Hi, this is Charles Hoskinson broadcasting live from warm, sunny Colorado. Today is November 9th, 2024. It has been a long year, and we’ve all gone through a lot. We’ve had our ups and downs, but I had a chance to take a very productive week off during my birthday and the national election. I completely shut out, turned off my phone, and went to a meditation retreat put on by the 40 Years of Zen people. It was a very interesting experience, combining everything from biofeedback and neurofeedback to psychedelics. I did a bunch of ketamine and went on four different trips in five days, along with group therapy. All these things together helped me contextualize and put my entire life together, and it was long overdue.
When you’re a successful person and you have a lot of resources, talents, and abilities, you might think that certain rules don’t apply to you, particularly the rules of mental health. Being a CEO and being in the public space has its perks and benefits. I don’t have to wait in a lot of lines, I get to travel in luxurious accommodations, and I meet really cool and interesting people. However, it also means you’re subject to a lot of fair and unfair criticism, which accumulates over time. I’ve been doing this for more than a decade in a very public way across many different mediums like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. That has taken a toll.
I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was when people said I was a cancer for Cardano. Imagine spending nine years of your life working diligently and hard on something you truly care about, investing so much effort and time, and trying to do what you think is best. Sure, there are disagreements along the way, but for the most part, you’d like to believe you’ve done a good job and that your presence is wanted, not undesired.
Well, that poll is closing here in about two hours, and 51% said yes, while about 49% said no. I’m not naive enough to believe these numbers represent every single person in the Cardano community or that no bots participated. However, I’m also not deluded enough to think my tenure has been without controversy. At times, I’ve been abrasive and have said and done things I regret. Part of taking time off was to reflect on my own behavior and the things I’ve said and done throughout the years.
I’d like to address two things we can do better as a community and myself in particular. First, I want to explain the relationship between Bitcoin maximalists, Cardano, and Bitcoin itself. I’ve been in the Bitcoin space longer than the vast majority of people, probably 99%. I remember the Block Wars and the collapse of Mt. Gox. Having started my career in the Bitcoin space with the Bitcoin Education Project and as the founding chairman of the education committee of the Bitcoin Foundation, I was surprised by how relentlessly harsh many in the Bitcoin ecosystem could be with their criticisms of Cardano and the altcoin space. They made things personal, taking it beyond “your product is bad” to “anyone who even conceives of this must be a criminal and must be evil.”
The reality is, just like that poll doesn’t speak for the majority of Cardano users, the maximalists in Bitcoin, as much as they’d like to, don’t speak for the vast majority of people in the Bitcoin ecosystem. I got brittle and hostile and said things I probably shouldn’t have said. The reality is Bitcoin is the dominant cryptocurrency, and it’s earned that right through a strong community and a relentless pursuit of its principles. Bitcoin remains the most principled ecosystem in the cryptocurrency space, and its flaws are far outweighed by its achievements. We’re all still drinking from the rivers that Bitcoin carved, and all of us in the cryptocurrency space are better because of Bitcoin.
I’ve expressed frustration with the governance of Bitcoin and the lack of innovation and progress, but for those in that ecosystem, they view it as a feature, not a bug. Because of things like Bitcoin OS, Bitcoin can stay the way it is and still enjoy the magic our industry has constructed. So, I’d like to apologize to the Bitcoin community. While we may disagree on certain things, I will never disagree that you’ve created something magical and special that millions of people around the world hold and use. The world is a better place for that. I’m not going to speak ill of Bitcoin anymore, no matter how much those maximalists try to trigger everyone in the industry. Life is too short for that.
I also reflected a lot about the XRP community. One statement turned into two, three, and four, leading to a stalemate where nobody really wins. The reality is there are many people in the XRP community who are great fans and friends of the Cardano ecosystem. There’s sadness over the fact that we haven’t been able to bridge these gaps. Let me be clear: it was never my intent to say that XRP as an ecosystem should not exist or that it should endure the horrors it has faced over the past four years from an overzealous regulator who has victimized the people who hold XRP. Not a single person in that ecosystem deserves the lawsuits and scrutiny that project has been under, especially considering the standard of behavior across the industry as a whole.
