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New on-chain research suggests Cardano founding entities sold over 1.5 billion ADA during the 2021 bull run. In September 2021, the asset hit its all-time high of $3.09 but has since declined 94.7%, trading under $0.2. Although Cardano’s dip follows other assets’ trend, the transactions have sparked new conversations in crypto governance.
Cardano Foundation Backs Long-term Goals
In a series of social media posts, crypto enthusiast Masato Alexander revealed investigations into alleged transactions involving Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson. Last year, a crypto user said he sold 1.5B ADA for Hoskinson when the price fluctuated between $1 and $3.
Alexander focused on two sets of transactions: a single 925 million sale and multiple 20 million ADA offloads. He followed each hop backward, and all nine chains landed on one Byron genesis output that matched Input Output Global’s published genesis allocation.
Furthermore, he added that four wallets forwarded to a single consolidation address have a total inflow of 1.21B ADA. The on-chain pattern aligns with the earlier tweet’s claim, though he stressed that he can’t verify whether any were sold, as they might simply be transfers.
“The limits of this methodolgy stated plainly: dominant-input tracing is an indicator of origin, not proof, and addresses are pseudonymous. The chain ties no wallet to any named person. However, IOG had a larger onchain footprint than just their Genesis UTxO, they operated a number of stake pools over the years. Each pool requires an owner and pledge ADA to be put up,” he added.
 
IOG, Emurgo and Cardano Foundation are the blockchain’s three founding entities. The Cardano Foundation responded to the claims following growing community debates. They claimed no insight into the referenced IOG transaction but assumed professional conduct and good intentions from all entities, while restating their long-term commitment to the roadmap.
At the time of writing, Cardano rose 3.11%, trading at $0.17. The asset has suffered its worst run since the 2021 bull run that set its all-time high. Notably, the period saw a massive influx of retail investors into the network, with users dubbing it the ETH-killer alongside Solana.
Five years on, the blockchain now faces new hurdles fueled by big-name collapses. This month, Cardano analytics firm TapTools shut down operations, drawing in new criticism. Hoskinson predicted more headwinds unless a change happens to take dApps to the next level.