Cardano’s “No Stablecoin” Saga: Charles Hoskinson Spills the Beans, Gets a Little Salty

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Charles Hoskinson, a man whose cardigan game is as strong as his blockchain vocabulary, is apparently tired of being cast as that angry crypto uncle at family functions—constantly explaining why USDC and Tether aren’t gracing Cardano with their stablecoin presence. Picture him sighing into his coffee, waving away rumors of dramatic breakups and six-figure integration fees. “We talk to Circle probably every month to two months. We’ve engaged with Tether numerous times,” he insisted on a recent X Space, as if DM’ing your ex counts as progress.

Cardano Needs an Actual Reason to Exist Before the Stablecoins Rush In 🪙💸

For those convinced that Cardano’s real problem is a love-hate relationship with stablecoin giants, Hoskinson suggests something revolutionary: maybe, just maybe, it’s about basic economics. He reminisced about the time Circle offered to bring USDC to Cardano back in 2021—along with a $3 million invoice. The Cardano Foundation responded the way most of us react to a high restaurant bill: with a firm “nope.” “They just said no, which was just unbelievable to me. But that was that.”

Apparently, stablecoin issuers aren’t moved by charm or long-winded LinkedIn posts. They care about boring stuff like TVL (total value locked) and DeFi activity. Ethereum and Solana are over there flexing their $100 billion and $8 billion, respectively, while Cardano shows up with $300 million—cute, but not exactly “meet the parents” territory. And if you think $300 million is small, stablecoin providers have an even more humbling request: how about pre-minting $100-300 million yourself? It’s basically the blockchain version of being told to bring your own booze—and snacks, and a table, and the house—if you want to join the party.

Charles, forever the straight shooter, clarified that there’s no bad blood between the projects. “It’s not like we’re on bad terms with these companies,” he said, as if he’s explaining to nosy aunties why he’s single—there’s just, you know, context. Circle and Tether haven’t ghosted Cardano out of principle. They just need to see enough action to bother putting on pants and showing up.

The crypto world, though, thinks there’s a magic bullet: summon the stablecoins, and poof! DeFi revolution. Charles disagrees. “People seem to think that the inclusion of Circle and Tether will somehow magically supercharge the Cardano ecosystem. That’s just not true. It’s the opposite.” For the math impaired, that means DeFi comes first, stablecoins follow, not the other way around. He even name-dropped Algorand, which got a boatload of USDC and saw as much excitement as a beige sock convention.

Charles even threw out some classic “build it and they will come” advice. Build the internal stablecoins, ignite a sovereign wealth fund, pour $100 million into the whole thing, and hey, maybe Circle and Tether will stop screening Cardano’s calls. Want drama? He pitched Bitcoin DeFi as the perfect Trojan horse: if Cardano becomes the go-to for Bitcoin stablecoins, maybe then the cool kids will swing by and RSVP “maybe” to the next blockchain bash. “I told them I’d be willing to do it for free,” he added. Big “will work for exposure” energy.

For the finale, Hoskinson bemoaned how his very nuanced, adult explanation is consistently turned into “they hate Charles” or “Charles is too cheap.” That’s what happens when you let Twitter interpret geopolitics and blockchain partnerships, apparently.

Bottom line: until Cardano’s DeFi looks less like a lemonade stand and more like Costco, expect stablecoins to keep swiping left. Everything else is just noise—unless you’re trading ADA, which at press time, is performing at $0.5899. (Insert sound of Charles trying not to roll his eyes.)

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2025-07-07 17:53