I’m glad to see that the Senate has been retaken by the Republicans, and I believe good crypto policy will come in 2025. I’d like to apologize to the XRP community. I can be the bigger man here and let it go. I’m not going to speak ill of the community, the protocol, or anyone there. I’d love to find ways to build bridges and work with them, just like we’re building bridges with the Bitcoin ecosystem. There are many areas of potential collaboration, from Midnight interoperability with XRP to possibly participating in the stablecoin that the Ripple ecosystem is creating.
Finally, I’d like to apologize to the Cardano ecosystem as a whole. It’s been a difficult go, and I’ve been a bit defensive and brittle, especially in responding to things I thought were ridiculous allegations. The “cancer” comment is the latest example, but there have been hundreds throughout the year, deserved or undeserved. I should be more compassionate and gentle with each of you because you’re part of this ecosystem, and you deserve better. I have to understand that your knowledge and perspectives may not be as informed or the same as mine. While I sit as a CEO of an important company and receive daily briefs on pretty much every topic, the vast majority of people using Twitter and participating in the cryptocurrency industry don’t have that luxury.
So why should I assume your context is the same as mine and make it personal? I shouldn’t. In some cases, I called people liars when I should have been more gentle and kinder. I wasn’t, and I’d like to apologize to all of you. It’s been a hard go, and I think you’ve seen it throughout the years. There’s been a great burden I’ve carried for a long time, and I look older every day, but I feel a lot younger today. I’ve been able to let go of many of those burdens and think about the future.
The reason I created Cardano is that I wanted to leave something behind that made the world a better place for everybody, everywhere. I didn’t care where you were born, what language you speak, or your culture or politics. It’s not my place to judge. I wanted to create a safe space for the economic, political, and social systems of the world to build and flourish in a way that is beyond reproach. I wanted to move to a world where we go from “don’t be evil” to “can’t be evil by design,” so we can begin to trust each other again. Through trust, we can make progress as a society.
We have achieved enormous technological strides with Cardano. We have laid a foundation that, if we continue to invest in and build, will be here for generations to come. This technology will allow every participant in the Cardano ecosystem and all related people, regardless of whether they build on it, to enjoy something that can make a difference in how you vote, how your money works, how nation-states operate, and ultimately how business ought to be done in the 21st century. While we have made enormous technological strides, we have yet to make equivalent strides in growth and adoption, and that’s something we all have to focus on.
Looking at 2025, I believe we as an ecosystem can make enormous strides in becoming the DeFi layer for Bitcoin. We can make significant progress in utilizing the budget processes of Cardano, no matter how difficult it may be to get one passed. We need to fund and grow the vital entities within the Cardano ecosystem to get us where we need to go. There will be many strategies that come out over the next three to six months that will require an enormous amount of attention, care, discipline, and rigor to execute. I’m going to be involved in those, and I’m here to fight because I want to see this technology running in every nation-state and on every single cell phone, working for every person in the world. Everyone deserves a solid foundation for truth to grow and foster better relationships with others and have faith in each other again.
We’re going to have to earn that, and that’s what 2025 is going to be about. A large part of my time in 2025 will also be devoted to the political process. I’m going to spend considerable time working with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and with members of the administration to help foster and facilitate good crypto policy. There’s a high probability that the Republicans will control not only the Senate and the presidency but also Congress. This is the best opportunity we’ve ever had in the history of the industry to get clarity and remove the Sword of Damocles that the SEC has rained over the Cardano ecosystem, Ripple ecosystem, Ethereum ecosystem, Solana, and all major ecosystems, including Bitcoin in many respects.
None of us signed up to have companies like BlackRock dictate to the United States what the crypto policy should be. The crypto policy should be written by the American people, the American crypto industry, and well-meaning lawmakers willing to listen. We will establish an Input Output policy office and begin staffing that office, moving some personnel around. Hopefully, by January, we can start participating in that process and work with key leaders in key positions to hybridize many proposals, including BIT 21, the Loomis bill, and others. We need a bipartisan bill that gives us clarity on when things are securities and commodities, helping us navigate the tumultuous waters of DeFi and get back to business.
