Cadano founder Charles Hoskinson denies “about to resign”: even taxi drivers outside are spreading rumors

Charles Hoskinson has publicly denied rumors that he is leaving his position, saying that the claims are completely fabricated. He gave an example to rebut the story: even a taxi driver in London has heard that he was planning to retire. The purpose of the example was to mock how absurd the rumor is, but it also shows just how far it has spread. This clarification took place amid the backdrop of ADA breaking below $0.20 to a five-year low, the originally scheduled summit being canceled, and the community receiving a large volume of negative feedback. Compiled by Dongqu Dongqu.
（Background: Cardano founder announced, “I’m going to take a break,” and ADA crashed to a five-year low of $0.19）
（Additional context: Cardano Foundation’s annual meeting is off! Ada governance voting failed by a slim margin, and founder Hoskinson has turned to TOKEN2049）

Key summary

• Charles Hoskinson denies leaving, saying the rumor is entirely made up from start to finish
• ADA price drops below $0.20, hitting a five-year low, with a year-over-year decline of nearly 70%
• Charles Hoskinson tallies 130 replies, with nearly one-third showing hostility

Recently, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson publicly addressed rumors from the public that he is “about to step down.”

He said directly: “That’s false! It’s a rumor from top to bottom—completely fabricated.” To illustrate how widely the rumor has spread, he shared an example: a London taxi driver told a Cardano supporter visiting him that he had heard the founder was about to retire.

Refuting the rumor

This example was originally meant to show that the rumor has become so absurd that even strangers with no connection are spreading it. From another angle, it also shows that many people believe “Charles Hoskinson is preparing to retire.”

The rumor didn’t appear out of thin air. In early June, Charles Hoskinson posted a short update on X: “I’m going to take a break and then we’ll talk.” That sentence sparked the first wave of speculation about his departure. At the time, he came out to clarify, saying he was only temporarily stepping back from social media, not leaving Cardano.

More than a month later, the “leaving” rumor resurfaced again. This time, the backdrop was even more embarrassing than before. ADA recently broke below $0.20 and at one point hit $0.19, setting a five-year low. Over the past year, its decline has been nearly 70%. At the same time, analytics platform TapTools announced its shutdown, the community vote rejected a proposal to use treasury funds, and the Cardano annual summit originally scheduled to be held in Singapore was therefore canceled.

Amid the noise

Charles Hoskinson said he personally counted that among roughly 130 replies under his post, nearly one-third were hostile—insulting, even using profanity. He believes these responses show signs of an organized attack on ADA.

“This is false—an entire rumor, completely fabricated.”

He plans to shift the focus of community discussion from X to Discord, because he wants to leave the “lies” on X behind. He also emphasized multiple times that Cardano’s future does not depend on whether he personally continues to participate. Development work, especially the privacy project Midnight, is still moving forward as usual.

As for whether this sounds real, that’s up to readers to judge.

FAQ

Why did Charles Hoskinson deny the resignation/retirement rumor?

Because people have been spreading claims that he is about to retire. He responded publicly that it is a rumor from start to finish, and gave an example saying even a taxi driver in London has heard about it—showing just how widely the rumor has spread.

What is ADA’s current price like?

ADA recently broke below $0.20 and at one point reached $0.19, setting a five-year low. Over the past year, it has fallen by nearly 70%. At the same time, TapTools announced a shutdown and the summit was canceled.