Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson has refuted claims that holders of its native token ADA cannot sell their tokens because they are locked in staking pools. In a post on X, Hoskinson described the claims as misinformation on a grand scale.
The comments come in response to statements made on the podcast, where popular crypto influencers CTO Larsson, InvestAnswers, Mando, and MartyParty discussed several cryptocurrencies, including Cardano, which they claimed has a large market cap but no adoption.
Martyparty said the ADA’s large market cap is due to Cardano tricking ADA investors into locking their tokens through its staking system, making it impossible for them to exit and sell.
However, Hoskinson pounced on the comment as misinformation about how Cardano works, noting that the network offers liquid noncustodial staking, meaning users have complete control of their assets even when they stake, making it impossible to restrict them from selling it off.
He said:
“The lies and misinformation about Cardano have reached epic levels. Stake isn’t locked, but they still lie. Why does anyone trust these people anymore?”
This is not Hoskinson’s first criticism of crypto media for spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) about Cardano. He had previously slammed what he claimed to be negative Cardano coverage by several crypto outlets, noting that he might start a media outlet that would publish only accurate information.
Crypto community explains Cardano’s staking and discredits influencers
Following Hoskison’s comments, many in the Cardano community have explained the Cardano staking mechanism, noting that it is the only project among the top 20 cryptocurrencies that offers liquid staking directly. All the other popular networks, such as Ethereum and Solana, rely on other blockchains that require liquid staking derivatives.
Stakewithpride on X noted that despite the innovative approach of Cardano to staking, some people still think the network does not have adoption or its high market cap is due to tricking people into keeping their ADA locked.
The crypto community on X has also addressed the false claims by adding a community note to the post, saying that the statement about locked staking is false and Cardano has never locked staking.
One user posted:
“What is this, engagement farming? There is no minimum amount of ada required to stake, no slashing, and no locking period. You maintain custody over delegated ada, rewards are distributed by the protocol itself, not by the pool.”
Others have also criticized Martyparty as a person with no credibility and a “hack” who has previously promoted several failed projects and is known for being a Cardano skeptic.
ADA declines 2% as the token struggles
While influencers focus on ADA’s $12 billion market cap, Cardano investors are likely unimpressed, given how the token has struggled for a long while. It is down 2% in the last 24 hours, falling to $0.3366 after earlier signs during the week that it could rally and break the $0.4 barrier.
Its general performance this year has also been short of impressive, trading in the same $0.4 – $0.3 range for several months and falling 45.92% year to date. ADA’s poor performance is more pronounced in comparison to layer-1 networks such as Ethereum and Solana.
However, transaction volume on Cardano has been increasing in the last few days due to the launch of a memecoin deployer, Snekfun. The increase in activity has benefited ADA price performance in the short term, gaining 6% in the past week, but any long-term increase remains unlikely.
A recent proposal to burn 1.5 billion ADA treasury tokens after the network adopted decentralized governance has faced opposition from stakeholders, including Hoskinson. If approved, the reduction in supply could temporarily boost ADA prices.