No one in this industry has asked for a subsidy or a bailout. No one has asked for special rules or treatment. All we’ve asked for is to be left alone to build our businesses and create trillions of dollars of value and millions of jobs for the American people. I think with a message like that, it makes sense to those who aren’t corrupt and those who are listening to actually get a law passed. That’s what we’re going to focus on in 2025. We’re going to get our growth and adoption where it needs to be and ensure we have solid policy to move forward as a nation.
As many of you know, I have personal friendships with certain lawmakers and members of the Trump administration. We hope to have great dialogues with them in the coming months to put together some of this policy. I hope to be part of that, but that has yet to be decided based on the fact that they’re not even in office yet and have just picked a chief of staff. It’s going to take more time to see what that composition looks like. However, in my early conversations with the transition team and many people who want to promote good crypto policy, I have every reason to believe there is a genuine desire to not relitigate the last four disastrous years that have been painful and harmful to all of us.
I also believe there’s a strong desire, especially among younger Democrats, for crypto policy to be bipartisan instead of a wedge issue between the parties. This is evidenced by the fact that BIT 21 passed in the House with more than 60 Democrat votes. I fully appreciate that this election has been stressful for many Americans who felt the wrong candidate won. I want to take a moment to talk to them. While we disagree on politics and the nature of how the next four years will unfold, there is one thing that unites us: we’re still Americans. I’d like to believe we both want this country to succeed, and there are many things we can find common ground on.
I was in Washington State for the last five days, and many of the people I was with were not exactly on the right side of the spectrum, but they were excited about Robert Kennedy being involved in health policy. That’s the power of unity. In a party, you don’t get everything you want, but at least you get a few things you can unify on. I believe that if we come together on both sides of the aisle, we can get to a crypto policy that makes sense for the entire United States and all our businesses. After all, the protocols don’t discriminate against politics, so why should we as leaders? It doesn’t make sense at all.
I’m definitely going to be reaching across the aisle to many people on the other side and asking if they’d like to participate in discussions and conversations. I think we can come to a common understanding about some basic principles as an industry of where we need to go and what we need to do. I’ve also regained my passion. Four ketamine trips is quite a bit, and one of the things you gain from these experiences is deeper insight and perspective into life as a whole. I was able to let go of the things that stress me and remind myself of what I truly love.
I absolutely love the education process and teaching. I’ve always been happiest when I take knowledge and transform it into a product that people gain insight and understanding from. In 2025, I’m definitely going to spend more time on whiteboard videos, explainers, and pedagogy, both directly and indirectly, because there’s so much about our movement that’s still not well understood. We need to bring everybody along, and part of the political process and growth is for people to truly understand why what we do is special and how it’s special.
I gained a deeper appreciation and respect for how much love and support you, the Cardano community and people outside of it, expressed to me after that poll. I cannot tell you how many emails, tweets, and private messages I received—probably more than a thousand—expressing compassion, love, and best wishes. It meant the world to me to know that you cared. It meant the world to know that throughout these years, we’ve built a bond. In some cases, I’ve never even met you, but you’ve gained that through AMAs, conferences, speeches, or just following me on Twitter. I don’t want to lose that connection; if anything, I’d like to strengthen it.
The problem with social media, as I’ve pointed out in previous videos, is that it is designed to divide us. These algorithms can lead to a very dark state, as we see certain people descend into, myself included. It’s not healthy to engage that way, but it is healthy to engage through different channels. That’s going to be the discovery of 2025—figuring out the right balance. I will never lose that thread or connection to the people in the Cardano ecosystem and the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. These are lifelong friendships that I treasure because each of you is special in your own way.
There’s no greater example of that than the 2,500 people who participated in the constitutional workshops, uncompensated, in 50 countries with 63 workshops. That’s impressive, not to mention the hundreds more who participated in the SIP 1694 workshops that got us to the age of Voltaire. This doesn’t mean we’re all going to get along, and it doesn’t mean we’re always going to be civil with each other. The internet is the internet, and people are people. But having better tools and mechanisms to reframe, steer, and reset communication channels and relationships is what’s going to get us through this.
