). The entire point of the labors of Cardano and all these other projects has always been to take the things where we can’t afford people to let us down (our money, our privacy, our life, our liberty) and put it in the hands of agents who never can by design.
Hoskinson called the current world state “bizarre” as a lot of parts of his life story. In addition, he talked about the ongoing narratives that are allegedly created to hurt Cardano and to omit “the remarkable things” Hoskinson claims to have achieved.
IOG’s CEO promised to write a memoir, telling his life story, when “he retires”. In the meantime, he will focus on the Cardano project, and recommended his viewers to take interest in “things that matter” and to “stop looking for heroes and villains”.
Despite the video trying to clarify the accusations, users still demanded Hoskinson provide more details. Via Twitter, the inventor of Cardano said to have received a degree in Associate in Science (AS) from Front Range Community College, almost 18 years ago.
At 18 an AS from front range community College in 2005. Go verify it. You guys are really having a meltdown
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) March 11, 2022
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At the time of writing, ADA’s price trades at $0.79 with a 1.6% profit in the last 24-hours.