TLDR
- Charles Hoskinson faces allegations of misappropriating 318 million ADA (approx. $619 million) during the 2021 Allegra hard fork
- ADA is currently trading at around $0.74, down 5.6% over the past week but up 1.4% in the last 24 hours
- Cardano Foundation has promised a full audit of treasury transactions
- Technical indicators show ADA in a consolidation phase with neutral momentum
- Despite controversy, institutional investor interest continues with $854-856 million in daily trading volume
Cardano (ADA) is maintaining support around $0.74 despite serious allegations against its founder. The cryptocurrency is up 1.4% in the past 24 hours but remains down 5.6% over the past week. With a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $856 million, market activity has slowed but remains steady.
The allegations against Charles Hoskinson emerged on May 7 when NFT artist Masato Alexander claimed the founder misused privileged access to move about 318 million ADA during the 2021 Allegra hard fork. This sum was worth roughly $619 million at the time.
In 2021, Charles Hoskinson unilaterally used his genesis keys to REWRITE the Cardano ledger and take control of ₳318m ($619m)
By comparison, when the DAO hack happened in 2016, the Ethereum community forked over $60m.
One of the largest ledger reorgs in blockchain history: 🧵
— masato_alexander (@masatoalexander) May 7, 2025
Alexander detailed a two-step process that allegedly involved wiping out unclaimed ADA from the 2017 initial coin offering. He claimed Hoskinson used a special Move Instantaneous Rewards transaction to shift funds under his control or that of Input Output Global, the company behind Cardano.
The accusations suggest only a small amount, approximately $7 million, was formally given to the Cardano governance group Intersect. Alexander compared the incident to the 2016 Ethereum DAO hack but argued Cardano lacked similar community oversight.
Hoskinson has strongly denied these claims, calling them false and damaging. He stated that over 99.8% of ADA from the 2017 token sale was redeemed.
According to Hoskinson, the remaining unclaimed funds (around 18 to 24 million ADA) were later donated to Intersect. He explained that the October 2021 transaction was part of an automated process to prevent unredeemed tokens from becoming unusable.
Technical Outlook and Market Response
Following the backlash, Hoskinson expressed being “deeply hurt” by the community’s reaction and indicated he would likely step back from social media. The Cardano Foundation has promised a full audit of treasury transactions.
The one advantage in a crisis or an event that tests people is that you rapidly get to see who your friends truly are and who's fairweather. I'd like to thank all the support and kind words both privately and publicly.
The downside is that I believe there will be a cold…
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) May 18, 2025
Despite the controversy, technical indicators point to ADA being in a consolidation phase. The relative strength index stands at 51.7, indicating neutral momentum. The MACD shows a negative crossover with little upward pressure, suggesting somewhat bearish conditions.
Looking at moving averages, the 10-day and 20-day EMAs and SMAs currently act as resistance, pointing to short-term selling pressure. However, longer-term support comes from the 30-, 50-, 100-, and 200-day moving averages, which continue trending upward.
ADA’s ability to maintain its position above the 100-day EMA at $0.73 may be crucial to preventing additional losses. If bulls retake the 10-day EMA near $0.76, ADA could move toward $0.78 or higher.
If current support levels fail, the price may drop below $0.72 and possibly reach $0.70 or even $0.68. With both bulls and bears waiting for a catalyst, the outlook remains neutral.
On the daily timeframe, ADA price has established a rising trend in recent weeks. After breaking out of a macro-falling wedge pattern in April, ADA has gradually gained bullish momentum characterized by higher highs and higher lows.
In the four-hour timeframe, ADA price has formed a falling symmetrical parallel channel, likely a continuation pattern. A consistent close above the upper border of this falling channel could trigger a fresh rally toward a short-term target of about $1.14.
The large-cap altcoin, with a fully diluted valuation of $33 billion, continues to move in tandem with the wider altcoin market amid anticipated altseason. On-chain data analysis shows increased capital inflow to crypto investment products, fueled by geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Cardano remains far from its all-time high of $3.09 set in September 2021, sitting nearly 75% lower today. An on-chain investigation is expected to be conducted in the coming weeks to address the allegations against Hoskinson.
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