At the end of the day, we are asserting as an ecosystem that our blend of decentralized governance is far better than what came before. We have to prove that to the world by having an efficient, effective, and high-integrity government. We have to show that things like Intersect work, that the constitutional process works, and that the budget clears on an annual basis. If it doesn’t, we have to find a way out of that situation together. If we can’t, we don’t deserve to aspire to run the ecosystems of the world because we’re not offering something new; we’re offering the same division and chaos that came before.
Having received so much love and goodwill from some people, including competitors, has shown me that people are definitely up for the task, and there’s a strong desire to get these things done. That has reignited a flame and passion, and it’s something that will carry us through in 2025. The age of Voltaire is here. It doesn’t mean we’ve arrived at a destination; it means we’ve just entered a new world to explore. Governance is the most difficult human endeavor, and like all those who came before us, we’re going to have to spend time exploring and figuring out how to survive and thrive in this new world.
I don’t believe for a moment that we don’t have the tools, talent, people, and will to get this done. I know in my heart we will. It’s going to take patience and time. There will be failures and mistakes, and every time we make them, we’ll be subject to harsh criticism and unfair media. But you know what? It starts at the top, and I have to stop reacting to these things and stop giving life and power to them. I’m going to move on and focus on the good things, what we want to achieve, where we want to go, and how we want to get there together as one group.
Every year, we will continue to grow in size and maturity. I have no doubt we will construct the most advanced, effective, efficient, and highest integrity governing structure in the history of humanity. By doing so, we will have earned the right to be the home of the economic, political, and social systems of the world. We will continue working with nation-state partners and the DeFi and DApp side. Make no mistake, Cardano is also a Web3 protocol, and there’s a lot to build.
Things like Midnight will naturally solve some of the friction and pain we’re experiencing on the Cardano native token side. We need to get listed on exchanges; we need custodians to come in. There are many missing pieces of infrastructure that perplex me. While it was never the job of Input Output to get these things integrated, it seems no one else wanted to claim accountability for that. That’s okay; if we have to do it through Midnight or another agency, we’ll find a path forward as an ecosystem. By the end of 2025, Cardano should be accepted, selected
The current Hascal client should be managed and maintained by the Technical and Product Steering Committees of Intersect. We should continue building on that client until Oror Paris is completed. As you know, Oror Laos is under heavy development right now, and probably by the middle of next year, depending on how that development progresses, we should have an end-to-end prototype at the same level of maturity that Oror Paris currently has.
Then, there’s an open question of where we deploy Laos. Does it make sense to continue building on top of that Hascal codebase, or should we pivot to a new codebase? I believe we need a clean slate—a fresh start with the Cardano node, an event-based architecture, and a microservices node that is a polyglot node utilizing multiple languages. This would allow us to leverage the components of the Hascal node while also integrating Rust and other technologies together. I believe that’s the best home for Laos because it can be built hand in glove with Laos's needs. A retrofit of the monolithic node we currently have would be prohibitively time-consuming and introduce a great degree of technical debt. In some cases, it would simply be easier to start over again, and we can also take advantage of core technology like Mithril.
This is not an abandonment of our ecosystem's commitment to formal methods and the peer review process. It’s an acknowledgment that you can be agile and formal at the same time. We still have the specifications, we still use Agda, we still have the hard fork combinator, and we still plan to utilize some of the most advanced testing techniques for our software. However, we also recognize the amazing work being done by TX Pipe, DC Spark, Harmonic Labs, Anesthesia, and countless other developers and development firms in the Cardano ecosystem. It’s about time a coalition comes together to work on these initiatives.
I think Pragma could be the appropriate home for this initiative, and we at Input Output would like to participate. We have great engineers who would like to start over with a clean room approach. We will continue writing code for the 1.x node because there’s unfinished business to address. I believe these two threads can continue in parallel, similar to how IBM and the Hyperledger project managed Fabric 1 and 2, and now Fabric 3. I do believe we can reach a point where we can deprecate the 1.x node.
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